496 RSW 1934 Martin C 2 Arched Top with Fallen Arches

[@matttitus1673]

Such a great job Caleb !!!! so happy to see your confidence building enough to show your talent thank you for keeping a dying trade alive with pride and a humble character you rock

[@arnoldmmbb]

Amazing work! So nice to see an old instrument singing again

[@AmosBHaven]

I had to laugh at myself when I was just ABOUT to post "Caleb?" "I didn't see you intonate that old Martin." And THAT was when you intonated her! GREAT JOB young man!

[@geneedwards5639]

Nice work, Caleb. Very enjoyable watching. Thanks from Gilbert, AZ.

[@nicolen.9642]

Wow, impressive Caleb. Thorough job. Nice result and guitar. 👍

[@jefferp]

Good work. The old Martin hasn’t been that happy in a very long time I’ll bet.

[@harryodum5598]

Caleb you came a long ways. But Jerry is a master of his trade and you've learned well. Good job!

[@mrkkitson]

Great job Caleb! Love the Sweetwater shirt. I lived in Fort Wayne for many years. Loved going to Sweetwater's campus.

[@freddyjholst60]

Way to go.buddy. love watching ya grow

[@editorjuno]

I can tell from the big Grover tuning machines that this was worked on by Martin during the 1960s or early 1970s. Their shop did truly gawdawful repair work back that -- they danged near ruined my old D-18 when I brought it for repair under warranty circa 1969, so I'm not surprised that their work on the nut and frets was substandard.

[@robertshorthill4153]

Bruce Morgen I don't know personally, never having owned a Martin, but I'm told there were lots of problems in their production and in their warranty/ repair shop. Too bad -- they have a name that is revered by everyone. New and better management, just like at Gibson. Some people get a little skittish about Gibsons to this day. Their finishes are top quality, but maybe not so much inside. I'll probably never find another old J-50 like I had in '65. Had to part with mine in '02, sadly. Be well, my friend. Bob

[@bluesingmusic3443]

Yes I've heard the same things.

[@abloke8834]

Its a shame Martin didn't replace the machine heads with something a bit more vintage looking. Those chrome Grovers look awful.

[@pawwalton2157]

Very nice job on the back removal, brace repair and reassembly. You showed that it can be very tedious and time consuming to do it correctly and minimize the collateral damage. Nice job saving the binding and showing how to repair and splice in a closely matched piece.

[@genethemachine7169]

Great job! Jerry has taught you well!

[@mothereartha7]

Great job, it’s good to see in that old Martin , Caleb.

[@robertshorthill4153]

Another bit of Emori's singing that waltz. Very nice, in fact, "mighty fine," as Bill Monroe would have said. This young lady has got talent, that's for sure. Thanks. Caleb has more patience than I would have had with removing that back. The only other person would have to be Jerry or maybe Ted Woodford in Canada. Yikes, what an undertaking. Cheers to all. Bob

[@chrisbarlow5515]

My '34 Martin C2 is holding up well. It's good to know that there is a fine Doctor who knows his way around the old girl!

[@leoburton642]

You're doing a great job Caleb. .. One thing though..ya gotta stop saying " I'm guna try to do this"..you're already doin it brother...and doin it well! Confidence is key! Cheers buddy, keep it up!

[@williamthrasher8540]

Caleb your picking has greatly improved.

[@DrGeek01]

Another ole timer getting some good ole fashioned TLC!! Nice work and diligence with patience. Way to go Caleb! 💕 (I personally prefer to use the silk strings on prewar arch-tops for their sound over the phos/bronze)

[@joemcgraw5529]

wow Caleb very nice restoration on that old Martin Archtop ,now its worth a pretty penny to say the least ,I really like the sound much more than alot of other guitars of that vintage

[@bluesingmusic3443]

Good job. I was suprised when you opened it up. The last old Martin archtop I saw, Martin had used braces to get the top to arch. (The guy fixing it made up a plaster mold for the top, then used his go bars. Explaining the reasons, etc.) Don't know if the one repaired was a bit newer, or older. The other was a 1930s build as well. Very suprised. I just knew it was going to be a big problem, but, no. You made it look easy, though I know it wasn't. Again good job!👌👍Oh, before I forget, my grandkids (12 & 7) love it when you do the repairs! When they see you, they say "Hey that's Caleb!!!"

