I sincerely appreciate the history lessons of the instruments you work on. It is clear you care about them and it's no wonder why people want to send you their instruments from far and wide. Thanks for posting.
At a youth-based rock school I help with someone recently donated three student-sized nylon stringed guitars “for the kids”. Several hours after they left I opened the cases. Besides the two no-name starter guitars was a 1916 Martin 00-18. We called them and they had no clue what they had given away. We had to convince them to take it back. Thankfully we hadn’t let the kids get ahold of it. The guitar was astonishingly light and delicate. It sounded great though!
Huge amount of history in that guitar. One of my Gretsch Monkees guitars has a lot of history in its relatively short life, as well. I was lucky to find that history.
@Khail Kupsky spoiler alert Hateful 8 by Quentin Tarantino... the female prisoner is singing a folk song and Kurt Russell's character gets all miffed and picks up the guitar smashing it to bits. The guitar was a priceless vintage Martin and for the smashing part, a substitute duplicate was supposed to be in that scene. Kurt Russell didn't wait for the break, picked up the Martin and smashed it to bits. The look of horror on the actress's face is real, very real.
This was so nice on so many levels, I really appreciate your explanation especially for repairs of the past. We didn't have the internet or RU-vid in the 1970s to get world wide consensus on how things should be done. Or the ease to view a pencil date inside a guitar, it's just grandpa's old guitar. I inherited my father's Washburn New Model mandolin that he was given in the 1970s. I thought it was probably made in the 30s, and just recently found out it was 1889. It's 130 years old and still sounds like new. Just like old guitars, not worth much except sentimental value. Thanks for your content and sharing your knowledge and talent. My brother is an instrument repair tech and I have an appreciation for the skill involved.
I’m so glad I came across your channel, I’ve been thoroughly enjoying the content. I have a 54 Martin D28 that was my grandfathers, I haven’t taken it out of the case in at least 10 years (life happens) and when I did recently I was heart broken. The top has cracked around the pick guard in a couple places and the wood is cupped along with the pick guard, the bridge also needs some work. I used to play (although not that great) and have recently been wanting to take it up again. I wish you were in my neck of the woods, I have no idea who to take it to and certainly wouldn’t trust it with “just anyone”. This guitar is by far my most prized possession
@@user-otzlixr yep, it's juvenile I know but it always makes me laugh. When I was a kid, working as a furniture mover, an item on an invoice was listed as "one loose green stool". 50 years ago but it still makes me smile.
Oldest guitar I’ve worked on was from what I could tell a 1901 Martin. The center strip and a brace had been replaced at one time, so it was hard to identify. It was a spruce top, rosewood sides, and a birch back, which I thought was strange. Very thin material used on these
The sound is actually excellent - very like a classical guitar without the bass overtones. The felt pick suits it well. Excellent restoration. A Ted classic and, as usual, full of respect for the instrument.
I have a 2 1/2 17 from August 1880 that Hugh Hansen repaired about 12 years ago and it is absolutely wonderful to play and record. It is mahogany with a spruce top and was almost completely destroyed when Hugh got it but he brought it back to life. I think the biggest mistake people make when recording these types of guitars is first, using the wrong microphone and second, trying to get the guitar to do more than it actually does with the wrong microphone preamp settings. Even though the guitar is lower in volume because of the gut strings I prefer to use something like an AKG 451 or Neumann EL 84 placed two or 3 feet from the guitar top and run it through a great preamp and open up the input gain. I use a Manley vox box for most things like this , and yes that microphone and preamp selection is indeed a luxury but you can treat this guitar the same way with much less expensive gear and get a much better results than with more contemporary techniques. As always that’s a great video!
Yes, these little parlour guitars often have such wonderful voices, especially when played as single note melody or lead instruments. Not as good when they are chorded. Thanks for the show, Ted.
He gets up every mornin hits the basement yawnin grabs the Martin and puts on some new strings, a little truss rod adjustin and a flip he will be bustin when he sees that the nut needs some filing. And Ted is takin care o bizness, everyday takin care o bizness, looks like Randy B! And you never know when BTO is gonna visit Big T but, until they do, Ted is the best Luthier in Big C. Enjoying the great work and education. You really have a gift. Thank you
I heard that approximately 3000 may have been made before serial numbers came in. One came through the San Jose, Calif Goodwill store over 20 years go. A worker kept it.
I repaired an 1857 2 1/2, and replaced a brace, and bridge plate (VERY carefully) because the owner wanted to string with x light silk and steels. I completely agree with minimal/ authentic wood repair, and I used a stash of late 19th century spruce top wood from a trashed ancient Tilton. A half step flat is imperative, and as far as I know, the customer is still enjoying it. Wonderful guitars! The Brazilian they used is incredible!
