Guitar Nerds Anonymous

Feck me, what a beauty. I'd play the shit out of the Till There Was You and the All My Loving solo on that! I don't know my Gretches very well. Is that a Duo Jet?

It's a 1968 Blackhawk... apparently there were only 358 of these built so extremely rare but not really all that valuable by vintage guitar standards.
They're Baldwin-era so basically Gretsch's equivalent of Norlin Gibson or CBS Fender and apparently disgruntled Gretsch employees caused all sorts of havoc in the factory at the time of the transition which explains why my guitar doesn't have a serial number, lol. Also explains why they're prone to flying necks and mine has already been reset by a former owner at some stage.

It sounds phenomenal though. Supertron pickups which are a little bit hotter than Filtertrons and fully hollow.

It's a 1968 Blackhawk... apparently there were only 358 of these built so extremely rare but not really all that valuable by vintage guitar standards.

Maybe not at the moment, but definitely worth keeping it in good nick (binding nibs and all) in case it takes off at some point. It’s a beaut!

On this week at the Rose & crown is Bob Collum! Fuckinell. Haven't heard that name in years. I used to gig with him before I was even in the Tacticians, so this must have been pre-2005. My old band Daddy Long Legs had a residency at club in Bethnal Green called the Pleasure Unit. We put on gigs there every other Sunday and had Bob play a few times. He was a real sweetheart. Lovely songwriter too.

DLL was pretty much my life from 2003 until 2007 but we didn't really much of a legacy. Hardly any photos, no video that i'm aware of and no music online - oh except this "lost recording" I stuck up a while back. https://dllarchive.bandcamp.com/track/nasty-goreng-the-lost-recording

Man the Pleasure Unit was fun. We did a live music pub quiz, had a genuine Turkish whirling dervish act, a travelling jewish bluegrass banjo dude and we once put on a full brass band.

Sounds fantastic. I get the era of construction plays a part in quality and therefore value, but it's crazy how some really great vintage gear is so affordable due it not having a ridiculous association cachet. Stuff that isn't linked to famous players are a frickin bargain. Got any clips of it being played?

Chef's kiss dooks.

Hehe, now you know where you need to be on Friday and Sunday evenings. :)

Absolutely fair enough. It's a lovely thing and you're doing right by it. Each to their own, right?

my '78 mustang cost £350 for a delicate re-fret a couple of years ago, so 450eu seems on par to me

I had my JV Squier Strat refretted a few years ago by a geezer on Denmark Street - as recommended by Andy Huckett of Angel Guitars (RIP. The shop rather than Andy) - and it cost me £100.

Really shoddy job. Fret sprout all over the place and at least a couple of dead spots that I'll need to pay someone to sort out as I'm terrible at these things/don't have the tools. Took way longer than quoted too. So yeah, you probably get what you pay for.

No clips at the moment but I'll make a few over the weekend. I just plugged it in to a little Orange Crush 12 at home and it even sounds great through that. I just have to keep constantly reminding myself how the odd control layout works :)

That's good to hear! To be fair I've always been happy to pay whatever Some Neck charge because they're absolutely trustworthy.
I dropped my Collings in for service a few years ago and as it would happen someone else dropped in an almost identical Collings OM2H on the same day to have a pickup fitted.
When I went back to collect my Collings Owen, the owner, with a great deal of gravity told me he had to tell me something...
Apparently he had my guitar on the bench with the drill in hand ready to fit the jack end pin for the pickup before realising that there had been a mixup in the Collings's.
No harm had been done and I actually thought it was kind of funny because what are the chances of two Collings OM2H arriving in to the workshop on the same day.
Anyway... he refused to take payment for the service on the basis that it was unacceptable that there had even been a mixup between the guitars even if no harm had been done.

I really couldn't recommend Some Neck highly enough, if you want the very best setup you'll ever get or are in the market for something nice they're well worth a look and happy to ship to anywhere in the world.

Some Neck Guitars Website
Some Neck Guitars Instagram

Anyway... advert over :)

Wow, they sound amazing! In stark contrast to my experience at one of the premier guitar shops in Brisbane who took over 18mths on a refret. The shop owner forgot about my guitar (even tho' it has a very distinguished punk rock provenance!), the luthier/tech was having some emotional issues at the time and couldn't face doing the job, apparently the frets were quite difficult to get out. 🎻

A total farce, I never went back.

I haven't had a lot of luck over here, that other prick snapped the neck on my '59 Junior when it was in for a refin.

BTW I LOVE that Gretsch.

That sounds awful man, hard to believe there aren't any good shops 'round your way to be honest? I'd have expected the vintage guitar scene was going well over there considering the success of "vintage guitar" bands like King Gizzard / Murlocs / Glass Beams etc.

All this chat made me go and have a look at the Gretsch Custom Shop page on their website...

They look great.

Anyone got any recommendations for London-based luthiers?

Bill Puplett! Is he still working? Probably a two year waiting list.

I did find a good guy eventually, Matt's Guitar Service, a very unassuming, humble guy but a great luthier and he's pretty cheap too.

I need to take my Tele Deluxe in for a refret, Matt dressed the frets last time when he really should've just called me and said it was time to do it. He'll knock the price of the fret dress off the cost of the refret, he's a gent.

So this Deluxe refret. Keep the lacquer/poly on the fretboard or start again? It's chipping away all over the place. I know it's a bone of contention in some quarters. These 70s necks were total bastards, half poly/half nitro.

Not sure if he's still working, but think he might be a bit highbrow for my needs. Impressive CV, though.

He will work for us mortals as well, he did a total number on my mate's fake double cut Junior, he had it for aaaages until he was happy with it.

He's got to be pricey, though, right? I don't know, though. Nothing wrong with pinging him an email and finding out.

Worth bearing in mind that, while I'd like a decent job done, the guitar itself is worth less than a grand, so ideally I don't want to be paying more than a fifth of its value for fret dressing/levelling and sorting the fret sprout out.

I would newly recommend Feline in Croydon for fret work, it's obviously a very busy and experienced workshop and they use the StewMac/Erlewine neck jig which is hot shit when it comes to levelling and stuff. They did a very nice subtle fret dress and saddle lower on my acoustic for £90.

I don't think Bill P is currently available, he's had some health issues. Wish him well, lovely man, he refretted my 330 and it's been fab ever since...

Or just get it plekked!! Is that the correct tense? Do you even plek in London? We've got a machine in Sydney and another in Perth apparently.

Chandlers in Hampton (?) has a plek machine, or access to one. A mate of mine has sent a couple of guitars there to be done over the years.

I remember thinking about it once on one of the ones I built, and it wasn't as expensive as I was expecting. I wondered whether you'd be able to throw in a neck with raw frets in, i.e. ones I'd just pressed into the neck with no work on them.

Edit:

£150 for a fret dress
https://ccgx.co.uk/plek/

I didn’t realise chandlers were still going? They did my Sigma about 8 tears ago and did a great job.

8 tears ago

The struggle is real, bro. 💪🏼🙃