[@daveogarf]

Cool! A Caleb Fan Club! 😄

[@patrickwilliams3108]

This guitar is part of the C series, which had carved tops. And as it's a C-2, it has rosewood sides and back and originally came with nickle plated tuners and tailpiece.

[@bluesingmusic3443]

@@patrickwilliams3108 thanks for the info. I've only seen a few Martin archtops, I've heard they weren't very popular, as opposed to Gibson, real Epiphones, DeAngelico, etc. Thanks again for the education.👌👍

[@keninnis1]

Nice work on the braces and setup .Way to go Caleb

[@leonardburns1780]

Caleb you moving along very nicely wtih Jerrys help enjoy the experience

[@ricfair9919]

Nice work! Sound great!

[@ph0n1k]

Great repair, lovely Guitar, good job Caleb

[@hurdyg1]

As always another great job completed.

[@patrickwilliams3108]

Caleb ... you picked the right bridge! That was the standard one for the C series archtops.

[@philwomackmhbc]

Very cool guitar, I am glad it could be saved & back in playable condition! Excellent job.

[@junkyardvinyl4811]

Nice job. I applaud your skill set so far.

[@mfc4591]

Well done Caleb, keeping the original as it is and still making it sound and look good.Surprised how nice that guitar looks with an application of boiled linseed oil.

[@keithheiskell2389]

Dang that was a good job Caleb

[@MusicMediccom]

You did an amazing job! Thank you for sharing this!

[@ed801975]

Nice work! And I caught the vintage references! 🤣🤣

[@bentwedgestanleybrand5818]

Hello from Piqua Ohio. Keep up the good work!

[@zapa1pnt]

Even with the work you needed to do, that 1934 is in Darn nice condition.

[@MillsGuitars]

Agreed, it was really clean for its age. No structural cracks for almost 90 years old is quite impressive

[@rrrosecarbinela]

great job, Caleb!

[@63vetteman]

Very nice job going man, I am sure he will love!!

[@jimmydemetriou7847]

Very nicely done Caleb. X

[@tyschmidt7404]

I realllly love these videos

[@jeffgrier8488]

Great work Caleb!

[@bobl2995]

Great job Caleb nice old guitar

[@robertmoore6700]

That's a fine old guitar. Caleb did an excellent job. I know Jerry will hate to see him go later this year. By the way Jerry the work on the Ash's blend into the finish on the electric guitar was a fantastic piece of work.

[@MillsGuitars]

You're probably jumping the gun a bit with, "later this year." Thanks!

[@habbahan]

Hey Caleb, nice to see the old guitar running! I strongly suggest the use of eye protection when messing with CA glue and hitting things tho. One random tiny drop of that stuff can screw your sight baaaad

[@edgarmcbee2474]

AWESOME GUITAR AWESOME JOB

[@brad42948]

Good work Caleb.

[@loyddussaultsr4181]

The old girl sounds good. Nice job Calib

[@mockgreene4228]

Good job Caleb nice to see Gerry sharing the lime lite

[@tonywampler6588]

very good

[@fino2604]

Great stuff young fella.

[@jthonn]

Nice Job!

[@raymari7658]

Wasn't a candidate to saw the back off ?

[@arthur962]

nice job Caleb.

[@csnelling4]

Well done Caleb 👌😊🥇🇬🇧

[@pmscalisi]

The frets have been replaced at some time. My C2 has bar frets on it which was the norm then.

[@scole901]

nice job

[@andrewwheelerguitar]

I’m helping my guitar student who is in the family that owns this learn guitar on it. Friend/luthier consensus here is that monel 13’s are the best strings for it. All good? Can it support 13’s?