That tuned up really sweet. Beautiful work. I know how hard it is to tune a moderately old out-of-shape guitar, this shows the quality of the restoration.
every time i see you in your apron at the end, i feel like you’re a blacksmith who’s also a bard. lol keep putting out this quality man. i love watching you restore guitars.
Very cute little Acoustic Guitar. These old Acoustic Guitars were built for Gut Strings & today we use Nylon as the Modern Equivalent. It came strung w/ Nylon Strings (D'addario Ball end Folk Nylon Strings with Black Nylon Trebles & Silver Plated Wound Basses) which is a sucsess.
Always great vids i have fixed three guitars since watching your top notch skills three broken knecks all playing great thanks for sharing ur skills shout out from Scotland
I'd just like to say that I appreciate your attention to the history of an instrument, as well as the fact that the instrument was made to e played, not just looked at. So many out there seem too quick to say "replace all of those" or just "refinish that" or even " it is too old just use it as decoration". You have said (and I agree) that while sometimes some or even all of these may be the "right" course of action there there is often another alternative that does more. You always seek to find that balance between history and playability, Keeping the instrument in service doing what it was meant to do. Thank you. P.S. I don't care what your work stool cover looks like, just keep fixing these instruments
Well, that was an education, no doubt about it. A lot in this video I didn't know. The history was very interesting, not to mention the repair itself. Nicely done. Thanks for sharing.
One more reason old pin bridge guitars had added tailpieces reflects the rise of steel strings, as you note. Guitars from this period were built to carry gut strings and running steel strings into the bridge could tear one apart. So they brought the added tension from the new strings over the existing saddle to the end block with the tailpiece. It was really, really common and you'll often find pin-bridge guitars from the period with these tell-tale screw holes around the end block.
Very interesting tidbit. These are the things you can only learn from other people because they're not relevant enough historically to be included in many books.
@@aniquinstark4347 Thanks for the shout. I don't think our lack of knowledge is as much a matter of historical relevance as it is carefree record keeping on the one hand and multiple sales points on the other with makers selling guitars themselves, selling via Sears and Montgomery Ward and even selling lots to other makers to finish. Hundreds of thousands of parlor guitars were churned out in these years, and most had no serial numbers and little if any branding. The change from gut to steel is likewise murky, as more expensive pin-bridge guitars were refitted with tailpieces, and cheaper tailpiece guitars had their moveable bridges replaced with fixed pin and tie bridges. We're all doing the best we can to unravel the mess!
I was surprised that you didn’t remove those long bolts at the pyramid bridge. Their mass would have adversely affected the tone of the guitar. I assume that the owner did not ask you to check the bridge. You could have at least cut them shorter. Is there any reason to leave them as you did?
@@gfurstnsu Hi. You replied to me, so Ted might not have seen this. But since I'm here ... the screws are pretty unsightly, that's true, but of course only a repair guy (and viewers) would ever see it. I'm going to guess that Ted didn't take them out because once removed, there might be consequences. I can't think the mass of the screws would change the tone a heck of a lot, but you probably know better than I do.
Shawns little riff at the start of some of your videos has gotten stuck in my head and not in a bad way. I find myself humming it thruout the day and even playing it when im noodling haha. Thanks Shawn :-)
Thank you so much for all that "in depth" information🙏 ! Since years I'm hungry for any Martin Details and started to build guitars on my own...but I never learned so much about that company in so short time...Best, Jojo Büld
When I was young and at that time I used to restore antiques. The finest old types of furniture from early 19th century around Chicago. You amaze me Sir !!! I love your expertise !!!
Thanks for these videos, Ted. I learn a lot every time. I won't dump a whole bunch of "you're a genius" type of stuff on you. I'm sure it gets old. How about a simple, I appreciate it.
That's quite lovely. BTW, I'd enjoy seeing a video about work maintaining the shop. Tool maintenance other than sharpening, that sort of thing. It would be interesting to get some insights into your experience at Lee Valley, too.
I just bought myself one of those jeweler's drills for the same sort of stuff. With small holes like those, manual drilling works just fine and you aren't as likely to drill too deep.
Interesting guitar! Very pretty playing at the end of the video, too. I've heard that pick-and-upstrum technique before but never *seen* how it's done. Gonna have to practice that!
You've got the most satisfying job in the world. What I like is ...you get straight stuck into repair work...I'd shit myself...Thanks.... it was a pleasure to watch and very therapeutic
