Well it's not like I don't get into Toronto often 'cause I know the place very well.

Go to the 12th Fret with the '52 to get a refinish estimate... eh .. Steep. That's the word Steep. No doubt it would be a terrific job but I'll have to think about that.

Anyway.. good guys, got another contact in Hamilton and some advice... walk out the door to see the vehicle attached to a tow truck about to be pulled away.

Yes I run across the Danforth (4 lanes & rush hour!) with guitar under arm. Start screaming at the driver to lock 'er up and get out.
Driver (walked out of a Terrintino movie)hands me the bill for $52 to let it down. I'm flat out and he points to the bank up the street.

Little foreign parking cop (hmm that was a generous description) can't talk to this guy he just shakes his head and smiles like he's getting a cut of this action flappin his arms like he's gonna take flight or something.

Run back to the 12th toss guitar behind counter and tell them to hold it.. run down street to bank. Back to store across to idiot (what I'm looking like at this point) give him the money and he drops it on the spot.
Then I notice a $40 parking ticket on the window to boot!
I'm gonna #$%^$ %&^!$# %!@ @#$%@#^$%
!@#$^@#%!@%#%^@#
and then @#$ $&^%$%^#!

na... I just pay the fine and be thankful I walked out of the store when it was still there. Could have been much worse.

Next time... I just rent the limo and save the grief.

I can empathize

Similar to an incident I had in NYC years ago, only without the tow truck. The officers comment, ".. you're not going to pay it anyway .."

i love living in the middle of nowhere!
sorry you had a poopy day Shoes.

Ahhhhh, Toronto.

Check out this place Don\'t Fret in Burlington. I'm not sure if they do painting, but it would be worth a phone call. They are a small, family run place. Also, my old work place Lakeshore Music , which was bought out by Long and McQuade.

Which place were you going to in Hamilton? I know that "Payne Music" does repairs as well. Once again though, you'd have to call around to find out if any of them did painting.

Reminds me of a similar experience a few years ago in Alexandria VA. the parking lanes at the side of the street are used a driving lanes between 4 & 6pm. Guess who was parked there at ~4:30pm?? I managed to get to the guy who was writing me a ticket (Iwas lucky not to get towed he said). I ended up with a $70 parking ticket (I can't remember if I paid it or not, I think it is still in desk drawer at work).

The contact is a guy named Mike Spicer. They couldn't remember the name of his business at the 12th but seemed to know of his work. Enough so that they recommended I get a price from him.

Thanx for the other contacts. I'll check them out as well.

Ouch Shoes! $92 ligher. Did you realize you couldn't park there?

Well, it's not like the guitar's going anywhere; take your time, lots of it- the guitar's been waiting patiently for decades, right? No rush decisions or major financial duress needed here!

That looks kinda cool with that funky three-piece top like that, anyways; I'd be torn between a glorious restoration to an all-gold finish, and having it done au natural or with a subtle, faded, light-colored 'burst. Perhaps an impersonation of a very faded 54-year-old light tobbacco sunburst a la vintage Gibson? (I'd definitely get that black goop off of the pickup-covers and hardware, though!)

Artificial cosmetic aging? Kept to a minimum, only to blend the appearence of any new parts or repair work with the rest of the guitar.

Next up would be a fret-job/re-fret, and a custom made bridge (talk to Dan Erlewine- he's specialized in making intonated one-piece jobs for '54 and Junior/Special stylees, no reason he couldn't whip up a similar trapeze-piece that allows for playable action with the strings on top, and better intonation). I wouldn't do anything that required drilling or milling any wood. I also probably wouldn't go with a neck re-set, unless it was absolutely necesary.

Cramolin all of the pots, the switch, and the jack. Piss off the collectors- blow the dust out of the cavities! Fix up any worn screw-holes in the wood, replace any small hardware that really doesn't pass muster anymore, if any.

String'er up with DR "Pure Blues" .011"-.050"; set'er up for my playing style. Tweak those pickups 'n' polepieces!

Go to town, play it at open-mic/bloozejams,

Great story!

Bill

You'll be hard pressed to find anybody that can do better work than "The 12th Fret". They are known as The Guitarist's Pro Shop for good reasons.

I have an '87 335 Dot re-issue that I bought for veeerrrrrry cheap when I met a guy who needed some drug money. The neck was like a double-twisting-double-looping roller coaster. They pulled the frets, did some steam and press work, shaved the fret board here and there and put it all back together. Visually the only clue is that the fret end nubs on the binding are no longer there. But it is one fabulous playing instrument. Certainly better than anything Gibson ever shipped from the factory.

I suspect that your Hamilton referral is to the guys who used to run "The Guitar Clinic." Very good guys, but I'd still spend my money at The 12th Fret.

Keep us in the loop on this restoration project. 'Tis very cool, indeed.

Paul

Would you like to have those "nubs" back, as well? Depending on the material that the binding is made from, Dan Erlewine had written in a past issue of Guitar Player magazine about a way (that I think he came up with) to mold on end-nibs at the fret-ends that are solid and visually indistinguishable from the originals. You should post him a question in the "Dan's Guitar Shop"-section of The Les Paul Forum.

(I'd post you a direct link, but for some reason fols have often had dificulty getting there from here unless they were already registered on both this and that forums; their homepage address is http://www.lespaulforum.com/base.html .)

Thanks for the link Mr. Miller-O'Shite, but the guitar is a player, not a collector piece. I don't care enough about the binding fret nubs to put any money into it. Maybe at the next fret job.

I think Pete Townshend once said "I don't clean my guitar, I play the f*ck!n' thing!" m I tend to agree.

Paul

You're taking guitar care advice from a guy who spent most of his prime destroying instruments on purpose??

Isn't that like asking Norman Bates what hotel to stay at?

Or, more cynically, having the U.S. "oversee" free elections in "insert country here". ;-p

Paul

P.S. Actually, I baby the thing. My only weakness is that I don't clear up the the fretboard mung that acummulates on the rosewood board as often as I should.

Actually, I really like the feel of a well-bound fretboard with those nibs. Without 'em, the fret-ends overlapping the binding kinda bugs me at times, and odd as it may sound, playing various fingerstyle techniques over the end of the fretboard, I'll even catch a fingernail under the edge of an overlapping fret-end; that $#&%$!

I also like the way a well cleaned 'n' polished guitar feels, as well. I think that it even lets the wood and finish "breathe" a little better. ('Course, saying that, I realize my axes could stand a good clean-up right now...)

The column-article that Dan originally published was of a "D.I.Y", info/instructional nature, too. I threw up the link 'cause I thought Dan would tell you how to do it for yourself for next to nothin'...