Yes, exactly here: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-OUHShx43JVU.html (It's at the time he references him, but you have to go back a little in the video to see what he's talking about ; ) ).
Seeing Mr Savage butchering a toy piano and attempting to cobble together something that can make sounds from bits and pieces he has laying around and being happy with the end result even though it looks like it was made by a one armed chimpanzee with a hatchet and sounds like a beer crate half filled with broken springs is so far removed from what Todd does that I'm surprised he thought of Todd while making that video !
I think the date stamp says "S48" not "S46" but you might already know that and accidentally said 46. Or it really is a 46 and it looks like 48. Excellent video btw as always!
I like the fact that the customer wanted this old Harmony to be done right even though it doesn't make sense given the dollar value of the guitar. That's called loving your guitar. People do it with cars and such all the time.
I agree - every guitar has it's own unique personality, even the cheaper ones like Harmony.! I have 2 ,and they are loved and cared for ,just like my more expensive ones !
The thing is, as he said earlier in the video, this guitar might’ve been an economy model back in the day but the wood that it’s made from is now a luxury. Which is why I try to keep my older instruments. Many of the fingerboards are Brazilian rosewood.
Keith Richards toured and recorded the Stones first two albums with Harmony guitars. The first album was recorded with a 6- string/ the second with a 12 string. Yes- these are cheap guitars for their time, but very sought after by guitarists.
Your content is not solely for guitar repairs, for me it's therapy, a money can't buy experience. I wish you the best in everything you need. Cheers from the land Down Under !
Great to see you go into so much detail about that bridge routing jig of yours. I'm fixing up a 1972 Aria, clearly inspired by the Gibson Hummingbird. I'm using your bent B string method to intonate the new saddle. just quietly watching your vids has given me loads of lutiery and repair tips and I'm very grateful for that - and for the entertainment
People need to understand that this is your job. We viewers see entertainment. You are working. Indeed, the casket shop I worked at, shut down for everyone's vacation at the same time.
Love your, "I'm not going to show every ______ job" thing. Personally I don't set my alarm for the latest vid from you, I simply am pleased with seeing a new one available. Stick to your guns. Great work.
@@whansandceros or do the research, I contacted Fender for the full specs on my 15 year old MIM strat, and they had everything down to the neck finish.
That guitar sounds as lovely as it looks! That mahogany is beautiful 😍. Someone has taken very special care with it all these years and could not have given it to a better luthier for repairs and changes! Loved this video ❤️❤️
I found when using very long thin drill bits (2 or 3mm), it helps to slide a brass or ally tube up the drill bit. This helps stop it bending and can also protect nearby body material from the spinning drill bit.
Thanks, Ted, for the detailed explanation of your saddle routing jig. That gives me enough info to “do the work” and make my own. FYI-I always get a little sentimental whenever you work on a Harmony guitar. A guy in my very first band started building his chops on a Harmony Bobcat played through a Montgomery Ward Airline amp. Great times.
Very unusual having sapwood and heartwood running along the fingerboard like that and also on the bridge, that makes it a pretty unique instrument ! Finding a piece of rosewood in your stash with similar colours so you can make a matching insert for the bridge is astonishing and shows what kind of a craftsman you really are ! It really blew me away to see the matching insert fitted in the bridge, if you didn't know that it had been done you'd never notice it !
"Don't ask for dimensions. Get a guitar and figure it out for yourself. Do the work." Best quote I've heard in a while. That is a cool jig though. I love learning about and working on my guitars. But I don't think I would want that to be my job. Thank you for the work that you do and for sharing some of it with us.
That reminds me of Chef John when people ask how much salt or sugar or butter he used and his response is "make it to your liking - that's just you cooking". "That's just you luthiering."
Man, I love watching these videos. I’m a self employed carpenter but I wish I did this for a living. There’s a big difference between carpentry and luthier work. Even tho we both work with wood. I do finish carpentry as well but this is a different animal. I typically do my own guitar work and have even done some refinish work on my guitars but good luthier work is something I view with a very deep appreciation. Thanks for sharing your great work.
He will never read this, but thank you for explaining the core elements of what I need to do to fix my classical guitar that has crappy intonation! Will I ever do it? Not sure, but now I know how to build the jig!
You got to smile , when everyone starts correcting you for what they think is a mistake you make…From the opening music to the end test play , That’s what puts a smile on my face. You don’t see this kind of repair of guitars …anywhere but here.! Further more, I have yet to see a bad video.🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦💌😊
Thanks for the part about first and second part of the year. I have been having this debate with people for a long time. I have a later H165 (1958). Guitar materials are the same, but it bottom bout on mine is flatter on the end, and it has the “Steel Reinforced Neck”. As cheap as these guitars were new, they have some interesting material choices, like the once piece sound boards and backs (not book-matched like today’s guitars, or other guitars of the same era).
I have a self-built 12string from 1967. The neck is mahogany with an integral fingerboard. The wood was chosen with a slight back-bow and when strung up it is virtually flat without any reinforcement
Honduran mahogany and even cuban mahogany is still somewhat available today. But are getting quite expensive especially the old growth verity. When you get your hands on some it is obvious why our ancestors loved it so much.
Sometimes I get a really good dose of why did I even do that... Coming from the memories of all the various Harmony and Silvertone guitars I've passed over or just wasn't educated enough on their history. Had some pretty nice Kay's before I probably should have kept and just played when the mood hit.
