20 year old Martin 00-15, bridge shave or neck reset advice pls

JCA2550 · June 2020

My much loved mahogany top Martin 00-15, has the not uncommon issue of the belly very slightly swelling with age and the set of the neck angle vs height of the bridge no longer has enough wiggle room to shave the saddle to return it to my favoured lowish action.

I could shave a mm or 2 off the the bridge but a neck reset may be preferable. I'm aware of Dave King in Newbury but is there a recommended Luthier/repairer that I could get a second opinion from and do a reset nearer me?

North east London, Herts, Essex area preferred.

Cheers,

Cam

Winny_Pooh · June 2020

This guy is based in London and does neck resets on loads of top end acoustics.

Kenji Okumura

okumuraguitars@gmail.com

earwighoney · June 2020

JCA2550 said:

My much loved mahogany top Martin 00-15, has the not uncommon issue of the belly very slightly swelling with age and the set of the neck angle vs height of the bridge no longer has enough wiggle room to shave the saddle to return it to my favoured lowish action.

I could shave a mm or 2 off the the bridge but a neck reset may be preferable. I'm aware of Dave King in Newbury but is there a recommended Luthier/repairer that I could get a second opinion from and do a reset nearer me?

North east London, Herts, Essex area preferred.

Cheers,

Cam

Any chance of posting up a pictures of the soundboard and bridge?

My favourite acoustic guitar's saddle has come down as low as is possible and I think it's in a similar position to yours and I'd be intrigued to see how it looks now.

Just out of interest have you had any issues with your bridge plate? I posted a thread here about my bridge plate having some tear out and Andy (who makes fine guitars) then said something about bridge plate problems can sometimes lead to the soundboard bellying which my guitar has a bit of.

domforr · June 2020

LA Guitars in Finchley or Graham Parker in Lewisham. I have used LA guitars many times and they are very good, if a little pricey. I have only dealt with Graham by email for advice, but he has a very good reputation and seems very approachable.

JCA2550 · June 2020

earwighoney said:

Any chance of posting up a pictures of the soundboard and bridge?

My favourite acoustic guitar's saddle has come down as low as is possible and I think it's in a similar position to yours and I'd be intrigued to see how it looks now.

Just out of interest have you had any issues with your bridge plate? I posted a thread here about my bridge plate having some tear out and Andy (who makes fine guitars) then said something about bridge plate problems can sometimes lead to the soundboard bellying which my guitar has a bit of.

I'll see If I can post a pic up of the top and bridge in a bit, the bridge plate is sound as a pound. I had Leon of Grizzly Guitars do a marvellous refret on it a few years ago and he may have shaved a whisper off the top of the bridge at the time, not sure though? He certainly cut slots to improve the break angle over the saddle.

earwighoney · June 2020

Winny_Pooh said:

This guy is based in London and does neck resets on loads of top end acoustics.

Kenji Okumura

okumuraguitars@gmail.com

I can also vow for Kenji, I took my guitar for a set up when he was at Ivor's. Excellent work for sure.

His workshop I think is around the Queenstown Road station, near Battersea? I was planning to take a few things to him when things settle down a bit.

JCA2550 said:

I'll see If I can post a pic up of the top and bridge in a bit, the bridge plate is sound as a pound. I had Leon of Grizzly Guitars do a marvellous refret on it a few years ago and he may have shaved a whisper off the top of the bridge at the time, not sure though? He certainly cut slots to improve the break angle over the saddle.

Thanks for the info, good to hear your bridgeplate is still in great condition! Just out of curiousity what kind of fretwire did you have it refretted with? Seems like your 00's had a good life, a fine acoustic deserves to be played!

JCA2550 · June 2020

A couple of pics
https://i.imgur.com/VMHL1G7.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/zCHTsUV.jpg

earwighoney · June 2020

Thanks for that JCA, hopefully someone like ICBM can provide his view if you can get by with the bridge being shaved.

Epsilon · June 2020

Definitely do a neck reset. Bridge shaving takes mass off the guitar right where you want it and will affect the downward pressure on and vibration of the soundboard. It affects the sound. If you do a bridge shave you'll probably just end up replacing the bridge and getting a neck reset at some stage. A good neck reset will give you a guitar at peak performance for another 20-30 years.

As above, I've used Kenji Okumura for a neck reset before and he is very good. Turnaround times aren't quick but it's worth it.

earwighoney · June 2020

Epsilon said:

As above, I've used Kenji Okumura for a neck reset before and he is very good. Turnaround times aren't quick but it's worth it.

He's pretty slow but I see that as a good thing. I've seen him in Ivor's working whilst trying guitars and he's slow and precise. Fine attributes for a repairman!

Andy79 · June 2020

Dave king is the boy for Martins. No question.

Never shave that bridge that’s a trick for cheap crap, Harmonys, Taylors etc

I had a D15 with a bad neck angle. The modern 15s have a tenon joint with a screw (allegedly not part of the joint) but I nipped the screw up and it brought the neck back in line. Nice

JCA2550 · June 2020

All really helpful insights and recommendations, thanks.

JCA2550 · June 2020

I've dropped lines to Dave King and Kenji Okumura. I'll let you know how I get on.

Stuckfast · June 2020

Keith Railton at Imperial Guitars is near Cambridge, he did a very difficult neck reset for me and got it spot on. Was quite a bit cheaper than most into the bargain.

ICBM · June 2020

What Epsilon said - always reset the neck, not shave the bridge if you have the choice on a decent guitar. Shaving the bridge reduces the string height above the top which will reduce the vibration transmitted into it and weaken the tone. If you reset the neck you can even increase the saddle height slightly.

Shaving the bridge is for cheap guitars like 70s plywood Yamahas where the neck was glued in with something like epoxy and can’t be reset without a vastly excessive cost, or really at all.

Epsilon · June 2020

earwighoney said:

Epsilon said:

As above, I've used Kenji Okumura for a neck reset before and he is very good. Turnaround times aren't quick but it's worth it.

He's pretty slow but I see that as a good thing. I've seen him in Ivor's working whilst trying guitars and he's slow and precise. Fine attributes for a repairman!

Absolutely. It wasn't really meant as a criticism but simply a reality of having a neck reset done by a pro to a high standard.

JCA2550 · June 2020

Dave King has said he can do it with a 2 week turnaround, only hesitation is the 140 mile round trip to drop it off and finding the time and justification during lockdown.

mgaw · June 2020

JCA2550 said:

Dave King has said he can do it with a 2 week turnaround, only hesitation is the 140 mile round trip to drop it off and finding the time and justification during lockdown.

use UPS?

Lodious · June 2020

mgaw said:

JCA2550 said:

Dave King has said he can do it with a 2 week turnaround, only hesitation is the 140 mile round trip to drop it off and finding the time and justification during lockdown.

use UPS?

Use ParcelForce....they will do the neck reset in transit.