1972 Epiphone needs a Doctor

Early Japanese production Epiphone 12 string has a top that's deforming from string tension. Whatever shall we do?

[@karlstevens7062]

You know why lots of 12 strings in the last month ? .... everybody pulling out the 12 string to play Greg lakes father christmas and finding they have all moved since last xmas lol.

[@twoodfrd]

Quality comment. Thanks!

[@donaldheitger6731]

Your most likely correct

[@scottdore132]

Good comment I had to look that song up

[@MarshallGTV]

I know that epoxy area was a pain, but dang it man you are an artist! Wonderful work!

[@davidthebiker2955]

I love watching how carefully you worked on this guitar, even though it's not a high end instrument. Great example of how to do quality work no matter what guitar it is.

[@MiikeyLawless]

Because even cheap guitars can play great when someone like him works out the kinks. Keep in mind that lots of "high end vintage" guitars arent made all that well by todays standards.

[@michaelgarrow3239]

As a craftsman I only have one level I work to. I’m sure he does also.

[@user-wr9pk4lu8s]

Yes I agree he took great care to repair a none high end guitar although it's 50+ yrs old, my 1975 epiphany has bad belly bow causing very high action, needs somebody like him to look at it, big problem I live in the UK

[@perihelion7798]

I really appreciate the fact, that, like Jerry Rosa, you treat every instrument with patience and respect. That goes for a $100.00 or $7500.00 guitar. Thank you for that. I don't like repair folks that constantly complain about an instrument in for repair. If you feel that way, just pass on the job, or be quiet. A world of fun stuff is not so funny at times - showing disrespect.

[@waybackplayback1347]

Mr. Woodford is not even in the same galaxy as the person you referenced.

[@perihelion7798]

@@waybackplayback1347 It's my understanding that we all are currently in the Milky Way galaxy. Jerry Rosa has been in the repair and luthier business longer than Mr. Woodford has been alive. He repairs all stringed instruments, and produces $7,500 mandolins, and well as fine custom guitars. It's pretty obvious that you haven't watched many of Jerry's videos, or you're just an ignorant troll.

[@comajoebuck999]

Unless, of course, the slang grumbling is part of an entertaining shtick....

[@perihelion7798]

@@comajoebuck999 Possible, but then it's a very unattractive shtick, IMO.

[@perihelion7798]

@k halliday Most Canadians are pretty nice folks. The country is huge and beautiful. I have really enjoyed my 3 trips to the Great White North.

[@jts3339]

Twelve strings are like vintage British cars: They’re extra work to maintain and worth it if you love them, but they’re not for everyone.

[@joesantamaria5874]

jts3339 not for everyone is correct. I saw a guy by the side of the road today with the bonnet up staring at the motor of his lovely old MGB as I nonchalantly breezed past in my Toyota Solara convertible. No spanner kit for me, mate.

[@euro1859]

Respect for the calm way you deal with and overcome the extra problems that are often found with older guitars also how the quality of repair is always the uppermost thing in your mind,great craftsmanship.

[@OpSic66]

This is the work of a TRUE artist. The bridge saddle repair alone was beautiful. You can literally hear how tight the body of the guitar was, greater sustain from the body and new strings, and the new strings added some much lacking brightness of the sound. Excellent job, as always.

[@mrclaus859]

You sir are a fantastic artist. Thanks I could watch you all day.

[@vinniesilvagio]

"It just has to be done". It's always a joy to watch you work.

[@mhaight]

I find your care and skill with repair and correction to instruments even when not of great value actually adds value to the the instrument..in my mind. I appreciate your skill and professionalism. It's a pleasure to watch you work.

[@richardcarle786]

Just wanted to say that I really enjoy watching your work. I play a little bit and if I ever needed any work done I would hope to find someone that is as dedicated as you are to doing it right! Keep em coming and thanks for sharing your work with us!!

[@BessieBopOrBach]

Brave and inspiring repair work. I love your channel. The details about Canadian checking and the weird epoxy repair were delightful. Really cool saddles. And it sounds amazing at the end.

