You are truly a great teacher. The design philosophies, history, humour, research, skills, techniques, tools, patience, thank you so much for the uplifting experience.
Yes, very patient, thorough, and knowledgeable about guitar specs, and every little detail. Truly a wealth of knowledge from everything I've seen so far.
I’ve found that my Ethel impressions to be quite a hit especially after some chemical enhancements 🤣. Nothing beats Ethel singing either Under the Bridge by the Chilis or Blow At High Dough by the Tragically Hip. A bunch of half drunk, middle aged folks nearly pissing themselves while I pick away and belt out my best Ethel never fails to amuse me.
"An Exercise in Futility" title of my memoir. Keith's Hummingbird always sounded really aggressive and upfront. "The basic track of "Street Fighting Man" was recorded on an early Philips cassette deck at London's Olympic Sound Studios, where Richards played a Gibson Hummingbird acoustic guitar, and Watts played on an antique, portable practice drum kit."
The guy that did a neck reset on my old Martin D18 merely bent and glued the fretboard to the soundboard too, creating that same annoying fall-off. As you mention, almost impossible to play up there anyway without a cutaway, but still bugs the hell out of me. Nice to know there is a solution without actually having to do yet another full neck reset. Awesome job!
I believe holly is the type of wood used for the headstock veneer before it was changed to plastic. I believe it’s cause it’s a closed grain wood that was very easy to obtain.
Gibson in the 60s did recycle some serial number batches, about four years apart, so it is possible, what with the narrow nut width and filled in screw holes of the pickguard, that this one is from 67/8, just before they reverted back to belly down bridges. Having said that, as far as I Know, they only produced a few Hummingdoves (Maple B&S) and in 62/3, supposedly because Gibson had orders waiting on Hummingbirds, but a surplus of Dove bodies. Excellent as always Ted👌
My first neck reset was on a '72 Harmony Sovereign during the bored time of 2020 stuck at home, it has the pickup in the end of the fingerboard. Reset came out nice other than the fretboard drop off at the body. Funny thing, when I originally did the reset I thought about making a tapered piece for under the fretboard but second guessed myself due to my lack of knowledge and that it was probably over-kill! HAHA Thanks for the lesson and the how to I guess I am going to make a go at it now.
It needs a fret job 58 years ago! Ya know, the one time I got my hands on a real deal original burst, the frets were *Terrible* (in a Cleveland voice). I’m perplexed by people who pay double for an instrument that’s unplayable, but 100% original. Give me new pots and a super jumbo fret job every day of the week. I’ll also be very pleased to gut the Astron caps out of a Tweed amp before I even plug it in!
@@wingracer1614 I suppose it lets the action sit super low so chording and some basic blues playing is easier. Playing anything else must be hell though
This comment could be on any one of your videos. I have been on a binge of your stuff recently and it’s pure joy to see someone so talented patiently sharing their techniques and best advice with the world. Thank you for your efforts! It really matters.
I steward a 2016 Hummingbird VOS . It is arguably the finest acoustic instrument ive ever played.. kind of astonishing to be the one taking care of it for now
Love the hummingbird ! I have a 68 or 69 copy made by Conqueror (c.j.bruno) . It's been an excellent guitar, and still sounds great. I've been tempted over the years to change the adjustable insert in the bridge, but can't bring myself to do it. It's never had a neck reset ,a fret job ,or a truss rod adjustment. I'm lucky ! Pick guard fell off years ago, and got put back on. One of those timeless guitars I will keep ! Thanks Ted !
I once used a credit card as a fret rocker, in a pinch. Wouldn’t recommend if you have access to a real one. However, it did work, and with its help I leveled a fret that gave me fits for a couple years before I was comfortable to tackle it. Great video as always!
Great job! I have a 60’s that for the longest time I thought was a ‘62 but with the research I’ve done on the web it could be a ‘66? So frustrating to date these. It belonged to my dad which he bought when I was a toddler I was born in ‘62. Mine as a very narrow nut width as well. Maybe it’s a ‘63 like this one? I’ve been hoping to have it fixed and set up by you. I’ve been watching many videos on guitar repairs , set ups etc… you are by far my favorite!!! Thank you and please keep’em coming. You are an amazing luthier and person 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
Greetings from the UK, Ted. Another informative video. It would be easy to be deterred by your skill & knowledge. However your can-do approach inspires me to try my own stuff. Cheers.
I played a 63 hummingbird with maple back and sides about a month ago. It was wonderful in many ways. I only had a few moments with the guitar, but I miss it dearly.
This is the exact video I needed to see right now. I've got a buzz at the 12th on my Strat and it never occurred to me that 11 *could be* low instead of 12 being high. Thanks, Ted! 🙏
Love your videos and dry sense of humor. I used to have a Bartolini pickup on my Takamine F360S but mine was the non-destructive soundhole type. Great little pickups. Very balanced tone without being too "electric-y". Sadly both guitar and pickup were stolen decades ago. Today I make do with an oddball Epiphone PR720S with a Dimarzio soundhole pickup.
