In order to properly fix an open crack, or center-seam that stubbornly doesn’t close up enough when humidified (as was the case with this 1930 Gibson L2) I like to use a modified version of TJ_Thompson’s Top Crack Corrector Kit.
The kit is designed for Martin guitars, which are built with flat tops; but Gibsons are built with domed tops, so using TJ’s Martin-specific FLAT gluing cauls on a NOT-FLAT Gibson can cause unintended damage. However, TJ’s cleat design and repair process work really well at swelling an open crack closed and locking it in place all while keeping the crack perfectly aligned, so I devised this hack to be able to use the cleats on a radius-topped Gibson.
Photo 1. Mapping the top braces and measuring the top’s radius. The radius gauges were designed by me and are manufactured by Lewis at @eastcityguitarco (you need these if you work on Gibsons and other radius-topped guitars).
Photo 2. 12.5’ radius block roughed out. This will become the inner caul.
Photo 3 – 5. Marking and cutting the caul with the brace positions and dimensions.
Photo 6. Adding the TJ-made cleat holder and cleat stock. The stock is genius in design with its semi-cylindrical cut and double-rift grain orientation. The cleats are light and can be oriented parallel with the top’s grain without causing other issues.
Photo 7. NeoD magnets are used to locate the caul while working blindly inside the guitar. The magnets are strong enough to keep everything in place while you position the clamps.
Photo 8. All clamped up. The crack is glued and the cleats are applied simultaneously. The system is designed to be used with hide glue, which is fabulous at swelling wood and then shrinking everything tightly together.
Photos 9 and 10. The finished product. Tightly closed and level.
1940-1942 were transitional years for Gibson’s Jumbos, with specs changing rapidly. These J-35s are very unique, and come in many variants. They each have their own sound and are therefore difficult to compare on equal ground. I had this wonderfully clean and original 1941 Gibson J-35 on the bench that is an excellent example of its kind.
Photo 1. The natural finished 1941 body.
We’ve had a number of requests for more photos of the black 1940 L-00, so here is a little photo-essay for you.
All told, this was a “normal” old Gibson restoration… but with a twist. There’s been no finish repair, no cleaning of the original finish, and the neck set was done with the original fretboard and saddle untouched. Our customer requested that the guitar look exactly as found, but made functional. It was a fun job.
The guitar had the following work done:
– neck reset
– first 8 frets replaced with reclaimed fretwire from a 1941 J-35 (unworn upper frets from the J-35 become the lower frets on the recipient – we keep all of our old fretwire!). The fingerboard patina was untouched, no grime removed, no sanding etc.
– pickguard was partially reglued
– bridge was removed, top reshaped (with custom made Gibson top shapers from TJ Thompson’s Pro Luthier Tools)
– bridge bottom was reshaped /unwarped and reglued
– numerous back cracks were glued
– major side cracks were aligned and glued
– side puncture was repaired
– nut and saddle slots were rebuilt
– treble side tuner buttons were replaced with buttons salvaged from other 40’s Klusons
– tuning machines were restored
This is a client’s guitar and is not available for sale.
A structural issue we often discover on instruments that have had a bridge reglue in the past is a separation of the X brace and top directly under the bridge wing. This can happen as a result of the heat that’s used to remove a bridge, or can happen from improper clamping when the bridge is reglued. It’s easy to miss, but can spell eventual top collapse if it’s not fixed.
This ‘37 J-35 is a perfect example if this issue. It’s flawless inside except for one sneaky loose section of X brace right under the bass side bridge wing. The challenge with this otherwise simple glue up is that the clamp landed right at the seam of the slope of the bridge wing and the top, and there was no good way to to safely clamp.
This wing/top caul took 10 minutes to make, and ensures a safe and accurate glue up. The notched caul on the brace itself is cut to fit snugly over the brace and is specifically made for 30’s Gibsons, which I work on a lot. It’s drilled on the back side to index with a Stewart MacDonald clamp, and it’s small enough to allow for easy clean-up of glue squeeze out.
When gluing a loose brace you get one chance to fix it properly. It’s never guaranteed to hold if the repair fails and you have to glue it again, so it’s worth the extra time to give it its best chance of holding tight.
Gibson’s EM-150 is an electric mandolin that was introduced at the outset of Gibson’s Electric instrument production, back in 1936. It was offered alongside the ES-150 guitar, EH-150 Steel, and ERB-150 banjos and was originally fitted with a “Charlie Christian” style pickup. The design of the EM-150 evolved similarly to the ES-150 guitar, and by the late 1940s was built with a P-90 pickup and plywood maple body.
This example is one of 51 built in 1962. The EM-150’s highest production years were 1953 and 1954, when 158 were built in each year. In total, about 1950 EM-150s were built during the model’s post-WWII production run.
This particular instrument has sold.
Designed by Folkway’s Mark Stutman and released as a 24 guitar limited production model, the 0002H Custom Traditional is Collings’ first Traditional Series 12-fret 000, and an exact recreation of the guitar Mark spec’d for 3-time Grammy winner Joe Henry.
Check out our listing for the right-handed version here.
Check out our listing for the left-handed version here.
Pre-WWII left-handed Gibsons are phenomenally rare, but they do exist! Here’s a look at a few that are currently at Folkway.
Ever wonder what those plastic bridges that Gibson used in the early 60s were all about? Most Gibson flat top acoustics built in 1962 and 1963 had this style of injection-moulded plastic bridge with adjustable ceramic insert, but perhaps you’ve not seen one of them up close and personal…
I love it when a plan comes together.
This 1940 Gibson J-35 needed the usual repairs to get it up and running perfectly – reset, refret, pickguard reglue, new nut, saddle, pins, etc.
It’s unique feature is that the bridge and fingerboard are made of what looks to be Cuban mahogany rather than rosewood, and I knew it would be hard to match the patina, colour, and wear-patterns if I were to sand the fretboard at all during the refret. Like a maple-board fender, the trick was to do the levelling on the frets instead of the wood. That’s routine work in our shop, but setting the neck without the safety-net of being able to tweak the neck angle with a refret is always a fun challenge.
Some guitars are cooperative, others less so, but this guitar seemed pleased to do its part in helping things go smoothly.
Presented by the Old Town School of Folk Music
Join Fretboard Journal‘s Jason Verlinde and acclaimed luthiers TJ Thompson (Pro Luthier Tools) and Mark Stutman (Folkway Music) for this informative class on the care, feeding and collecting of vintage acoustic guitars.
Over the course of this discussion, Mark and TJ will discuss variations between pre-war and collectible Martins and Gibsons, some of the most common issues they find on their repair benches and how to avoid them. We’ll talk about restoration work, neck resets, proper storage and shipping. At the end of the class, we’ll field questions from the audience on the buying, selling and preserving of these unique instruments.
$10
08/12/2021 (1 meeting)
Thursday · 7:00 PM – 8:30 PM (Central)
Mark guides us on a casual and impromptu tour of four 1940’s Gibson J-35s that are all at the shop at the same time. The differences and the similarities between these four guitars are pointed out and discussed. The guitars were all built by Gibson in 1940, 1941, and 1942.
Mark tours us through an incredibly rare Gibson-made Recording King 807 from 1930.
Built for Montgomery-Ward, the 807 is essentially a Gibson Nick Lucas Special with different appointments. This model wasn’t produced in significant numbers and very few remain in existence today.
Mark has just finished an interesting restoration to this guitar and describes the steps involved in detail.
Mark shows the process of gluing a hard-to-reach back crack in a ‘32 Gibson L-00 using a cleat system designed and marketed by TJ Thompson.