[@wayneshirey6999]

Nice job

[@1963jesse]

Great Job!

[@bldallas]

Great job, Caleb! I’d love to know when the owner took it to Martin for “service.” Cant imagine them claiming to do anything with those frets, if they are pulling up and sharp on the ends and you can see play wear on the first few wires. The nut issues are weird, too. It seems to me they slapped some new tuners and a prefabricated nut on there and called it a day.

[@dennistruett315]

Hi this is the owner... I said that only because Martin Charged me for it on the bill, But when I looked at it it didn't look right to me.

[@bldallas]

Great job Caleb. Once question. Since you’ve opened up an 80+ year old Martin, would it not be best to remove and re-glue all of the braces, not just the sections that are currently delaminated? That might be cost prohibitive, to the owner, but I think I’d make the investment in a family heirloom.

[@MillsGuitars]

If they were any closer to loose I would have agreed, but there was no way the center of the braces were coming off without pulling pieces of the back with it. So to avoid damage I glued just the ends back down. If many years down the line the centers do come loose, the back was glued on with Titebond original, and should be easier to remove than when I had to.

[@dscdrkel5546]

Braces come lose due to hide glue used years ago*****DR KEL

[@bldallas]

@@MillsGuitars makes sense. Thank you so much for replying to my question. Keep doin whatcher doin! Great job.

[@bldallas]

@@dscdrkel5546 I know.

[@forthwithtx5852]

Do you hold on to vintage binding when you replace it? Seems like it would be a great resource for repairs.

[@MillsGuitars]

Jerry has a drawer full of parts and pieces of old binding. You'd think with as much as we have you'd find more exact matches, but we're rarely that lucky

[@dscdrkel5546]

I sent many years supply of old bindings from my 52 year old shop I closed it ""94yrs old"" it is in Jerrys stock.**** old celluloid//cellulose binding should be stored in a sealed mental container****DR KEL

[@joebloggs4369]

Nice one

[@gordonbartlett8875]

Good job bud 👍

[@Unclejake]

How much glue do you guys go through?

[@MillsGuitars]

A 16oz bottle of Titebond can last a while, several months, between us. Although we seem to use it a lot, we often use very little at a time

[@Павел-м7ш7х]

nice job 👍

[@LightTouchWoodstock]

Why no padding under the neck on the block?

[@maverickdallas1004]

There is a piece of leather in the cutout to cushion the neck.

[@thebigswede1736]

19:50 my life. "Just gotta get glue"

[@CarolDailey]

Caleb, do you keep a notebook of your repair projects? Actually, you could use a note taking app on an iPad and add photos of the steps. It would be very cool to have a portfolio. It would be a good reference, too.

[@MillsGuitars]

99% of my repairs are on KZbin, or will be. Hard to beat a video portfolio.

[@CarolDailey]

@@MillsGuitars I’m guessing that not much of your early work is on KZbin, and you might find when you’re working for yourself that you won’t have as much time as you think to make videos. Just a thought. Great job on the arch top!

[@johnmeeks9618]

Why didn’t you reinforce the “f hole” edges like you indicated they should have done?

[@chrismills1561]

Remember that this is a vintage piece, if Martin didn't do it they won't do it .

[@MillsGuitars]

It wasn't so much that they should have, I was just pointing out that they didn't. And yes, I didn't because they didn't.

[@zapa1pnt]

You don't F with a vintage instrument, unless it's already so F'd up it doesn't matter.

[@abloke8834]

Was it Brazilian rosewood back and sides?

[@patrickwilliams3108]

Yep. That's what makes it a C-2.

[@mitchmatthews6713]

I'm not sure if Caleb can fix MY fallen arches.

[@MillsGuitars]

Pretty sure that's a Dr Scholl's problem 😄

[@greghubert617]

@@MillsGuitars Sure he can. Now he has a metal hammer.

[@hoxoh123]

Why don't you use a razor-saw to remove the back?

[@amascia8327]

👍🏼🤠

[@ZacVaper]

Could this Martin go to the buffing wheel or is it not good for this old finish?

