Wednesday, May 16, 2007

Chris Talley Trio Performance, Banjo Response, & Repair Work

I started this post on Wednesday, but now today is Saturday and I'm just now getting around to actually finishing it. We have been very busy again today. I think the good weather has a lot of people out and about today. I had hoped to do a little more work on the website, but that didn't happen. Too much else to take care of.

The Chris Talley Trio will be playing at Eckert's Orchard in Belleville, IL tomorrow (Sunday the 19th) from noon to 4:00 p.m. It is a free concert for Eckert's Annual Strawberry Festival. There's going to be good weather and the show will be FREE fun for the whole family. Even the kids from the audience get to come on-stage for a few numbers to help entertain.

I have managed to make it down to Gary's Restaurant a few times this week and have really enjoyed hearing everyone's comments about our big banjo. Terry did such a wonderful job on it! He is so talented!

I finished up a saxophone cork repair job, two violins, and all kinds of band instruments for our own sales. I'm working on an old archtop guitar, three more violins, and a banjo for customers. The archtop guitar needed to have a neck reset, its ribs shortened, the endblock reglued, and then be glued back together again. It has really been a bear to work on because it does not have a traditional soundhole. Instead, it has two f-holes on the front and I can't get my hands inside or see what I'm doing very well. The only "proper" way to to fix the lining, ribs and block would be to take either the top or back off so that I can see what I'm doing and make sure nothing is loose. The problem with doing that is the guitar's only value is sentimental, and the customer does not want to spend a lot of money on it. It has great "cool" value, though! The pickguard is a good-looking imitation tortoiseshell and has a treble clef made out of rhinestones on it. I've never seen anything like it, but then I guess I don't get out much either! I finished all the rib work on the guitar today and it is ready for the neck reset. After that, it will get put back together again and we'll get to see what it sounds like.

I have to replace the neck on a customer's banjo. It was a good sounding, vintage Ibanez banjo, but then the neck went haywire on it. It is twisted and warped all sorts of ways and it started to buzz. I ordered an unfinished Gold Tone neck that the customer likes, and that will get finished to match the banjo, and then installed. I haven't had time to get started on this yet, as the other violins came into the shop first.

Of the fiddles that I am currently working on, two are for one customer, and the other is for another customer who will donate it to a school when it is finished. Nice, huh? I think that is a great idea! I did a fingerboard fitting today, repaired a hole in the scroll, and then did some touch up work on the varnish.

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