All makes good sense. Thankyou. If having "the gap" is not acceptable to some, stewmac could invent a stainable silicone filler to run a bead around it !
The gap isn't there when you clamp the extension down. The drop-off is. If you filled the gap instead of clamping it down, you'd just have a shim of a different kind.
Bryan, I remain deeply indebted to you, as I always get so much out of your videos. I recently started putting together a few kits, and your information has always proven to be invaluable. And once again, this video is a great example of such. I reckon the pressure from the fingerboard extension was probably one of the reasons for the dreaded popsicle brace lol.
I don't know for sure why they added the popsicle but that could be. Back in the day, Martin neck angles favored higher actions that we run today and the extension could very well put more stress on the upper bout. Here's a story, though... I have seen MANY guitars with cracks alongside the fingerboard. ALL of those had popsicle braces. And NONE of the guitars I've see that were originally popsicle-less had cracks!!! There are a lot better ways to stop those cracks and I go with John Arnold's trapezoidal brace. I also don't shim under the extension. Good luck with your guitars!!! Keep those 2 rear back braces low. Go here and listen to the back tap-tones: ua-cam.com/video/5gDI-U_uWsM/v-deo.htmlsi=yQUC0aqC9sc-EoGJ&t=1168
@@Bryankimsey man I have actually listened to that video before, honestly I don’t know if I have ever missed one of your videos to tell you the truth. I have been very conscious of the back braces, along with everything else. Binding and finish is where I’m really falling apart lol. it would probably take an act of Congress to help me out on that. 😂 i’ve studied all the instruments that have come through here which I have found pleasing, which of course would include a few of John Arnold’s instruments. of course studying and putting into action is two different things lol.
Great video very educational. I agree that there is a drop-off on the back of that guitar. When you slide your hand up the back you can see your hand drop off at a point. Replay that part on slow you can see it. Is it possible the body is too short or the neck too long in a certain area? It sounds dumb but you should check it out. I live near the Martin factory. Back in the 70s I fell in love with Martin Guitars. I visited the factory several times over the years. The worker can tell you some stories about Martin. Martin used to sell what they called seconds without telling the customers. I don't know if they still do but they sure used to. Btw, Can I ask, what a Luther has to do to become an authorized repair man for Martin's guitar? Thumbs up to your video.
Good deal!!! I'm glad you could see it! I honestly don't know what caused it...I have never seen anything like it before and I don't remember it when the guitar was here the first time. Pressing on it, it's not soft or anything. I'm not Authorized so I can't answer that. I don't want to be because I don't want to hinder my ability to do modifications, ya know?
Bryan, I've noticed a lot of old Brazilian guitars have cracks or repaired cracks, but haven't see the same thing with Indian rosewood. Is that your experience and is Brazilian really better sounding that Indian in your mind?
That's because Braz is very brittle and Indian is not. When you cut BRW on a band-saw, it'll often smoke and it leaves a metallic-like cut. IRW will leave fuzzy edges. I have a seen a few cracked IRW guitars. As for sound... what's "better"? I can think of any really good A/B's where you have the same bracing, same top woods, same glue, same truss rod, same AGE, in Indian vs BRW. Martin made a very limited run of Braz HD-28's in the mid-80's and comparing one of those with a regular HD-28 from the same time would be a decent start but I'm not totally convinced that the _construction_ of the guitars during that time really lets the BRW shine. In the meantime... this is as close as I've got on the channel. To directly answer your question, though... given the same everything but back/sides, I personally think I'd like Madagascar or SE Asian RW better because I don't like reverb that BRW has. ua-cam.com/video/wyBzVa2DH1o/v-deo.html
3 neck resets? Wow. That sounds out of the ordinary to me. I had one on my D-35, many moons ago, and was told at the time that I would never need one again. 40 years later, it's getting close.. By the way, I have that drop-off you are talking about, no shim.
It's VERY out of the ordinary and I'm trying to figure out what's going on here. The need for a reset comes not from the neck but from body distortion.
