Frank Ford's Friends

Frank Ford's Discussions

Frank Ford has not received any gifts yet

At 5:32pm on November 15, 2009, Zack Bajin said…: Oops! That "Hell" lost an "o"! Sorry:-(

At 5:25pm on November 15, 2009, Zack Bajin said…: Hell Frank,

I am a college professor, a physicist, and I collect and repair antique violins as a hobby. Although you were continuously updating the info, in 2001 I acquired your Web Site on CD-ROM v.2.8. so I could use it as a reference off-line.

I see that your last updates of FAQs and Q&As on frets.com were in 2002.Do you have any newer updates of frets.com (or maybe even frets.net) on CD-ROM in store or in the works? I would be interested in getting the latest one.

Keep pushing the envelope, and best regards,

Zack B.

At 9:42am on November 10, 2009, PAUL said…: thanks frank i was under the impression from the class at rv that you may be able in simple terms explain to me equal temperament/intonation and fretted instruments its for a customer of mine who asked and i am unable to find the correct words thanks any way great forum Frank

At 10:44am on November 5, 2009, Bryn Upton said…: Hi Frank,

I have been reading the awesome information on FRETS.com and I had a question, I am about to try to fix up a 1962 archtop guitar and I want to use your technique of applying Cellosolve to resuscitate the lacquer but I am in Germany and I am having trouble figuring out how to find a suitable material. Are there specific product names that might be available here?

At 1:59pm on November 3, 2009, david a carlson said…: Hello Frank : you and me same age. I bought a 00021, d35, d28 from you. still wish for the 00021. lived in colorado for a while now in sacramento. you left comment on bugspray effect on finishes..wish i'd seen that years ago. got away with minor damage but still very irritating...i always seem to learn the hard way. thanks for writing that..should be BIG first knowledge for festival goers. I have a custom banjo with huber tone ring..really sounds great but neck finish all broken down now to bare wood at edges (something on my hands??..alcohol based sanitizers? ...bug spray again???) I hope to bring it in fri 13 nov 09. is it worth to fix??? will require whole new finish job...janet davis says graphite is the way to go ($500)...i don't know what to do....you won't either until you see it...but i'll miss you for sure because fri is the only day for me. take care. Dave Carlson

At 10:39am on November 3, 2009, Orrin Star said…: Hi Frank, I recently caught the Irish music bug and that led me to an interest in vintage tenor banjos,
both acquiring (two Orpheums and a Puntolilllo) and their care and feeding.

While googling for info on dowel tweaking I came across your millennial reflection on the state of instrument repairs looking back over three decades. It's a wonderful essay.

Orrin
http:orrinstar.com

ps I shared the relevant parts of the article with my table tennis coach - because I thought there were some evolutionary parallels with his profession - and he agreed that that was indeed the case.

pss if anyone reading this in interested, here's the URl for the article: http://www.frets.com/FRETSPages/History/LookingBack/lookingback.html

At 4:00pm on October 31, 2009, Ray Pannell said…: Hi Frank,
Thanks for your quick response. I'm in Santa Barbara, about five hours away. It's a possibility I could drive it up, but i'd probably have to get a room and make a two day journey out of it. As a plan B could you refer me to some qualified people in my neck of the woods. Any where from Los Angeles up to Santa Barbara.
Thanks,
Ray

At 1:11pm on October 13, 2009, Larry Parker said…: Hey Frank,

I have an inexpensive mandolin (don't make right off top of my head). Belonged to customer's father. Neck is up bowed and it doesn't seem to have a truss rod. Any suggestions on straightening? How are mandolin necks attached? A zillion different ways like guitars?

Thanks in advance.
Larry

At 3:13pm on October 10, 2009, Charles DeArmon said…: Well, it's a tough one cause it's cracked loose at the heel,but will still hold up pretty well with strings on. I guess I'm gonna try to get some glue in there, but it's gonna be hard. There isn't much room to get anything up in there.

By the way, I'm pretty excited to have you to talk to about these things with buddy!

Where might I get the glue you said I should use? It sounded cool, but I don't know what the heck that stuff is. X) sorry, I'm new at all this.