Instrument Care
The articles, pages, that follow are written with Oklahomans in mind. I’ll try to do a couple each year and will do as much as possible to be responsive to the Oklahoma environment. The first few pages are on humidity. I’ve checked on the specifics that we face in Oklahoma so my comments are practical rather than theoretical. I’m open to suggestions for short pieces and original contributions, so don’t hesitate to contact me.
Protecting the Vintage Value of Your Instrument
I am a player (though only average), and while I have friends who collect and invest, I am definitely not an investor in vintage instruments – so I had never thought I’d write about vintage issues until a few items came across my repair
bench. The moral of this story – so you don’t have to read all of this if you don’t want – is “Be careful that your well-intentioned DIY efforts don’t destroy your vintage instrument’s value (or your new instrument, for that matter).”
One story relates to an old vintage guitar by a major builder (the name is not really important). In addition to being a
fine player, this was a vintage guitar potentially worth a few thousand dollars. A minor crack had been cleated fairly well – no crime there. It needed a neck reset – no one’s fault but age. But for some reason a previous owner (not the individual who brought it to me) had decided the instrument needed re-finishing. Re-finishing will usually devalue a vintage instrument even if it’s well done. Re-finishing well is not easy and the job had been poorly done. Still, with some work this was a good
sounding guitar that played nicely, but its vintage value had been cut dramatically.
Another recent story comes from the mandolin family. For some reason the owner and one of his friends had decided to
show their DIY skills on a nice 1970’s Japanese-built mandolin. The finger board extension had been amputated and the binding replaced with a non-matching piece – and no touch up on the top. The frets had been removed, replaced, leveled, but the ends left dangerously sharp. The tuners had been replaced (an up-grade?) that left damage around the post holes. While, with some TLC, this was still a good mandolin, the value it might have had as a vintage instrument was lost.
I’m a DIYer around the house – at least in areas my wife allows. But before you start to work on your instrument think carefully. Will you impact vintage value? Do you care? Instruments are delicate and require delicate and careful treatment – do you really have the skills and patience (mine is frequently tested with restorations)? And if you decide to do it yourself – make sure you have a credible source of information. I recently read a piece of advice (?) on a repair site that suggested using coke to clean a fretboard….. hmmmm, if you try that – let me know, but you did NOT get that advice here.
Protecting the Vintage Value of Your Instrument
I am a player (though only average), and while I have friends who collect and invest, I am definitely not an investor in vintage instruments – so I had never thought I’d write about vintage issues until a few items came across my repair
bench. The moral of this story – so you don’t have to read all of this if you don’t want – is “Be careful that your well-intentioned DIY efforts don’t destroy your vintage instrument’s value (or your new instrument, for that matter).”
One story relates to an old vintage guitar by a major builder (the name is not really important). In addition to being a
fine player, this was a vintage guitar potentially worth a few thousand dollars. A minor crack had been cleated fairly well – no crime there. It needed a neck reset – no one’s fault but age. But for some reason a previous owner (not the individual who brought it to me) had decided the instrument needed re-finishing. Re-finishing will usually devalue a vintage instrument even if it’s well done. Re-finishing well is not easy and the job had been poorly done. Still, with some work this was a good
sounding guitar that played nicely, but its vintage value had been cut dramatically.
Another recent story comes from the mandolin family. For some reason the owner and one of his friends had decided to
show their DIY skills on a nice 1970’s Japanese-built mandolin. The finger board extension had been amputated and the binding replaced with a non-matching piece – and no touch up on the top. The frets had been removed, replaced, leveled, but the ends left dangerously sharp. The tuners had been replaced (an up-grade?) that left damage around the post holes. While, with some TLC, this was still a good mandolin, the value it might have had as a vintage instrument was lost.
I’m a DIYer around the house – at least in areas my wife allows. But before you start to work on your instrument think carefully. Will you impact vintage value? Do you care? Instruments are delicate and require delicate and careful treatment – do you really have the skills and patience (mine is frequently tested with restorations)? And if you decide to do it yourself – make sure you have a credible source of information. I recently read a piece of advice (?) on a repair site that suggested using coke to clean a fretboard….. hmmmm, if you try that – let me know, but you did NOT get that advice here.
Learn More About Caring for Your Instrument
Buying Your Child's First Guitar or First Mandolin
Stringing Your Guitar
Keeping Your Guitar or Mandolin in Playing Condition
Oklahoma, Humidity, and Guitars
Stringing Your Guitar
Keeping Your Guitar or Mandolin in Playing Condition
Oklahoma, Humidity, and Guitars
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Copyright 2009 Ed Cunliff.
Copyright 2009 Ed Cunliff.