[@ThomasZachary]

That bridge repair is breathtaking! I just paused it at 10:46... The wood filler, the new saddle, the string winding ends not showing any more. That is a work of art. And of course your entire video production values and voice overs are spot on!

[@miaoupha2370]

One top notch video to begin this new year, thank you!

[@briefcandle]

Fellow luthier here. JLD systems are fantastic! The only brand I know of that comes with them from the factory is Breedlove, but man is it great to essentially have a truss rod for the body.

[@altruisticphilanthropic4647]

"Don't do that, okay? Come on. Yeah...yeah...great." Words to live by, indeed. It's always a sheer pleasure watching and listening to your videos...truly. The care you give these ol' birds...somethin' special, brother. Not a great guitar, of course, but for strummin' and fillin' in some sonic space...none too shappy... she sounds poiphectly phunky...in a "12-stringy" way. Please never cease posting...ever. May 2020 bring you health, peace, and endless giggles..."Yeah...yeah...great."

[@randelcross]

Love your passion to to the repair correctly... nicely done!!

[@harlanbarnhart4656]

Never seen one of those bridge Dr. things. Amazingly effective. Great vid as usual. Keep up the good work.

[@bushcraftsupply7407]

Beautiful work! Thank you for the great videos.

[@gryfandjane]

My goodness. I owned one of those when I was in Junior High School back in the early 70s. In fact, a buddy of mine had a matching one, and we played a few events together. I always loved the rosette on this model, and seeing it up close in your video really triggered the nostalgia.

[@vanshankguitars]

Awesome work as expected! I learn so much from your videos.

[@pokepatrick7887]

Just leaving a comment to tell you how therapeutic your videos are. While watching your videos I can just completely relax and dream away. Thanks for that!

[@chrispatrick5715]

You sir, are a master of your craft and a helluva teacher, and as many have commented, your voice is very soothing. Blessings from Australia.

[@jonbanner5823]

I really enjoy all your videos! Great work! Thanks for sharing your knowledge and I must say its very refreshing to see a good luthier that actually knows how to play.

[@JorgeWeerts]

Happy New Year. Fantastic work!

[@kylemoran4343]

That plug you installed in the epoxy area turned out splendid !! The before workmanship was in a minor key, your work is always in the Major Key :-) I enjoy learning.

[@mel00w]

Sounds great, well done. I've been procrastinating on an old friend's Takamine 12 string with a cracked bridge and similar belly issue. Now I'm ready to get after it. Thank you!

[@nma0ne]

I'm constantly impressed by your eye for detail and workmanship. Your channel is my favourite luthier content

[@johnnycakeslim]

Wow. What a great video. I just came back to California with my Taylor 12 string and its got high action and a warped top. That bridge doctor looks like the ticket. Excellent video. Thanks

[@mojoden]

Beautiful work on that saddle. Very inspiring.

[@chrisclarke3670]

Great fix on this guitar. I always enjoy you answering potential questions before some asks, like in regards to the white bridge pin.

[@jsimo65]

I really enjoy watching your work. tks

[@donaldholman9070]

Great video. Marvellous work. Thank you for sharing.

[@dalgguitars]

Thanks again for such a great video.

[@poodlenme]

Wow! After the repair, this guitar came alive! Great video! Thanks

[@nicolen.9642]

Remarkable work Ted. The saddle, the neck reset...amazing 👍

[@pauleandersonmusic]

Nice playing at the end there! I always learn something from your videos. Thanks so much for posting them.

[@robertdeen8741]

The way you filed the saddle to compensate is truly marvelous. Very nice work.

[@ravingcyclist624]

Happy New Year! Excellent video! Thanks !!

[@grene1955]

Sweet sounding guitar after all the repair work...another fantastic job!

[@haroldcook2146]

Just found your channel and immediately hit the subscribe button. While I’ve more or less retired, I still do an occasional luthier job, and I really appreciate watching a craftsman at work.