[@patrickwilliams3108]

There are some spots on this guitar where the finish looks worn through. The lacquer gets quite brittle with age, so I would not take a chance on the buffing wheel because it could make the worn through areas chip out and make a bigger bald patch.

[@mattrogers1946]

Why on Earth would you want to do that? 😲

[@ZacVaper]

@@mattrogers1946 Because people like nice things and then there's you.

[@mattrogers1946]

@@ZacVaper Yeah, I play mine, not polish them. Hey, let's just strip off that shabby old finish and slap a brand new paint job on that bad boy....🤦‍♂️

[@PJBonoVox]

Nice work dude. Ask Jerry to knock the music volume down a touch though. Not that I don't like it, but it's much louder than your voice.

[@MillsGuitars]

Actually I put this one together, I did lower the volume of the music, but apparently not enough! Well noted for next time!

[@1980bwc]

These things are hard to find.

[@johnmeeks9618]

Why not use Titebond III.?

[@dannyvance4032]

Titebond III is virtually waterproof, and much more difficult to remove in my own experience. Titebond 1 holds well, and can still be removed with heat and steam.

[@dannyvance4032]

I accidentally used titebond 2 for my first project, and it's only water resistant, yet it can be ridiculously difficult to remove and repair. Edit; forgot a word.

[@MillsGuitars]

Jerry covers this well in several videos, including Shop Talk 20 and Shop Talk 23

[@sewing1243]

Caleb needs to learn a few Django Reinhardt jazz style chord progressions for demonstrating those old F-hole guitars when he's done fixing them. 😉

[@pmcm-ih1ep]

Some call it a ‘taper’ Caleb, when the fretboard slopes down toward the dusty end of the neck. It tapers away, it means to gradually change level.

[@mattrogers1946]

Most commonly called fall away.

[@pmcm-ih1ep]

@@mattrogers1946 thanks Matt.

[@dscdrkel5546]

No a cut away guitar you try to keep the fret board extender as flat as possible**this will make the saddle taller for greater string brake this gives better sound and volume **DR KEL

[@mattrogers1946]

@@dscdrkel5546 He was talking about fretboard fall away, not a cutaway. By the way, it's BREAK angle, not BRAKE angle.

[@dscdrkel5546]

CABEL**THAT IS THE WORST WORK BENCH CLUTTER I HAVE EVER SEEN.*AROUND VINTAGE INSTRUMENTS.*DR KEL

[@jmcg68]

More Caleb!!!

[@ebandcamp]

Fall away after the 12th fret.

[@harryodum5598]

In the early 30s I do believe they didn’t use plastic..They used Bakealite.

[@effdpaul1815]

Yeah, a brass hammer is a necessity! ... in a lot of trades.

[@dscdrkel5546]

it is best to use a small dead blow hammer for setting frets.***DR KEL

[@raymari7658]

Thought I recall Jerry saying that removing the back in that matter was not only faster, it was easier to realign the back and sides.

[@RosaStringWorks]

It's just that it is not Standard Operating Procedure especially on an old Martin.

[@effdpaul1815]

You have to have nerves of steel to work on an instrument that is so old and delicate. The amount of labor going into this repair at your rate has to be justified by a market value ... on this guitar, I'm sure it's justified.

[@cornbobrimlove7892]

Fall away...

[@ramspencer5492]

Floating mini-humbucker wood be nice....

[@costrio]

Some paint company should really make a brand of paint/dye that matches nicotine stain yellows? Many of those stain might be from years of tobacco smoke, methinks.

[@zapa1pnt]

Both the binding material And the finish, yellow with age.

[@dscdrkel5546]

Some of the old cellulose binding can be stained with tea or coffee**** put tooth on the binding before staining it **** DR KEL

[@cornbobrimlove7892]

That annoying loud music though.........

