1949 Martin 00-18 Guitar

[fretfile100]

Not that you need another recommendation, but Ken Blount in Sebring has been an authorized Martin repairman for many years. He frequently comes to Tampa and has always done a stellar job.
Belize would require some thought if health care is an issue. A 2-3 hour flight to Mexico makes it questionable. Though I have no personal experience, crime seems to be an issue in some parts of Belize City. Beautiful country , though.

[davenumber2]

I don't know the credentials of the repair folks mentioned but I would recommend finding someone who has lots of experience working on and restoring vintage Martins. There are lots of good repair people who don't necessarily know what to do and what not to do to conserve originality and value of vintage instruments.

[Rick_In_Tampa]

Originally Posted by ssstewart

I knew AGF would have good advice for ya Rick good peeps here and very helpful and knowledgeable

There you are! Been waiting for you to chime in. I owe you a huge thank you for recommending this site. Amazing group of people on here. Hope you are doing well my friend!

[Rick_In_Tampa]

I dropped the Martin off at the guitar shop in St Pete a few hours ago. Everyone that saw it complimented me on owning such a fine guitar. Their master luthier and vintage guitar expert Hunter took care of me and he was just loving the guitar. He played it for a bit. Said "wow" a lot, and played it some more. He told me he would be happy to "dispose of it for me." Lol... I told him not for $1M!

He looked it over really good and told me it needs a neck reset, it needs the crack under the pick guard glued, and it needs new strings. He said it *might* need a new bridge saddle and nut, but he thinks he can save the originals.

So I was pretty pleased. He said it will be ready to play in about a month and it shouldn't need anything else done to it until long after they plant me in the ground. Not sure if that's a testament to his repair work, or his estimation of my poor health. Either way, I'm pleased with how things went.

Thank you all again for all the great tips and advice! I am truly grateful.

[Rick_In_Tampa]

Originally Posted by davenumber2

I don't know the credentials of the repair folks mentioned but I would recommend finding someone who has lots of experience working on and restoring vintage Martins. There are lots of good repair people who don't necessarily know what to do and what not to do to conserve originality and value of vintage instruments.

Thanks for the post Dave. The gentleman I gave my guitar to has 30 years experience working in Nashville on many prominent country music stars guitars, including one of my guitar hero's Joe Bonamassa. He told me about the Martin's he has owned personally and how they compared to mine. So I felt comfortable that he's going to treat my guitar with the care it deserves. I'm very excited to get it back and see how it looks and plays!

[dirkronk]

Just another lurker breaking silence to say I love the story here, and wait on tenterhooks for an in-depth commentary on your visit to the guitar experts. Oh, and the pix seem to indicate that you have a beautiful instrument to learn on from here on out. Enjoy every minute with it, after it gets whatever treatment is recommended.


Dirk

[Rick_In_Tampa]

Originally Posted by dirkronk

Just another lurker breaking silence to say I love the story here, and wait on tenterhooks for an in-depth commentary on your visit to the guitar experts. Oh, and the pix seem to indicate that you have a beautiful instrument to learn on from here on out. Enjoy every minute with it, after it gets whatever treatment is recommended.


Dirk

Thanks for the message Dirk. The visit went well. They loved the guitar and I loved hearing that the guitar wasn't going to empty my bank account to get it back in working order. The quote came in right at $750. Worth every penny to me to get it back in working order. Supposed to have it back in about a month.

[Mak2525]

Originally Posted by Rick_In_Tampa

I dropped the Martin off at the guitar shop in St Pete a few hours ago. Everyone that saw it complimented me on owning such a fine guitar. Their master luthier and vintage guitar expert Bruce took care of me and he was just loving the guitar. He played it for a bit. Said "wow" a lot, and played it some more. He told me he would be happy to "dispose of it for me." Lol... I told him not for $1M!

He looked it over really good and told me it needs a neck reset, it needs the crack under the pick guard glued, and it needs new strings. He said it *might* need a new bridge saddle and nut, but he thinks he can save the originals.

So I was pretty pleased. He said it will be ready to play in about a month and it shouldn't need anything else done to it until long after they plant me in the ground. Not sure if that's a testament to his repair work, or his estimation of my poor health. Either way, I'm pleased with how things went.

Thank you all again for all the great tips and advice! I am truly grateful.

Hey Rick: Outstanding News - so happy to hear that it worked out for you @ Seven C! Bet your guitar makes their picture Hall of Fame. I haven't met Bruce before in my 15-20 trips to the shop over the past 3 years for repair & set-up work. They must keep him locked up and only bring him out for the "special needs" guitars!

I guess my estimate was pretty close, huh? I know Dave has said that Hunter is one of the best "neck reset" guys he has ever seen - so maybe it's a team for the vintage VSG (Very Special Guitars), as yours would surely qualify!

Thanks for the update!

[Rick_In_Tampa]

Originally Posted by Mak2525

Hey Rick: Outstanding News - so happy to hear that it worked out for you @ Seven C! Bet your guitar makes their picture Hall of Fame. I haven't met Bruce before in my 15-20 trips to the shop over the past 3 years for repair & set-up work. They must keep him locked up and only bring him out for the "special needs" guitars!

I guess my estimate was pretty close, huh? I know Dave has said that Hunter is one of the best "neck reset" guys he has ever seen - so maybe it's a team for the vintage VSG (Very Special Guitars), as yours would surely qualify!

Thanks for the update!