Hi Bryan...you worked on an HD28 of mine about 15ish years ago. thank you...I have another guitar that needs your love. A second hand custom...essntially an M-18...interested?
I'd check your installation. I've never heard anyone call a K&K "dull". What are you doing with it after it leaves the guitar? Straight into something? DI, Preamp? You have to match the impedance... not all preamps work well with the K&K. I rarely use anything other than a straight Mini pickup because the beauty of that is the simplicity. If you need more sophisticated electronics, you're on your own because you probably have some specific need to fill.
K&K Pure XLR. Or straight into the board. My amplification needs are primitive- church where no one really cares what an acoustic guitar sounds like and they just want to hear a guitar sounding sound. Or coffeehouse where you can hear the actual acoustic sound pretty good and the pickup is just a little extra in the background. I use a pickup and a mic a lot. Pickup for the base sound and then a mic for leads and emphasis.
@Bryankimsey the knk plugged straight into an acoustic amp works well whrn we play at the nursing homes but we also play alot of outdoor events going into a yamaha 880xs powered board to passive speakers then monitor out to powered speakers. In thst scenario there is not enough sparkle or highs and my wife who also plays guitsr has a hard time hearing my guitar and so do I. It doesn't cut through- really bass heavy and will feedback if turned up to loud and come near a mic. Our other guitar= Martin dread special with built in VTS system is perfect for any situation.
That sounds exactly like an impedance mismatch. If you run a K&K thru an LR Baggs Preamp, it'll sound way too bassy. My amp matches the K&K and sounds fine. I'm embarrassed that I can't remember the brand... it's tan, discontinued, and 50 watt. Not a Peavy Ecoustic although I had one of those. Urgh.... I'll look when I go out to the shop again.
Thanks for the info 👍
All makes good sense. Thankyou.
If having "the gap" is not acceptable to some, stewmac could invent a stainable silicone filler to run a bead around it !
The gap isn't there when you clamp the extension down. The drop-off is. If you filled the gap instead of clamping it down, you'd just have a shim of a different kind.
Bryan, I remain deeply indebted to you, as I always get so much out of your videos. I recently started putting together a few kits, and your information has always proven to be invaluable. And once again, this video is a great example of such. I reckon the pressure from the fingerboard extension was probably one of the reasons for the dreaded popsicle brace lol.
I don't know for sure why they added the popsicle but that could be. Back in the day, Martin neck angles favored higher actions that we run today and the extension could very well put more stress on the upper bout.
Here's a story, though... I have seen MANY guitars with cracks alongside the fingerboard. ALL of those had popsicle braces. And NONE of the guitars I've see that were originally popsicle-less had cracks!!!
There are a lot better ways to stop those cracks and I go with John Arnold's trapezoidal brace. I also don't shim under the extension.
Good luck with your guitars!!! Keep those 2 rear back braces low. Go here and listen to the back tap-tones:
ua-cam.com/video/5gDI-U_uWsM/v-deo.htmlsi=yQUC0aqC9sc-EoGJ&t=1168
@@Bryankimsey man I have actually listened to that video before, honestly I don’t know if I have ever missed one of your videos to tell you the truth. I have been very conscious of the back braces, along with everything else. Binding and finish is where I’m really falling apart lol. it would probably take an act of Congress to help me out on that. 😂 i’ve studied all the instruments that have come through here which I have found pleasing, which of course would include a few of John Arnold’s instruments. of course studying and putting into action is two different things lol.
There's two reasons I don't build. Binding and finish. :) Good luck!
Thanks. Learning new things.
Great video very educational. I agree that there is a drop-off on the back of that guitar. When you slide your hand up the back you can see your hand drop off at a point. Replay that part on slow you can see it. Is it possible the body is too short or the neck too long in a certain area? It sounds dumb but you should check it out. I live near the Martin factory. Back in the 70s I fell in love with Martin Guitars. I visited the factory several times over the years. The worker can tell you some stories about Martin. Martin used to sell what they called seconds without telling the customers. I don't know if they still do but they sure used to. Btw, Can I ask, what a Luther has to do to become an authorized repair man for Martin's guitar? Thumbs up to your video.