I love watching you work! I am a guitarist, i had my framus panthera at a luthier for a refret and a new nut, but he just glued a piece of wood under the old nut (frets are higher) and it was sloppy, brought it to another luthier for a new nut, spacing was all over the place, can i send you my guitar from austria? :D
I'm fond of your videos. Very interesting and also it seems that being a craftsman lifts spirit. Very good philosophy in life from my point of you. Thanks for everything.
As always, an unbelievable job that leaves me in awe! Don't know if I spelled that right but you're pretty amazing and I love watching your videos! I think you're much better than you really realize!
Have a harmony with a similar fretboard. It's used as a barbeque guitar. Traded a bucket of used horseshoes for it. Had to fix some cracks and reset the neck.
i used to use Honduran Mahogany to build bookcases and furniture in high school almost 50 years ago. A beautiful wood to work with and I still have one bookcase and two pieces of furniture I built out of that wood. All finished with 'Deft' which I understand was responsible for the loss of a few brain cells along the way. Who knew ???
Great as always! Questions on cutting a new saddle slot (possibly fodder for a future video): It looks like you are doing it parallel to a flat edge of the bridge. But I would think it is common to need to slant the saddle a bit for better intonation. So my 2 part question is a) how to set up your jig for a slant and b) how to determine the proper slant (or even if you need one) before you cut? I've even seen some acoustics where the saddle is split so there are 2 (or more) saddle slots to accommodate even more intonation control. As an added bonus .... why on earth has no one invented a saddle/bridge system for acoustics that allow accurate intonation adjustments (like electrics)?
It was cut with a slant, but I angled the take off points to the very front edge for the treble and the very back for the bass so it's not slanted as much, so I didn't run out of bridge for the treble. The bridge might also have been glued on a bit crooked as well. There have been several adjustable saddles developed for acoustics over the years. They usually get pulled out and plugged because they sound awful.
Love your channel! Do you advise customers that the cost of repairs may exceed the value of the instrument? Sentimental value, of course, is priceless.
I was just going out to spray clear nitro on a mid-60s Harmony archtop I've had for decades. It had been sitting outside and I bought it for like $35. Now I'm older and smarter (than when I took a run at it the first time), I think I stand a fair chance of turning it into something fun and playable. It has a steel-reinforced poplar neck with a lovely little backbow to it. I think it'll be fine.
The answer to “How much time do you spend looking at the far side of your neck?” is the same for me as for my guitar. None. I spend no time looking at the far side of the neck. I have wasted much of my life. But as Ted said, “You can’t expect too much from them.” Thank you Ted.
I know your a fan of fish glue and I recently used it on a refret that has been hanging around (I'm very amateur and this is for my own use) and I was a bit surprised to see a clamping time of 12 hours...is that the norm for fish glue? Do you rely on the fret tang to provide the clamping when you use it on frets? I used my fretboard radius block light clamped in place overnight-seemed to work fine. Your vids got me going on some projects that hung up....enjoy watching you work.
Until you pointed out the dual colored bridge I thought it had a huge chunk broken out of it and was wondering why you weren’t mentioning it. Old eyes I suppose. Very interesting fret board and bridge.
Fret leveling, crowning, end rounding, polishing, etc. has to be one of the bigger asswhips you have to do. I’ve done it several times on my own guitars and, like your buddy said, by the end of a fret job, my hands hurt and I’m mentally drained. I keep thinking there has to be a market for an electric fretting tool, if someone would invent one, that effortlessly performed those tasks without marring the fretboard. Even if you had to level the frets by hand, the individual crowning/rounding/polishing surely could be automated in an affordable little power tool. I can envision one (sorry I’m a retired engineer), but it would need so much R&D, then manufacturing, etc. Hey Stew Mac, we could collaborate! Otherwise, meh....just keep doing it by hand.
Ian Davlin has made a motorized fret crowning file from a small Harbor Freight pneumatic reciprocating saw because back to back stainless jobs are the worst!
@@twoodfrd I was watching Dan using it on Ian's stream a few weeks ago. Looks interesting, though I suspect it's not a tool that's going to be good for anybody but experienced luthiers. I don't think I'd use it. I'm not a massive fan of the inset fret-crowning files, as I can't see what's going on. My gut tells me that using a file I'm uncomfortable with is already a bridge too far, let alone putting a bloody engine on the thing. :D
@Question Everything "The machine is called a PLEK." ̶F̶i̶r̶s̶t̶,̶ ̶n̶o̶ ̶i̶t̶ ̶i̶s̶n̶'̶t̶.̶ ̶T̶h̶e̶ ̶m̶a̶c̶h̶i̶n̶e̶ ̶i̶n̶ ̶q̶u̶e̶s̶t̶i̶o̶n̶ ̶i̶s̶ ̶o̶n̶e̶ ̶b̶e̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶d̶e̶v̶e̶l̶o̶p̶e̶d̶ ̶b̶y̶ ̶a̶ ̶I̶a̶n̶ ̶D̶a̶v̶l̶i̶n̶.̶ Scratch that. Misread. And I went and looked at the PLEK. Ewwww.
@Question Everything But does a plek really make the job easier? Now you have a big expensive machine that needs a different set of skills to program and operate, it needs maintenance and takes up space too
