Jerry, once again you have done an excellent repair for me. She looks great, sounds better and plays fantastic! Well worth every dime and then some. Mere words could never explain the esteem and respect I have for you, you are truly a master craftsman and one of the finest human beings I have ever encountered. I am happy to report NO problems from the 9 hour drive back to Dallas and I haven't stopped playing it since I got back! WELL DONE my friend!!
This may sound silly but I’m glad there were so many defects in this guitar. It gives me the opportunity to see the master’s work in so many aspects of repair. Jerry you are the Abom of instrument repair. A perfectionist.
R and R binding, R and R bridge plate, reattach braces, repair cracks and stabilize with cleats, neck reset, binding fill, binding scrape, binding seal, binding sand, touch up finish cracks, fret crown, fret board scrape, linseed oil fretboard, wood polish and buff, coating with wax, metal polish brightwork, saddle custom work, custom bridge install, restring and setup = $1450.00 Jerry picking a tune on a left for dead old wall hanger? = Priceless
My first repair was with a guitar that was smashed up pretty bad, the back needed to be replaced along with the plastic binding there was a hole in the side the neck was broke off and most of the bracing was broken or loose. I spent hours and hours and then more hours rebuilding it. I watched every video you have put out just to get an idea of what to do. As I did not know if it would be worth anything, in the end, I just used 1/8 th inch plywood to make the back and walnut for binding. To set the angle of the neck when I glued on the back I taped a straight 1x2 maple board from the nut to sit on the saddle. all in all, it did show I was able to repair a guitar. So now I have decided that the next project will be a build! Thanks for all the great Videos, tips, and encouragement. I will be watching any that your putting out.
I would not expect less than a 2450.00 bill as a minimum, but probably more around 3200.00. Great repair and now a Great sounding guitar. Now you can add another one you’ve brought back to life. Thanks for the awesome video’s.
Jerry, congratulations on an excellent repair. By coincidence, in this months Vintage Guitar mag. Dan Erlewine tackles a 70's Gospel with the same binding & neck angle issues. He chose to repair a cracked, low bridge rather than do a neck reset. He explains Gibson used a "paddle joint" at the time. With a short dovetail on the bottom & a large tenon above it, it's very difficult to separate. Your "cheaters reset" turns out to be the best option for these 70's Gibsons.
Somehow I have become addicted to watching you restore these guitars. I’m not really interested in learning to restore, but find peace in knowing that if any of my guitars get damaged, there is hope they can be fixed. I used to handle my guitars like they were some ancient artifacts and that was exhausting. Now I just have fun with them knowing not all is lost if I ding or scratch them. At the end of your vids, I’m always curious how your customers react to seeing the finished product. May add some additional excitement/drama to your watchers. Just a thought.
Typically I'm not a fan of Gibson's Norlin era acoustics, but I wouldn't mind owning that one, Jerry. You show me time and again that it always pays to go the extra mile for a repair. Thank you again!
I can't stop watching this series, again and again. The work you undertook is not a competent repair it's much better than that, it really is a restoration of this guitar to its former glory or even better, if possible. The guitar is amazing, it has a beautiful full sound and it is in fact a piece of art. I'm very happy for you you deserve to have shown us this amazing and detailed restoration. my Family and I have granted you for this rebuild a standing and long ovation!
wow!!!what a LOAD OF WORK AND TIME and a great result!!! that guitar sounds beauyiful.i agree with you ,a great sound and you did it!! i bet that guitar never sounded that good when it was made! bravo!! ....bravo!! and now i can go to bed!!
Nothing better than sitting having a cigar, my notification comes through that there is a new Rosa video. Click that bell! Keep those videos coming! God bless and stay healthy!
Jerry. You did yourself proud this time. Guitar looks great sounds great!!! Love the song you played for use. If I would have done that amount of repairs. I would have charged $1500 dollars. Until the next episode Jerry. Thanks for taking us along for the ride. Enjoyed every minute of it.
You should make a shirt that says, "I think that helped me more than it hurt me." I love the videos Jerry. You always do the best you can with what the instrument gives you.
I just love to watch these videos. I don't know if this has come up before in any comments, but I am pretty sure that your "cheating neck reset" not only improve the neck angle. If you first put a tuning fork to a piece of spruce and then do the same when the spruce is under pressure (bending it), you will find that the volume of the sound increases when it's bent. I think the cheating neck reset does the same to the top, to some degree.
It is nice to see that you spent more time than you charged for, that guitar needed someone like you to bring it back to life what a fantastic job, I just love watching you work on difficult projects it really shows off your skills, brilliant!
Jerry, that donation was a gift to the world of music and the RU-vid community. Thank you for showing this. I work in some instruments and sometimes they have so much potencial that I just can let the instrument leave my hands without see the best I could extract from it. Best regards!
I’d say the repair is worth $1500 to $2000 with the amount of time and work required. Excellent job, great video and now a beautiful guitar that sounds awesome!
I am enjoying how nicely this guitar is going back together. Kind of makes me feel like it's going better than the original build. Thanks for sharing this one with us.
WOW!!! It turned out great Jerry! It looks nice and sounds great. Your right, It ain't easy being you, good point on glueing it up and getting the neck angle just right. You know your stuff. I like how you usually always play and sing a song with the instruments that bring back to life. Great job Jerry!!!
Opinions are kinda like armpits, everybody has a couple and most stink :-) so here is my opinion. A wonderful old Gibson like this J45 after your repairs would be worth several thousand dollars so charging between two to three thousand would be money well spent. Nice work!