"...the dropoff is noticable" ? 😂 I really think that's an understatement. From the looks of it that's a good 2-4mm lower than the actual fretboard height is. Ted you're a true wordsmith brother 👍
Sir, I LOVE your videos and tips. My question is if you could do a video discussing errors or failures you've had and what lessons were learned? Failures teach as well if not better than successes. Thank you and God Bless
It's a beauty! The nut size is the same as the one I bought new in 1974, and its serial reads like a 62. Mine has already seen very nearly its last day out of the case. And I'd love to hear your Ethel Merman!
I've seen a few fairly dull sounding ones, but there is an Australian picker called Mike McLellan who had a beauty that he bought in a hock shop in 1965. It was a stunner.
Had a Hummingbird once. Over 50 years ago, I knew a guy in southern Cal. named Sparrow or maybe "The Sparrow" and he had a Bird. I bought a used one and thought I was so cool. Did not really like it. It had that screw raising adjustable saddle and all the screws did was to drill a hole in the top. Traded it for a Santa Cruz H model several years ago. Also, if the box was from the 60's or even 70's most of the Hummingbird art on the guard would have been polished away from a player's arm, just say'n.
another thing about the fret rockers, even if the frets are perfectly flat, it can still rock because it's not parallel enough with the axis of the strings and it's rocking on the radius of the board.
some of those Gibson we're built specifically with the narrow neck to put into the hands of female players and if you were somebody and had ordered a hummingbird you could get it "sized"... A friend of mine found a custom hummingbird that was built for a young lady back in the '60s and had a very narrow neck..
I always liked narrow knecks, I think from moving from electric to acoustic for the first time, as a child. Then you get a hold of one of those classicals, and your frettin hand balance is complete!
I see a lot of these old Gibson guitars (acoustic and electric), and not only are the frets very very low, they look like they were never recrowned after being leveled, including the highest frets on the acoustics, which rarely get any play wear. I wonder how many intonation woes were caused by this.
Ethel Merman! I'm 69 and that name Seldom comes across my mind, even in relation to the Hollywood song. If Ted had not made the reference, I would not have remembered she sang it. However, I do remember Bugs Bunny (and Jerry Seinfeld) singing "This is It".
Dating 1960’s Hummingbirds is a nightmare. I own either a 66 or 68 or 69 according to various sites and or experts. Oddly mine has a wide nut width when it should be the smaller late 60’s size. Mine also has no sticker but does have a screwed down guard.
Please, I hope someone can help me... I'm looking for a particular video of Mr. Woodford's, where he's looking inside an old acoustic, and realises that a previous repairman missed a soundboard crack with a cleat. That's right, the cleat is glued on, NEXT to the crack! Does this ring a bell with anyone? It's one of the most hilarious things I've ever seen, but i'll be damned if i can find the video!!! Anyway, keep up the good work, Mr. Woodford! Big fan of the channel!!!
I bought one of these in 1963 or so from the music store where I worked. It was never "right." There was a brace missing under the treble side of the upper bout which resulted in a sunken area in the top of the instrument. I got rid of it really quickly.
As you said the Hummingbird was very popular during the 1960s, I think that they sound great when mixed with electric guitars etc. Although I’m pretty sure that many acoustic players dislike the adjustable bridges on 60s Gibson acoustic guitars I actually love their tone, but there again I am primarily an electric guitar player.
After hearing one where that awful plywood bridge plate had been replaced with Paduak (a WONDERFUL acoustic wood) I was praying you'd replace it. Kinda figured you wouldn't (I love your ethics) but could hope 😁
Ted--"just" another one of your examples of engineering followed by execution ! (Now, by the way, I am setting up the Daviln-Ford bridge heating assembly. I watch you using it and it appears in the video that you are using some version of a multi-meter to measure heat. Am I mistaken on that? I bought 2 S-Mc kits but, darn, those need big holes !! ( I have to do a vintage Guild D40---mine) I found what appears to be a $53 dollar adjustable power source (YES, DC) on Amazon. My wire, sleeve material and SS tubes are in my cart. Ian sent me his link; I had already made some guesses and was very close, but I am not too proud to be at a degree of error. It does not seem right to ask for expert advice, and then, ignore it.
Thanks for your work in recording video of your repairs, you've amassed a pretty good data base! I wish for a video concerning modern USA made CF Martins and loose bindings. Is it the plastics or is it the glue and maybe this would alert CFM that there is an issue. Thanks again, 👣
Just chiming in to say fretless wonder frets were the thin and low frets not the wide and low frets. They didnt continue into the 70s. Cheers! I dont mind being baited into commenting! Appreciate you.
man.. i would love to have you you fix up my old Ventura 12 string ( lifting bridge ) ... maybe if i watch enough of these ill fine the confidence to fix it my self. thanks for the great videos.