Okay... So now I feel even more of an idiot. I did write Bruce didn't I. smh... It was Hunter that took care of me. I have no idea where I pulled Bruce from. My apologies.

I swear.. Nothing good happens after 50.....

Your estimate was pretty good. I was hoping the bill wouldn't be more than a few K. So when he said $750, I was doing a jig on the inside.

[Jim Owen]

Hi Rick,

Bravo. That’s a great estimate for a shop I know does quality work. You’re going to be delighted with the results.

And you’re giving a fine guitar another life.

By the way, I’ve seldom seen an old Martin that didn’t have that hairline crack—the pickguard shrinks at a different rate than the spruce. Martin finally learnt to finish the guitar and then put on the pickguard.

[Mak2525]

Originally Posted by Rick_In_Tampa

Okay... So now I feel even more of an idiot. I did write Bruce didn't I. smh... It was Kevin that took care of me. I have no idea where I pulled Bruce from. My apologies.

I swear.. Nothing good happens after 50.....

Your estimate was pretty good. I was hoping the bill wouldn't be more than a few K. So when he said $750, I was doing a jig on the inside.

Hey, watch it, I'm 63!

If you haven't seen this link yet, here's some interesting bios on the guys that I know @ Seven C.

https://www.sevencmusic.com/about

Glasers instruments is one of the premier repair shops in all of Nashville. On any given day, you have a better than average chance of rubbing shoulders with the stars in there.

I guess I just assumed Hunter would be the one doing the work based on his experience. Bruce / Kevin must be a newer addition to the group!

[Rick_In_Tampa]

Originally Posted by Jim Owen

Hi Rick,

Bravo. That’s a great estimate for a shop I know does quality work. You’re going to be delighted with the results.

And you’re giving a fine guitar another life.

By the way, I’ve seldom seen an old Martin that didn’t have that hairline crack—the pickguard shrinks at a different rate than the spruce. Martin finally learnt to finish the guitar and then put on the pickguard.

To be honest, that crack was the scariest part of the guitar for me. I was expecting to hear that it was something major that was going to cost big bucks to fix, or hear that nothing can be done. When the luthier mentioned the crack he explained exactly what you just said, then told me it's no big deal to fix. So my heart started beating again. Lol...

It was really cool to see people that just loved what they were doing, and just loved guitars in general. It wasn't an impersonal assembly line of customers kind of thing. Not sure I possess the vocabulary to properly describe it, but it was a really cool feeling being there today.

[Crosswind]

That is really a great price for all that work! Well done!

[Mycroft]

Originally Posted by Rick_In_Tampa

I dropped the Martin off at the guitar shop in St Pete a few hours ago. Everyone that saw it complimented me on owning such a fine guitar. Their master luthier and vintage guitar expert Bruce took care of me and he was just loving the guitar. He played it for a bit. Said "wow" a lot, and played it some more. He told me he would be happy to "dispose of it for me." Lol... I told him not for $1M!

He looked it over really good and told me it needs a neck reset, it needs the crack under the pick guard glued, and it needs new strings. He said it *might* need a new bridge saddle and nut, but he thinks he can save the originals.

So I was pretty pleased. He said it will be ready to play in about a month and it shouldn't need anything else done to it until long after they plant me in the ground. Not sure if that's a testament to his repair work, or his estimation of my poor health. Either way, I'm pleased with how things went.

Thank you all again for all the great tips and advice! I am truly grateful.

Very nice. I've also followed the thread. What a great story. A recommendation: write up the story and keep it in the case pocket. That way if anything every happens to you, there will be a record of the guitar's "provenience."

I have a 1957 00-18, obtained from the original owner. He was in his mid-80s, and didn't play it any more. None of his kids nor grandkids played, so his ukeule buddies convinced him the right thing to do was to release it into the wild so someone who appericated it would get it. I happened to walk into my friends guitar store where the owner was selling it. I love 00-18s, asked to play it. Really dug it. Asked the year. When he tol me I noted that I am also a 1957 vintage. Afer I played it a bit more I asked my friend not to put it on the wall just. yet. He turned to the former owner and said " meet the new owner of your guitar.

And yes, that story is in the case pocket...

Don't be afraid of having to replace the saddle or nut. That will only detract value to someone who wants to buy a 1949 Chevy with the original tires and spark plugs.

What you are trying to do is restore the guitar's playability to as near-new as you can, so you can play the thing for the next few decades. The work that I had done on my '57 (Reset, frets, saddle) will probably outlive me. Neck resets, saddle and nuts are like putting on new tires or getting a tune up. The crack is structural: easy enough to glue or cleat from the inside. Most old guitars have a few small repairs.

Does your neck reset include new frets? If they are worn, now is the time, so the geometry can all be properly adjusted at once.

You will probably want to use light strings on it. They will feel heavy enough coming from your Strat. I like John Pearse Phosphor Bronze, although you might like something like coated Elixer Nanowen PBs down there in the Florida mugginess.

Let us know how you get along with it. And congratulations.

TW

[Mycroft]

Originally Posted by Ergoetal

You're so lucky to get this.

I'll just add that my first and only guitar teacher played a similar guitar and was a fine player of ragtime blues. So my suggestion - once you've got the mechanics straightened out - is try something like this on the old Martin:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CAcQlYMD8dE

PS - go to 3:44 to hear the full tune before getting into the details of playing....

Mary is one of the pickin'st women you will ever meet. She lives down the road in Portland, and so plays up in this area quite a lot.