cf100 back from the luthier...

[hubcapsc]

It got a full refret, a new nut, a new saddle and some improvements
to some old blemishes on the top... they're not as awful looking, and
you can't feel them anymore... he filled them with lacquer or some such...
it has always played easy, now the buzz is gone and the fretboard
feels great when you're playing it...







I brought him my 18 year old Ken Stika (Utah luthier) guitar and he saw
right away why I think it is harder to play than my Gibsons (a simple truss
rod adjustment)... there's something loose on it too, I can make it creak
when banging out chords sometimes (when the humidity is low I think).
I've grooved out some of the frets, I'm not sure if he'll think they need
replaced or not, but I'm pretty sure I'll be happy with the results when
he sends me the "it's ready" text ...

It is a lot of fun to go over there. We talked about the issue of
neck resets on old Gibsons... he described how onerous it used
to be to try and reset vintage Gibson necks with a "D" heel... cf100s
have "D" heels... and so does my Country Western... here's a
cf100 picture (not mine)...



With all the glue on the large D section, it was really difficult to steam it
loose without water damage or boiling off the finish or... he mentioned a
luthier in Virginia and one in Germany who came up with methodologies
that he uses now that make it so that neck resets aren't so hard. It was cool
he had a small bodied old Gibson with the neck off to point at while he
was talking about it. It is a lot of fun to go over there.

-Mike

[L20A]

Ken Stika,
now that's a name that I have not thought about for a very long time.
Is Ken still making guitars?
I was always impressed with his guitars.

[hubcapsc]

Ken passed a while back ... his son still runs the shop and
is a luthier...

-Mike