SG John
Ambassador of Cool Guitars and Amps.
Back in October, I finally decided to send the Cipollina SG that Javamagic made to a proper luthier to have some issues dealt with. One of the problems with the guitar which Java warned me about was the fingerboard starting to lift. Once it have seen several seasonal changes here in New England, along with our extreme temperature swings, it showed a multitude of problems being removed from temporal damp southwest Ireland.
The fingerboard lifted in a couple of places and had a bad back bow. Brian had always complained about the neck angle being too shallow and hard to adjust the action.
After speaking with a few people, I took the guitar to Bill Tippin at Tippin Guitars in Marblehead, MA in November. I would have taken it in October, but that involves driving through Salem which is an impossibility in October. Bill Tippin is an amazing luthier who builds acoustic guitars for people who think that high end Martins are beaters. He was also a factory warranty tech for Dobro and National. I'll be taking my Dobro there soon. We discussed what it may need, and the both knew that removal of the fingerboard would be inevitable.
After removing the frets, fingerboard, binding, and many of the inlays, he sanded the neck and back of the fingerboard. Then the neck and bindings were glued back on. He had to blend the transition of the fingerboard and neck, match the color in a few places and then touch up the clearcoat. Then new frets were installed, nut was shimmed, and a set up done. The old Grover Imperials are not working well, so I just ordered a new set. I'll do a bit of work on the bridge when I replace the tuners as it won't lower any further due to the neck angle. All in all, he did a fantastic job. The neck is as straight as an arrow. I'll need to do a bit more work on it this summer, but at least it plays well now.
The fingerboard lifted in a couple of places and had a bad back bow. Brian had always complained about the neck angle being too shallow and hard to adjust the action.
After speaking with a few people, I took the guitar to Bill Tippin at Tippin Guitars in Marblehead, MA in November. I would have taken it in October, but that involves driving through Salem which is an impossibility in October. Bill Tippin is an amazing luthier who builds acoustic guitars for people who think that high end Martins are beaters. He was also a factory warranty tech for Dobro and National. I'll be taking my Dobro there soon. We discussed what it may need, and the both knew that removal of the fingerboard would be inevitable.
After removing the frets, fingerboard, binding, and many of the inlays, he sanded the neck and back of the fingerboard. Then the neck and bindings were glued back on. He had to blend the transition of the fingerboard and neck, match the color in a few places and then touch up the clearcoat. Then new frets were installed, nut was shimmed, and a set up done. The old Grover Imperials are not working well, so I just ordered a new set. I'll do a bit of work on the bridge when I replace the tuners as it won't lower any further due to the neck angle. All in all, he did a fantastic job. The neck is as straight as an arrow. I'll need to do a bit more work on it this summer, but at least it plays well now.
