RobF -> RE: Is this an authentic Conde? (Jul. 19 2021 23:13:52)
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Here is a guitar making tidbit to consider: Some makers like to put a twist into either the fingerboard or neck. In other words, the treble side points slightly up and the bass side points slightly down. When the twist is planed into the neck and the head adjusted to account for it, then sighting down the neck from the head will show that the head does not sit on the same plane as the top, when the lines defined by the nut end of the fingerboard and the top are used like winding sticks. It can also be done while planing the fingerboard. Then the nut will not sit evenly across the line of the head. It’s intentional. I was trained to do it this way and I used to, but now I have my own methods. The point is, to a person lacking knowledge about this, the neck can appear to be twisted or warped, even though it isn’t. So, when a know-it-all guitarist brings his guitar with the “warped” neck to his “luthier” and requests the luthier fix the issue, and if the luthier is unaware of the practice, well, if it’s in the fingerboard, the luthier will likely pull the frets, replane the fingerboard, and add new frets, with the result that the guitar might never play right again. If the twist is integral to the neck, the luthier probably won’t know what to do, he might declare the guitar is junk, or do all sorts of fun stuff to it to make it “right”. If the luthier recognizes that what they are seeing is due to the maker’s intent, even if they don’t fully understand why, if they are ethical they will tell the guitarist the guitar isn’t broken, and pass on the job. Now, if the people involved consider this to be a “necessary” repair, and go ahead and alter the guitar, is the guitar still original? Maybe to someone who doesn’t have a clue about this stuff, but clearly, the answer is it is not. It’s been messed up, not messed with, and is no longer original. It may not even be playable. That’s an example of why I think clarity is important, at least amongst guitar makers. And promoting clarity is really the only way the craft moves forward and is maintained. There are people on here who have in the past shown little respect for guitar makers and seem to think that most aren’t worth being paid the subsistence wages that they request. But I can say this with certainty, if the real guitar makers stop practicing the craft it won’t be long before nobody knows how to make good guitars, no factory, nobody. Just ask the people at Martin; for a long time they had completely lost the knowledge that their reputation had been built upon. It was a labour of love for some of the insiders, who were humble enough to listen to the guidance of outsiders who also loved and had studied their tradition, to bring that company back. So, clarity is important. Also Echi, when earlier in this thread I said I don’t owe anybody here anything, that isn’t really true, as you, estebanana, and some others have passed on a lot of knowledge that I’ve benefited from, so I don’t want to seem ungrateful. I have a lot of respect for you, I hope you realize that.
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