[@andymoss3132]

Way to knock it out of the park grasshopper

[@dscdrkel5546]

Cabel**You should always have clean a work bench NO TOOLS NEAR A VINTAGE instrument .Put a clean bath towel on the work bench. work bench carpets could have small enbeded metal particles that could ruin your day.***DR KEL

[@thomastommy1192]

He should of took that guitar back to Martin. They would have fixed the problem. I'm sure of that.

[@dennistruett315]

@@davebryant8050 Agreed Present owner

[@bobbybrooks4826]

Sounds like a martin. They all sound the same .. The old ones are a bit cleaner but it's the same sound... If you ever owned one you would know

[@johnmeeks9618]

You should play a tune at the end, not just strum.

[@MillsGuitars]

All the tunes I know are well copyrighted, and cost us money 💲💲💲

[@alamaralaa]

It's all I can stands, I can't stands no more! What is it with guitar builders saying the word "height" wrong? It's pronounced "hite", like "lite". There is no "th" at the end of the word as there is in width and length. It ends in "ght", like "weight". You don't say "wayth" do you?

[@MillsGuitars]

I've thought about this, and I agree with you. I think it comes from width and length, so when said in succession it sounds like height needs it too. Then it becomes an unconscious, but you're right I'll try to watch it.

[@alamaralaa]

Just to be clear I watch you guys all the time and love what you do. You're a lucky guy to be working with Jerry. Learn all you can from him. Just remember that there is a ton more knowledge available to help with those things that he can't teach you, like knowing the difference between when to use sanding sealer and grain filler. He always complains about not being able to get grain filled properly, but I've never seen him use a proper grain filler...

[@dscdrkel5546]

Comments are for educational purpose NOT NIT PICKING l try learning from these comments** I been at this trade for 52 years and I still learn from these comments I try to add some that I hope are beneficial to all viewers***DR KEL

[@dscdrkel5546]

Looks like another HIDE GLUE PROBLEM **hide glue does not have longevity like Tidebond ETC:***DR KEL

[@dscdrkel5546]

Caleb***When are you going to use the proper tools on the fret board***I SENT YOU THE PROPER TOOLS SO USE THEM.. notched straight edge and rocker tool.****I 52 years of instrument designing and repair I never had to use a file on frets ****DR KEL

[@dscdrkel5546]

@@davebryant8050 *** I have been friends with Jerry for many years**At age of 94 I closed my shop and sent Jerry 7 care packages of tools and used and new parts***I also sent Cabel some tools to do a proper fret job.NEVER USE A FILE ON FRETS.***DR KEL

[@mattrogers1946]

@@dscdrkel5546 Kindly enlighten us as to what the proper tool is to recrown frets...

[@dscdrkel5546]

@@mattrogers1946 My comments has nothing to do with crowning frets.The proper way is to use a notched straight edge to make sure the neck is level NO relief **loosen the truss rod to so the neck can return to a flat condition and then rock the frets to see if they need leveling **reset the high ones and crown if needed. ETC: *** For 52 years I never had to use a file on frets. takes years of playbilly off of the instrument****. DR KEL

[@mattrogers1946]

@@dscdrkel5546 So you just mentioned leveling and recrowning without using a file. I'm wondering how that's possible, to do any fret work without some kind of fret file. What about doing a refret? How do you remove the sharp fret ends along the bass and treble sides of the neck unless you use a file?

[@dscdrkel5546]

@@mattrogers1946 I am not talking gowning file***ROCK THE FRETS to find high ones then reset high one s maybe two or three maybe re glued with CA glue and adjust never run a BASTARD FILE on a full fret board.. you rock the fret three at a time to find high ones.***DR KEL

[@KarolWalkowski]

So much work and the guitar sounds horrible. On the other hand it looks good + client (who apparently doesn't play) won't hear the difference.

[@jimhuitt9854]

If those frets have tangs they're not original. My 1931 C2 has bar frets.

[@zapa1pnt]

In mid 1934, Martin switched to T frets. Before this guitar was built. www.folkwaymusic.com/museum/martin-guitars/1934-martin-0017-0414 First 3 paragraphs.

[@annwitzel9630]

Girlie man , Trans ?