Think old guitar will be priceless to owners and the passion and care you take really always comes out in your work so what ever you charge its definitely worth it
I always watch these with wonder and admiration. Personally, I'm always reluctant to introduce water in crack repairs, but decided to try it on a particularly tight crack on a Gretsch Steamliner. I gave you the credit for the idea, the repair is all but invisible (of course that's a bit easier to do on a paint finish than stained finish). I also cut the TB with water in order to push the glue through, but it worked very well.
You were most masterful in fixing that guitar. Gibson acoustics from the 70's were only good for being dartboards but you well and truly made this guitar shine like the sun. Congratulations Mr. Rosa. You didn't fail to satisfy me just as you never fail to satisfy.
I really like to watch the guitars journey from it’s broken beginning to the finished repair of that fine Gibson! Thanks for fantastic show as well! A big hello from Sweden!
Hey Jerry, loved this restoration. i bought mine new, 1970 model, love this guitar. My son has it now, I'm playing a J185 cut away. love your channel i probably spend far to much time watching you work your magic.
Wow! Not only is ms. Gibson really beautiful, she's packing some serious heat! Nice job Mr Rosa. If I had to pay for the work that you put into that guitar....well, I just couldn't.
When you were debating on how to remove the bridge plate after fitting it for size, you should have had what is called at Dave's World of Fun Stuff: a 'suction pig.' They are more commonly used as smartphone stands, but he's found function in it to remove access plates on the backs of electrics, and it could have even got that bridge plate if you had it planed smooth enough.
Great work on that one Jerry, you fixed a multitude of problems and it was fascinating to see the improvements through to a marvellous end result. It's wonderful to turn around a classic old Gibson and give it new life and value! Thanks for posting.
Steve Jobs is reportedly worth $144 Billion I hope your close to this after this Gibson fix .... really enjoyed watching all your hard work and attention to detail outstanding !
The guitar looks great and I'm sure there's many people out there who enjoyed watching you do it as well as I watching you work on it you saved its life you can count on that as far as the money goes I don't know 20 bucks an hour's a lot of money
Man Jerry, I hope that one’s a keeper because it seems like you’re about at the point where you could have built him a new one. Great watching, as always.
Well my prayers have been answered thank the Lord he got you through another impossible challenge. It looks so nice Jerry. Sounds great too. The binding looks great it really sets it off.
If you take the total dollar amount you received divided by the hours spent, it’d be upsetting. There are many industries that have the same salary creep, such as construction, independent woodworking, salaried office jobs, etc.. It goes with the territory, especially when you’re a master such as yourself who is meticulous in his work. Don’t fret, you enjoy your time, you have earned a deep respect from others in your field, your customers are clamoring for your services, you’re a natural teacher, and your a fantastic musician. You deserve to give yourself a little break from the job and grab another soda or coffee during the day to lighten your perspective and recharge your batteries. Consider the reason why the British stop everything for “Tea”. Take care, Bill from Mn.
You really dragged it kickin' and screamin' into being a guitar again, and a dang fine one at that! What a lovely sound it has! I would say that restoration/repair was worth around $2,000. Great video and song!
I loved our video, I never miss one. The owner should pay you for every hour you invested. He sent you a bunch of kindling and you sent him back a quality instrument.
Jerry...I don't repair anything but I love watching craftsmen apply their craft. I have narrowed my instrument repair subscriptions yo just you, as far as instruments. Plus watching you apply your genius to the art of instrument build. You are an artist first as far as building instruments is concerned.I love your videos. One thing i would offer is you need to put a dot on a stick a little to your left to put your eyes on your watchers. Does that make any sense to you? 😃 Only when you are talking your watchers through a repair on the work bench.
"What Binding is on your Guitar mate?" "Sycamore." "Sycamore eh? That doesn't get used much how exellent is that? Very nice." I'm guessing that's how the conversation would go. Great job Jerry.....As always.
What an amazing restoration! I really enjoyed watching every minute of this two parter (and boy am I glad I didn’t have to do any of the work). Great job.
I think that old binding is close to the same material that old film was printed on and the reason so many old films were unrecoverable and the reason the survivors have to be refrigerated today. Xlnt work, I'd be proud to own such a fine Gibson. Yes, you can never recover what you put into it but knowing how nice it turned out is priceless!
Wow. What a job you did here. I am far from removing a back off a guitar, but i like watching videos showing this process, im making notes for when i do finally do one. Great video as always. :-)
I have this exact guitar. Got if from my father. He bought it new in about 1975. The neck had been broken off at one time and the store sold it for half price, which at the time was $350 Canadian. It is in playable condition but has a few issues. While it doesn't need nearly as much work as this one, I know were to send it for a repair. That sound is so familiar. I think the cost of the repair is more than the value of the instrument. So unless it has sentimental value, you could find another playable example for less money. Of course we wouldn't get to see the wonderful craftsmanship going into the instrument and the beautiful sound coming out at the end.
Beautiful work saving that one, it's definitely a J45. It will stay in tune almost indefinitely if it's anything like Mom's old 60's era J45. Love that old guitar.
You never know about a guitar. Willie Nelson could afford a room full of guitars and yet he loves Trigger. They've been through a lot together. Trigger may have "written" Crazy! He did it with something when he was not rich. Who will buy Trigger when he's gone? ($millions$) Some guitars were all the guy had left after a divorce; others travelled to Vietnam; played on a stage in Nashville or Branson; played at a wedding or a funeral; were handed down by a military buddy or a gift from a celebrity... you just don't know where a guitars been or what it's done.
