Chubbuck Guitars / Kevin Chubbuck, making & repairing guitars in an old building just north of Boston, Massachusetts.
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repair
Loose frets :: 1960's Teisco May Queen
Just about every fret end on this neck is "sprung" and needs to be glued and clamped back down. Not ideal, but it will hopefully make it more playable and save the player some cash on a total refret (which it could use as the frets are fairly low).
Counterfeit Martin D45S [4.8 lbs] :: sharp fret ends & setup
This customer has a good sense of humor. He stops by and says "I have Martin D-45 for you! Should be worth quite a bit of money!" I was immediately suspicious as pulled it out of a stained Washburn gig bag. We both had a good laugh and he described a few issues to address, like the high action and sharp fret ends. Upon inspection I found a slew of other issues (as to be expected on such a cheap copy) with a lifting bridge, loose braces, uneven frets and an über-sloppy saddle fit (see video below). We decided to keep costs down and just make it more comfortable to play and only addressed the fret ends and action.
The serial number dates it to 1944 ... a rare year indeed for Martin cutaways since they weren't available until the 1980's. Also check out this oddly-worded label ... yikes.
Neck Fit :: 1969 Guild Mark III
This late 60's Guild is in for a neck reset and bridge reglue. Here I'm fine tuning the fit before the final finish touch ups and glue up to the body.
Removable side repair :: 1999 Luthier Music Corp TRVL01 Travel Guitar [2.1 lbs]
This was an interesting project that made me feel more like a boat builder than a guitar guy. The sides on this travel classical are removable and over time the tabs that fit into the body had become damaged and previously repaired. One of the tabs was even cut off and super-glue-lap-joined to the side. All of the tabs needed to be repaired, so each tab was epoxied and wrapped with fiberglass and mahogany veneer on each side. I used InstaMorph (moldable plastic pellets) to make inner and outer molds for each tab (eight molds in total) to maintain the shape during glue-up. The lap-joined tab was removed and notched into the side before reinforcing. After cleaning up and fitting each tab, the repairs were sealed with a light coat of shellac and waxed. Many, many hours on this seemingly simple project.
Light fret dress :: 2006 Mirabella 17" [5.8 lbs]
I had a rare opportunity this week to have a beautiful 17" Cris Mirabella archtop in the shop for a minor fret level on the upper frets. The player has it set up with super-low action and it plays amazingly clean. I shot a video with this guitar to practice my video setup and workflow that I will be posting over on the blog soon.
Yet another guitar that I wish could have hung around the shop longer ... it will be missed!
![Counterfeit Martin D45S [4.8 lbs] :: sharp fret ends & setup](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53dfcee2e4b0c0da377c65c7/1430976631250-PSWVI2HNIVYM8O0KJFTW/image-asset.jpeg)
![Removable side repair :: 1999 Luthier Music Corp TRVL01 Travel Guitar [2.1 lbs]](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53dfcee2e4b0c0da377c65c7/1430976695580-0SCO2MTVSPMTI6UMN7M2/image-asset.jpeg)
![Light fret dress :: 2006 Mirabella 17" [5.8 lbs]](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53dfcee2e4b0c0da377c65c7/1430976723215-KQUYX22D88GUOHXYFV0N/image-asset.jpeg)