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Thread: 1898 Martin Style 6. What should I do?

  1. #26
    Mando accumulator allenhopkins's Avatar
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    Default Re: 1898 Martin Style 6. What should I do?

    Quote Originally Posted by Jim Garber View Post
    Hey you learn something new every day. I didn’t know what a mule spinner was: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spinning_mule
    And yet we all are familiar with Monroe's Mule Spinner Blues, right?

    Or did I get that wrong...?
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  2. #27
    Mando-Accumulator Jim Garber's Avatar
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    Default Re: 1898 Martin Style 6. What should I do?

    Quote Originally Posted by allenhopkins View Post
    And yet we all are familiar with Monroe's Mule Spinner Blues, right?

    Or did I get that wrong...?
    Such a great image of a mule spinning.... I guess first cousin to cow tipping?
    Jim

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  4. #28
    Full Grown and Cussin' brunello97's Avatar
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    Default Re: 1898 Martin Style 6. What should I do?

    I read "Empire of Cotton" last winter.

    NMC of course, but a lot of information on the development of spinning technologies, industrialization, slave economies, 18th and 19th industrial and plantation working conditions.

    Hair raising, of course.

    As expected, more than a few sacred cows are led to the bbq.

    Highly recommended.


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  5. #29
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    Default Re: 1898 Martin Style 6. What should I do?

    Well thanks everyone for your input. I was able to trade it for a 1946 Gibson LG-2 and a some $$. Which made me quite happy as it went to capable hands, and the work the Gibson needs is well within my skill set. I've already begun its restoration.

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    Default Re: 1898 Martin Style 6. What should I do?

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  9. #31
    Registered User Sue Rieter's Avatar
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    Default Re: 1898 Martin Style 6. What should I do?

    Glad you made a good trade. I saw that your NH craigslist post was gone, and was wondering what kind of a deal you'd made.
    "To be obsessed with the destination is to remove the focus from where you are." Philip Toshio Sudo, Zen Guitar

  10. #32
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    Default Re: 1898 Martin Style 6. What should I do?

    Congratulations on the nice LG-2. But dust off your deep throat clamps and brace jacks; the odds are pretty good that you will find at least 2 or 3 loose glue joints inside, maybe more. It comes with the territory with Gibson flat tops from this era. A fellow repairman once quipped that during this period, Gibson had a foreman who "started the day's shift by sprinkling a little glue into the water-pot."

    It should be worth it, though-- these are usually quite good instruments once they've been tightened up.
    Last edited by rcc56; Aug-05-2022 at 2:35pm.

  11. #33
    Mando-Accumulator Jim Garber's Avatar
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    Default Re: 1898 Martin Style 6. What should I do?

    That sounds like a very good deal. 1940s Gibsons and Martins prices are going quite high these days. I sold a 48 LG2 last year and I see the same guitar is offered for considerably more. To get that guitar and cash you did great.
    Jim

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  12. #34

    Default Re: 1898 Martin Style 6. What should I do?

    I was faced with a similar problem but with a Salsedo; I did get it in playing condition albeit with all the decoration on the neck gone.
    I think you will find that there is not a fretboard as such but rather a thin veneer between the frets, in stripping the neck you will end up with a jigsaw of multiple thin bits of wood and decoration. Personally I'd leave well alone and admire it for the fantastic workmanship, fully repaired, at lord knows what cost might leave you with a mandolin that doesn't sound that good anyway.

  13. #35

    Default Re: 1898 Martin Style 6. What should I do?

    Quote Originally Posted by B.Covey View Post
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    Nice score on the LG-2! I believe Bruce Springsteen records with one.

  14. #36

    Default Re: 1898 Martin Style 6. What should I do?


  15. #37
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    Default Re: 1898 Martin Style 6. What should I do?

    Just finished the work on the LG-2. 15 braces reglued, 9 cracks, neck reset and more. It is a fantastic sounding and playing guitar, I couldn't be more happy with the trade!

    The mandolin was beyond my skills, but the guitar was a fun and satisfying challenge to repair. Though one brace took me 6 hours to get right. Always a little detail would require cleanup and starting over. But then I discovered a dollar store kid's super sized pencil eraser that proved to be the perfect brace clamp! Took 5 minutes to get the brace clamped and in position after that. The right tools.. Anyways, hope Indie Music moves the mandolin, they are great guys!

  16. #38
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    Default Re: 1898 Martin Style 6. What should I do?

    Oh yeah, and certainly Gibson had real trouble with their glue on this guitar. Perhaps in 1946 they were scraping the bottom of the barrel after the war. A few braces had odd grain runout as well. Trying to pump them out for the returning G.I.'s who were sick of war and ready to play!

  17. #39

    Default Re: 1898 Martin Style 6. What should I do?

    Quote Originally Posted by B.Covey View Post
    Just finished the work on the LG-2. 15 braces reglued, 9 cracks, neck reset and more. It is a fantastic sounding and playing guitar, I couldn't be more happy with the trade!
    They are great sounding guitars! This reminded me of a late 40's J-45 I repaired a few years ago. Similar to yours, every inside brace had come loose, but somehow the guitar didn't implode in the process. Many of the braces showed the original glue was used quite sparingly. It was the customer's grandfather's guitar and they wanted it made playable again. The finish was still good, so after a lot of thinking and planning, I decided to repair the braces through the soundhole rather than taking the back off. It was a long, but fun process using a combination of jacks, clamps, and homemade purpose-built cauls and more than a little luck. A bonus was after the bracing was restored, the guitar didn't require a neck reset. So the customer ended up with an original finish guitar that hopefully will be around another 60-70 years.

    Thanks for the pencil eraser tip!

  18. #40
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    Default Re: 1898 Martin Style 6. What should I do?

    Through the hole is the way to go!

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