[@bldallas]

Another great job. I’m fascinated by the device you installed; wish the video showed more of that work. Great job on the saddle slot and new compensated saddle. Very cool.

[@onlywhenprovoked]

A friend and I installed the bridge doctor in one of mine about 20 years ago and it worked great. It was a cheap but good player and the belly got wayyy worse than this example. Straightened it right out and I swear it improved the tone and bounce a ton. You sound right at home on a 12 string. Thanks for the lessons, you're one hell of a skilled luthier.

[@thomasbarker7735]

I could watch you repair guitars all day great work again Ted

[@nakana_212]

Subsrcribed and followed. The way that saddle was routed came out beautiful. You woke that guitar up man. It’s alive now!!

[@chadwaller6072]

Thx so much for the great content. Always learn something from your vids

[@garywhitt98]

Excellent video, Ted! Many thanks!

[@jameshocking1188]

Great job and great save! A true craftsman at work !

[@johngran4582]

Great videos, very informative. Thank you!

[@R.Nashoba]

Nice work! Enhanced the tone greatly

[@unfreundlich7168]

happy new year. the bolt on system looks like the one on my 63 framus :D i like that a lot!!!! so repair friendly

[@jonahguitarguy]

Another great video twoodfrd! I like that you just press forward and do the repair even though you may not have bid the job high enough. Very easy to miss things when estimating. I know from my own mistakes. I've had great results with the bridge doctor I even made my own to save a few bucks.

[@nla0987654321]

Your work is amazing, I love these videos! I wish you was my local luthier!

[@johnfrederick6164]

So enjoy your videos as always amazing work

[@petedazer3381]

Beautiful work!

[@stevesstrings5243]

Wow! I love to watch your work!

[@1986yamahafazer69]

Huge difference! Another exceptional repair!

[@JohnSmith-ym4sl]

You do beautiful work very entertaining thanks for sharing!

[@WackyT08]

Love the sound of a 12-string acoustic!

[@FunnyBunnyShowNYC]

I like your work. Thanks for this...

[@barberelectronics5672]

Always great stuff, keep it up and thank you!

[@paulscott2502]

The post repair sound is so much more vibrant and fuller. Nice job.

[@giovanni5063]

In 1972 my wife gifted me an Epiphone 6 string bolt neck guitar. That guitar was super cheesy , super high action, a worthless adjustable composite metal and plastic saddle a zero fret and not even close to be able to intonate. Over the years it sat in the case unplayed until I opened it up and saw that the neck had broke loose under tension. What happened was the neck block split and the brace under the neck end of the soundhole had fallen away and the neck crushed the rossette and soundboard under it while causing the side under the neck to rotate and crack. I have watched many of Woodfords videos and I decided to try and repair this POS. The guitar is now super playable, The neck is flat the action is terrific and I made a fossil walrus ivory saddle. The intonation was adjusted by gluing small bits of the ivory under the strings to make it in tune up the neck. There are shims, braces and lots of super glue. Than you TW for your excellent instruction. Best regards, Gio.

[@markk3877]

Beautiful work Ted!

[@arctichare8185]

I like watching your videos a lot. They are interesting and helpful. I have also actually installed a couple of bridge doctors in the past. One, I recall, was on a Seagull dreadnought style. I am not a luthier by any means. But I think most anyone who is used to doing arts and crafts or carpentry work would be able to put one in. (Although I think few would be able to do such a neat job as you did on that saddle replacement!) I also like that you are a Canadian, which means I can relate better to some of the things you say, and you have a comfortable tone of energy.

[@RMosack]

Another great video. I absolutely love the intonated new saddle. New strings or not, the "after" sounds so much better.

[@richardalanprow283]

As usual top notch work!!

[@sfg4562]

Gracias por estos videos tan instructivos. Un saludo and Happy new year.

