A neglected 1969 Gibson LG-0 [completed 2023-05-14]

[redi]

Originally Posted by jaywalker

Thinking more about my top's belly/arc problem, I'm wondering if I should try and steam it flat. Similar to the John Miner neck reset method; I can cover everything inside with towels that I *don't* want to reshape, clamp things in place that shouldn't move (bridge plate, braces) and then steam the lower bout while the top is clamped flat. Ideally this will allow the exposed glue joints to reflow a little, while also steam bending the exposed wood back to the expected shape.

This is an interesting idea for your project LG-0. Let us know how it works out!

[redir]

Originally Posted by jaywalker

On the Bezos Zone (Amazon). You have to do some digging to find this exact one, here's a listing: https://a.co/d/9iwyHxu. It's a 1/10 scale RC/model/toy car jack.

I saw someone using it in a guitar repair video (I think it was from @harpethguitar on YouTube) and thought it was a really clever solution. Much cheaper than the "real" tool from Stew Mac ($$$) and it works well.

Thinking more about my top's belly/arc problem, I'm wondering if I should try and steam it flat. Similar to the John Miner neck reset method; I can cover everything inside with towels that I *don't* want to reshape, clamp things in place that shouldn't move (bridge plate, braces) and then steam the lower bout while the top is clamped flat. Ideally this will allow the exposed glue joints to reflow a little, while also steam bending the exposed wood back to the expected shape.

Very cool. Thanks.

As for the belly it could have been worse due to loose braces and now that you are fixing that it might be better. As mentioned it is normal to some extent and the Bridge Doctor is like a last ditch effort for a cheap guitar imho.

Also if you are going to do a neck reset do a traditional one on that guitar. It's a dovetail. They are a bit more difficult to remove but not terrible.

[jaywalker]

I'm happy to report that I've made a lot of progress repairing this guitar. The braces are fixed, the top cracks are fixed. I made a temporary wooden saddle for setup & measuring purposes so I didn't have to modify the original. Here she is now:



Some things went together perfectly, others not as well as I would've liked but it's good enough for a beater. Here are some pictures of the various repairs so far:

https://files.brandonfoltz.com/lg0/2...2015.51.18.jpg
https://files.brandonfoltz.com/lg0/2...2015.55.39.jpg
https://files.brandonfoltz.com/lg0/2...2015.56.03.jpg
https://files.brandonfoltz.com/lg0/2...2015.56.35.jpg
https://files.brandonfoltz.com/lg0/2...2015.59.28.jpg
https://files.brandonfoltz.com/lg0/2...2011.39.24.jpg

After stringing it up today I determined that it's definitely going to need a neck reset, no way around it. The belly bulge is a "normal" amount so my bridge doctor idea is not applicable. But the action is 4.5mm at the 12th fret after everything was setup pretty much as well as it can be while still keeping *some* break angle over the saddle. The bridge isn't tall enough to shave off the necessary amount; I'd be cutting it's height in half and there would basically be nothing left on the treble side since this is a slanted bridge.

Moreover, I realized that under tension the heel actually has a small gap around it. That's making me think the glue inside is already started to give, and that doesn't sit well with me for the long term:

https://files.brandonfoltz.com/lg0/2...2015.50.25.jpg
https://files.brandonfoltz.com/lg0/2...2015.50.40.jpg

I'm going to take a break from this project for a couple months and will hopefully revisit in the summer, when I'll attempt a traditional neck reset. The guitar sounds pretty interesting, even with my exotic "construction lumber" saddle. So it would be nice to make it a player. Maybe I'll just refret it while I'm at it. The rabbit hole continues...

[jaywalker]

I've finally finished working on this guitar! At least, finished enough to make it playable. I could still do a fret dress, but the existing wear doesn't cause any buzz so I'm going to leave it alone for now.

Neck reset went reasonably well for a first try, but not without some mistakes. Neck came off without even having to steam it! I just put it in the jig and left it for an hour, came back an hour later and it popped right off with a little more pressure. I took off WAY too much material from the heel initially, and had to shim it to get the neck angle back to the right spot. I also rounded the heel corners a bit in my impatience... oh well. Things you can't see from a few feet away. I managed to not muck up the top when releasing the fretboard extension, and hid the shim under the extension pretty well I think.

I released the fretboard extension by heating it up with lightbulbs and separating it from the top using a pallet knife:


Gluing the neck back on after trimming & shimming:


Results:


There are more images in the folder here:
https://files.brandonfoltz.com/lg0/finished/

And I had some discussion about the details of the neck reset in this thread: https://www.acousticguitarforum.com/...d.php?t=667521

As for the saddle; this guitar had an adjustable straight saddle that I didn't plan on using. Rather than making a plug for the 6.5mm wide saddle slot and using a conventional saddle, I just made a 6.5mm wide intonated saddle from a piece of ebony and fit it snugly in the slot. Looks neat, sounds in tune

(see image below)

All said and done the guitar plays well and sounds pretty good. Some of my repairs could look nicer, but saving it from the dumpster was the real goal here. Now I have a cool second guitar that will scratch my smaller-bodied itch for a while.



Sound sample included, of course.

https://files.brandonfoltz.com/lg0/f...tar%20demo.mp3

[learningalways]

What a wonderful work of love. To save a peace of history from the dumpster, and it now plays beautiful music! So glad that you put in such effort!

[redi]

Thanks for posting this. I have a 65 LG-O that also has a neck reset coming soon once I build up the courage

[jricc]

Love everything about this Jay! Real nice job and you saved a piece of guitar history. I'm also jealous: ) you found this in the garbage.
Very cool, thanks for sharing.

[phavriluk]

OP: You did any number of us a big favor with that r/c car jack. You've got my thanks! It's proof that none of us knows when something we do as a matter of course will amaze the rest of us.