Good deal!!! I'm glad you could see it!
I honestly don't know what caused it...I have never seen anything like it before and I don't remember it when the guitar was here the first time. Pressing on it, it's not soft or anything.
I'm not Authorized so I can't answer that. I don't want to be because I don't want to hinder my ability to do modifications, ya know?
Bryan, I've noticed a lot of old Brazilian guitars have cracks or repaired cracks, but haven't see the same thing with Indian rosewood. Is that your experience and is Brazilian really better sounding that Indian in your mind?
That's because Braz is very brittle and Indian is not. When you cut BRW on a band-saw, it'll often smoke and it leaves a metallic-like cut. IRW will leave fuzzy edges. I have a seen a few cracked IRW guitars.
As for sound... what's "better"? I can think of any really good A/B's where you have the same bracing, same top woods, same glue, same truss rod, same AGE, in Indian vs BRW. Martin made a very limited run of Braz HD-28's in the mid-80's and comparing one of those with a regular HD-28 from the same time would be a decent start but I'm not totally convinced that the _construction_ of the guitars during that time really lets the BRW shine.
In the meantime... this is as close as I've got on the channel. To directly answer your question, though... given the same everything but back/sides, I personally think I'd like Madagascar or SE Asian RW better because I don't like reverb that BRW has.
ua-cam.com/video/wyBzVa2DH1o/v-deo.html
3 neck resets? Wow. That sounds out of the ordinary to me. I had one on my D-35, many moons ago, and was told at the time that I would never need one again. 40 years later, it's getting close.. By the way, I have that drop-off you are talking about, no shim.
It's VERY out of the ordinary and I'm trying to figure out what's going on here. The need for a reset comes not from the neck but from body distortion.
Hi Bryan...you worked on an HD28 of mine about 15ish years ago. thank you...I have another guitar that needs your love. A second hand custom...essntially an M-18...interested?
I'm hanging it up.
ua-cam.com/video/NWo3sBEO2HE/v-deo.html
I have a 2023 D18 with the knk mini. Not happy with the sound. Too dull sounding. How do you feel about the knk double helix soundhole pickup?
I'd check your installation. I've never heard anyone call a K&K "dull". What are you doing with it after it leaves the guitar? Straight into something? DI, Preamp? You have to match the impedance... not all preamps work well with the K&K.
I rarely use anything other than a straight Mini pickup because the beauty of that is the simplicity. If you need more sophisticated electronics, you're on your own because you probably have some specific need to fill.
@@Bryankimsey what preamp are you using
K&K Pure XLR. Or straight into the board. My amplification needs are primitive- church where no one really cares what an acoustic guitar sounds like and they just want to hear a guitar sounding sound. Or coffeehouse where you can hear the actual acoustic sound pretty good and the pickup is just a little extra in the background. I use a pickup and a mic a lot. Pickup for the base sound and then a mic for leads and emphasis.
@Bryankimsey the knk plugged straight into an acoustic amp works well whrn we play at the nursing homes but we also play alot of outdoor events going into a yamaha 880xs powered board to passive speakers then monitor out to powered speakers. In thst scenario there is not enough sparkle or highs and my wife who also plays guitsr has a hard time hearing my guitar and so do I. It doesn't cut through- really bass heavy and will feedback if turned up to loud and come near a mic. Our other guitar= Martin dread special with built in VTS system is perfect for any situation.
That sounds exactly like an impedance mismatch. If you run a K&K thru an LR Baggs Preamp, it'll sound way too bassy. My amp matches the K&K and sounds fine. I'm embarrassed that I can't remember the brand... it's tan, discontinued, and 50 watt. Not a Peavy Ecoustic although I had one of those. Urgh.... I'll look when I go out to the shop again.