[@eparkyanovitch]

Really great video! I have a Nagoya 12 string from the 70s (Japanese Martin Clone with a plywood top) that had a very similar problem. I bought the guitar right after David Bowie died -- primarily to play 5 Years in my living room. It had a sticker from Veneman's in Rockville, MD, which was my dad's go-to store in the 80s, so I figured that was a sign and paid $50 for it. Anyway, I realized after I got it home that it had a badly deformed top -- similar to what you show here (5mm on each side) but with a bad dish in front of the dish as well. The action was also quite high. This was in 2016 so your video hadn't dropped, but I ended up following a similar path. With this being the first guitar I had attempted to repair, I did a lot of forum searching and read about the Bridge Doctor and decided on that route. However, prior to installing the Doctor, I tried to do flatten the soundboard a bit with humidity. I had seen a video by Dan Erlewine where he uses the TJ Thomson Belly Reducer and was inspired to try a similar path. So I pulled the bridge off (it had the same two bolts), stuck a wet sponge in a cup inside the body and fitted clamps and cauls to help correct the deformation. I left it for about a week, adjusting every day, and I think it helped a little. After the repair and adjustment, the top feels stabilized. The bow, as well as the action, is improved, but the dish, for the most part, is still there. How deformed would a top be for you to consider replacing it in situation like this? I've thought about replacing this top just for the experience and practice but I don't know how much value it would add to the instrument and I wouldn't want to destroy it completely unnecessarily. Love the videos. Also a big Barrett's Privateers fan.

[@nandom3]

She came alive!! Excelent job as usual!!

[@Sungodv]

Happy new year to a great luthier...

[@bee.normal]

11:20 that's a fantastic looking saddle! You can see the time spent on it.

[@Deebz270]

Excellent ! I especially liked the saddle slot renovation - neat job indeed. I've got three acoustics that are doing the bridge belly-up thing (...one 12 string). Only I've designed a similar (fulcrum) system, but instead of pushing, I use a stainless bottle screw (small yacht-rigging screw) affixed between the 'bridge fulcrum' block and the heel block to pull on the 'bridge fulcrum' and reverse the rotation. Not as unobtrusive as the 'Bridge Doctor' but adjustment is easier and it was cheaper. . This Epiphone 12 string reminds me a lot of the Eko 'Ranger' 12 string series (my second guitar and I've still got one, needing a refret). Cheap and cheerful 'beginners' 12 string. . I personally swear by newbies learning on a 12 string, for the following reasons: 1. Anyone who can tune up a 12 string quickly and has also mastered open and 'sympathetic tuning' on 12 strings, can pretty much tune up any guitar/mandolin/mandola/bazouki/banjo/ thereafter. 2. The fretboard of a 12 string is traditionally and necessarilly wider than its six-string counterpart - more akin to a classical width, which makes the student stretch the fingers a tad further than normal. Whilst... 3. The placement of the students (often awkward) fingering is made easier, due to the note position having two strings instead of one; The fingers find their positions very easily. 4. The awesome soundscape that only a 12 string can produce. But then, when one's mentors are local folk dudes and one grows up on Led Zep, Neil Young, the Byrds, etc... What'd'ya Expect! ?

[@samerhaddad280]

it's so peaceful watching you create magic with these stringed instruments. that last number you were playing sounded like something from the YES album...

[@RedHeadGuitar]

THANKS for that! My cheap-ass small body guitar which I take with me almost everywhere had developed the same symptom and I was kinda afraid I'd lose it, but with a bridge doctor (installed the drill-free brass pin version) it's back in perfect shape now.

[@georgelackey622]

Very funny that I just had 3 of those in my shop in the last two months! Two were 12 strings and one 6 string, with various issues.One was a Kalamazoo the other two were Japan. Very handy having a bolt on neck.

[@lawrencecoffeyjr1300]

I wish I lived in your town...outstanding work...

[@braderrick]

Awesome work as always! I sure wish you were here in the states. I have a ‘71 sigma by Martin 12 string that needs work just like this one

[@samk4801]

Wow. Of all the before/after demos, this was the most dramatic. The sound went from a 6-string sound to a real 12-string sound. Amazing.

