Luthierin'

[BarryBobPosthole]

No, not the Lutherans. I'm doing some work on my old Takemine guit-fiddle again. Its an old F-400 Martin knockoff 'Lawsuit' guitar that I became owner of in 1976. The headstock is printed with the Takemine logo that looks exactly like a Martin logo from ten feet away and the guitar is almost an exact duplicate of a Martin D-18 all the way down to the bracing, wood, and guts. Only diff I can tell is the top is laminated on the Tak and solid on the Martin.

This is the guitar that my daughter broke the headstock on several years ago and I 'fixed' it. It fell over about two months ago and rebroke in exactly the same spot. I had originally glued it with gorilla glue. This time I reglued it with elmers woodworking glue and it will be stronger than the original wood. Put a straightedge on the fretboard and took a bit of a bow out by turning the truss rod (a first time attempt for me) a skosh and it took it right out. Today, I'll put some new strings on it and adjust the action a bit at the saddle and see what she sounds like. This guitar probably would be pronounce DOA by most folks as it ain't much to look at, but I've got too many hours of playing in it to let her go that easily. I'm hoping when I string it, that it will be playable and have that sweet action that she had when she was still shiny.

I'll post some pictures once I get her all strung up later today.

BKB

[LJ3]

Hehehe, good luck! I've had the wrench in the truss rod before on my Takamine 12 string. I chickened out at the last minute :) I'm inspired now and may try it again.

That thing is built like a freaking battleship. Bailey showed some interest when she was little, REAL little. so I decided to sacrifice the guitar for the greater good. She literally jumped on it, sat on it, dragged it up and down stairs and I knew someday it would just go in the trash.

Lo and behold, the damn thing survived! Strong as ever.

[BarryBobPosthole]

I have a Takamine 12 string I bought about 10 years ago from 'Cardinal Bob' down at a smelly old music store in north Tulsa. The kind of stores you used to love to go into and play their guitars and stuff. Cardinal Bob, because he was an ardent Cardinal fan, was a fixture in Tulsa music for many years. While I was in there one day he showed me a Takamine N1012 and challenged me to find the flaw in it. Found one little tiny nick in the top and he sold it to me for $400 brand spanking new. That guitar went for around $1100 in those days. I was saving for a Taylor then so this was purely an impulse purchase but it's truly one of the sweetest guitars I've ever owned. Red cedar top and mahogany back and sides and a nice matte finish.

The guy who gave me my Tak 6 string had a matching 12 string he kept. We were roommates in AF tech school in Biloxi and both headed out to our PCS assignments the very same day out of New Orleans. We rented a limo and partied like rock stars. when we got to the airport he handed me the six string in the case and said 'Have a good life'. Its the last time I ever saw the guy. He's dead now I just found out last year. so every time I play that old guitar I think of Line-ass Lipshit (Linus Lipcius) the Lithuanian wonder.
BKB

[Thumper]

Ha ha! Reminds me of my first Jewish girlfriend way back when. Her name was Lisa Lipton. She told me her dad's name was really Lipshitz, but her mom refused to marry him unless he changed his name! I guess he did!