War Stories

[Charlie Hoffman]

So, it seems to me that we might have a thread sharing amusing (or not) war stories (horror stories??) we have encountered. Here's mine:

It has been very cold in Minneapolis for the last month or so. In the last 2 weeks it has often been near or below zero. Yesterday a guy comes in with a Martin case and asks us to look at it. As we always do, Conrad felt the case which was very cold (it was about 5 at the time) and so he asked if the guitar had been in the trunk of his car. Answer - "YES". So, Conrad said, "How Long?" Answer - "A couple of weeks." Enough said.

[Russell Vance]

We have done this before - most of us ended up back in therapy with flashbacks. R.

[Pierre-Antoine Roiron]

Hahaha....

[Pierre-Antoine Roiron]

I don't have lot of these kind of stories. Maybe this one : a girl came at the workshop and asked me to fix the neck of her guitar (multiple break). She told me that they were loading the van with her band, and that the guitar were forgotten standing on the side of the vehicule. They got in the van, made some manoeuvres and felt they were runing on the guitar...

[Tim Mace]

I drove off w/ my tackle box sitting on top of the car,also my son threw the driver seat back(unknowingly,I hope)and totaled my Stewart 100 yr old mando.It was all mahogany which led me to build my own all mahog mandola.
I left my instruments in the VW van one night after a contradance.!00 yr old Liddy 4 string bjo stolen however my D28 1955 Marty was disturbed but left in the van case still open! The g00d,the baaad,the ugly!Oh yeah my pals in the band gave me the cash from the next gig to purchase another bjo which turned out to be a LyonHealy tenor
also @ 100 yrs.old serial #265.I'm done for now! Who's next?

[Antonio Cotichini]

Hey Tim, aren't you playing instruments younger than a century?
Boys, you must read the stories on the last page of the Fretboard Journal, fall 2009 issue, about a couple of Martins that have been "killed" by jealous girl-friends! Very funny forensic lutherie article.

[Frank Ford]

Years ago we had a woman bring in her Martin 00-18 with a seriously loose bridge. We reglued it. Next summer she brought the guitar back with the bridge loose again. Fixed it again. Same thing for the next two summers. She told us that she'd be in each year for the operation because she kept her guitar in her car trunk at all times so it would be handy wherever she happened to be. After our little lecture on guitar storage she simply told us that it was her guitar and her choice, and that she'd be back next year.

Well, I took a quick trip to West Marine and bought a small can of resorcinal glue, and reattached her bridge. Right on schedule she brought her guitar in to have the bridge reglued, but - wait a minute - it wasn't loose. . .

[William F.Eden]

That tops so far Frank.I guess she forgot she hadn't played it since the last repair . Or she just enjoys your company. Any way if they were all like her you wouldn't be any time getting all your work done and have more time to play that guitar of your's good luck on your next repair. Bill.""""""""""

[Barry Crump]

I always think the worst kind of damage is something done intentionally, that 'seemed a good idea at the time'.

I spent many hours removing silver paint 'go faster stripes' from a 1970s Tobacco Burst Fender Precision Bass, and would have felt much better if I had thought it was a result of an accident or negligence!

[Dave Yelverton]

About a year ago a rather shamefaced young lady brought in a strat 2000 with a totally totalled neck- shattered at the bolt end and the headstock in fragments.
Gentlemen, I think there is a moral in this we should all pay close heed to;
Apparently she'd had a particularly bad day at work and when the baby woke up at 2 a.m. she asked her partner to see to it.
You can judge his response by what happened to his Strat.... read this and learn well ! When the ladies have a point to make, it's your most treasured possession that will suffer !

Dave

[Rick Gentry]

At our Christmas concert, the guitarist in front of me couldn't stay still. He kept moving back toward me and my set up, which included mandolin, cello, Yamaha silent classical guitar, Randall amp and huge custom pedal board. Pokes from the bow and several ignored reminders later, he "expressed" himself, swinging his guitar neck back, whacking the Yamaha off its stand, in a direct line slamming violently against the cello bridge AS I WAS PLAYING IT, and snapped the A string. The guitar was fine. The new chips in the cello varnish are now character, and I made him pay me $25.00 for a new string and for the lesson.

I never heard the recording, but sure it is doozy. After the song, our band leader told the audience that I was rocking out so hard that I broke a string. Luckily we were in the second half, and I only had to sit out three or four songs.

[Steve Beckwith]

I had a guy drop a cheap dread off at my shop to re-glue the bridge. He had already attempted to fix its lifting bridge with two deck screws. I've uploaded an image of it for all to enjoy...

[Russell Vance]

Obviously used to repairing Ovations.......and on the seventh day God created 'Tech' screws, super glue, double sided tape, magnets and other useful stuff knowing full well that luthiers work on Sunday after going to church and praying for a solution to their latest problem.