[@mushroomsamba82]

Wow, turned out to be a pretty damn nice sounding guitar in the end

[@MrJoeydano]

Well another incredible job thanks for the video I definitely am considering learning how to do what you do course it only be a hobby for me thanks

[@Furtheronmusic]

I used a bridge doctor in a yamaha 12 string. I agree with your statement that it brought the guitar "alive" a bit more.

[@arnienonymous4458]

Wow, another great repair job! Hope you didn't go too much in the hole with the extra work required. To my ear, the after demo seemed to exhibit a bit more commanding sustain - maybe strings, but more likely both strings and repair.

[@jonathanmemole4811]

At 1:37 I thought: "that looks like a bunch of epoxy...nah, it can't be if he's saying it's a good thing." You made short work of it in the end though. A fantastic and artful job as always!

[@richardjohnson9702]

WOW!!!! Big difference in projection AND sound! ESPECIALLY for a laminate top!!

[@DerangedTechnologist]

Even just listening on my phone, I can detect differences between 'before' and 'after'. I'm hearing more highs now, and more clarity. (I don't know whether 'clarity' is a well-defined term, but it's about as close as I can get.) // Superb work, as always. Thank you!

[@thepigeonsofthepacificnort2268]

Clarity isn’t well defined, but we all use it anyway, so we understand

[@mikeregan3265]

Thanks, that was great to watch!

[@henryhunter5026]

I once owned one of these early Japanese made Epiphone acoustic guitars. Mine was a 6 string but the construction was very similar to the 12 string in your video with the bolt on neck. I always regret selling it as it sounded pretty good when fitted with a quality set of strings .

[@gregoryz6545]

Looking through your videos, the titles don’t say what exactly is an issue your coming across that someone is looking for advice on. Your work is great to watch and learn with. Liked and subscribed!

[@painted8]

Appreciate the subtle compliment to technical writing ... ;)

[@rockers2rockers616]

Great work, nice result.

[@raysaade]

I have an Epiphone ft 165 12 string! Just finished repairing it, had a neck shim, some loose bracing re-glued and a nut replacement. Pretty dope guitar that I inherited from my father.

[@robertwillett4122]

Really love your show, bro. I've been a carpenter for a living. I play guitar. When I was first learning over 40 years ago, I learned how to do all my set-up, I play solid bodies so it wasn't that intense, like you pulling a 50 year old Martin top off and making it a great guitar again. Along with playing guitar, I had another hobby. That was building remote control airplanes. I got really good after years of putting kits together. I love sanding and wood in general. I wish younger generation would get into skills that involves wood, ah but the computer generation took over, sadly. Well I love your show. Keep showing me all your knowledge, I love it. Take care, from Florida. P.S. I'm on my way to catch my dinner. Hopefully a snook or a couple mangrove snappers. PEACE

[@magnolia972]

sounds fantastic!

[@mjt11860]

love the jld bridge dr. used one on my daion caribou, which flattened out the top.

[@darrellblanchard2362]

Sounds like more than just new string difference to my aging ears!

[@tfdharley1360]

It sounded much truer in the sense of tuning. Probably the new saddle did the trick. Hard to tell, because he didn’t play up the neck in the old config. Sounds good though.

[@nobilismaximus]

Bridge Doctors do make a substantial difference. You’ll not hear the benefit through a web video. Have used several, I think Breedlove guitars use them as standard out of the box.

[@zapa1pnt]

I have used the "Bridge Doctor" on several guitars, myself. I think they are great. Some folks argue they mute the response of the top plate, but I think that depends on the bracing of the top. In any case, if you need it, you need it. I have one on my Martin D-28 and it still sounds great. On a 12 string, I think they are indispensable, due to the great stress pulling at the bridge. I would even put one on a, relatively, new 12 string, just to avoid later problems.

[@NelsonGago]

Wow. What a difference. Great job Ted.

[@randyheath8566]

Great Video, Love your Channel and Content 👍

[@jenniferwhitewolf3784]

The 1960s folk music scene just called: Said thats a really nice improvement..👍. Nice work on the bridge externals.. and the introduction to the internal support system.