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Inspired by all of the discussion around Max405's 1968 GJS, I made the final decision to get the refret done on mine. The already low profile original frets had a lot of wear on them and while it is still playable, it takes significantly more pressure to fret a clear note than I like, and consequently, it hasn't been getting played, even though it may be the best sounding guitar I own.
The plan is to go with Jescar Evo Gold like Max405, but .100 x .051 wire. I think that in addition to playing so much better, this wire will look fantastic.
I dropped it off with my luthier today. It was so encouraging when he strummed across the strings, unplugged and his mouth dropped. He said, "Wow! It's hard to make an archtop sound that good acoustically. The only one I can say for sure sounded better was a D'A New Yorker that I've had in the shop." Not bad for a guitar that I paid no more than 10% for what an original New Yorker is going for!
He's not the fastest with turnaround time, but that's not what I'm interested in. I'm glad he takes his time and is pretty meticulous. I'll update with pics when it's finally all done.
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02-24-2017 01:52 PM
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RM,
The Gibson Johnny Smith is a special Guitar. It is a rare guitar that is exclusive enough to hang on the same wall as an Original REAL D'A.
I think we are lucky and when our babies come back to us, WE are going to find out just how great they really are.
Good Luck to you.
Joe D
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What year is your Johnny Smith?
Mine is a 76 with super low frets like the one on Max's JS. I wonder if yours were originally as low as the 76's are.
I'm looking forward to hear about the results from the refret!
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It's a 1968. The frets are pretty worn, but were clearly the "fretless wonder" type to begin with.
Originally Posted by JazzNote
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Yep, Gibson Johnny Smith's and Guild Artist Award's have a place on the wall with the DA's.
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The guy I bought my L-5 from had a Johnny Smith that was his prize posession. He said he sold it once and spent an age chasing it round the country trying to get it back. Then when it was for sale it was too much for him, so he left it for a while, only to see it pop up for sale at a dealer's for a more reasonable price. He said he lost it once, never again. It was a real stunner, can't remember the year but mid 60s. The thing I remember most was how wonderful it smelled. My L-5 has a slight old wood smell, but the Johnny Smith smelled like a piece of antique furniture. My dad was a violin maker and his workshop always smelled of french polish and woodshavings, an intoxicating mix, so perhaps it brought back good memories of my late father.
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It's hard to know what to make of your luthier's comment about how good your guitar sounds. Of course it's a very nice compliment. But I'll be yours sounds as good or better than the New Yorker.
That opinion is not based on anything but attitude!
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I took it purely as a compliment to the guitar. Like many luthiers that have done a lot of high end work and as someone that builds acoustic instruments, I don't think he's easily wowed. Even though I knew it already, it was nice to hear.
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Nice guitar. Can you tell us who is the luthier you are taking your guitar to?
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That guitar has a drop dead gorgeous back! Wow ... and the rest is pretty too. Originally Posted by ThatRhythmMan
Stumbling fingers still need love ...
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Oh man; those are TALL! Originally Posted by ThatRhythmMan
I don't think I'd ever be comfortable playing a neck feeling like it's scalloped, specially doing chord- and arpeggio-work in the first position.
Also, you'll need a new, taller nut to accommodate for the taller frets.
Talking about getting " a new instrument"... it'll feel like you got a new, way thicker neck, specially considering you're used to worn, "fretless-wonder" fretwire, which starts @ .0035. You're a courageous man, no doubt about it!
If it was me, I wouldn't get anything taller than .0047 fretwire that, after leveling and crowning, it'll set @ .0045. And even that I feel like "high-ish". My favorite setting is AFTER the first fret job, so it'll set @ about .0042.
Good luck with your "new-and-improved" old guitar of yours.
Yours very truly,Last edited by LtKojak; 02-26-2017 at 06:22 AM.
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You're right, Kojak. It will change a lot of things about the guitar. If I actually was used to playing fretwire that was so short it would probably be okay even with the wear. None of my other regular guitars have short frets. I like to play with a pretty light touch and not really make any contact with the board. That's why the GJS hasn't been getting played. I love the tone, but I'm ending up compromising my playing style or ending up with a lot of not quite fretted notes. I'm not a speed demon on the fretboard anyway, but the added tension it takes me to play it with those low frets really isn't good for many reasons. I'm really looking forward to some jumbos. Originally Posted by LtKojak
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I would agree with LtKojak on the wire size. .055 is really high. The wire that I normally use is nickel silver and measures .047 high by .106 wide which is very much like older Gibson wire. I used .055 high wire on a J.S. that I refretted last year and it felt odd. I ended up dressing it 3 times before liking it.
I have the same issue with my 1984 J.S. (low frets) lately it hasn't bugged me too much. I hope you really enjoy your guitar when you get it back.
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Gotta call you about that ol' Lyle and it's fret job. Talk scheduling and what wire to put on. It's currently showing around 1/32nd which would be what, about .031? Don't want mountains but a bit more. Some chords it's have to squeeze pretty good to stop fret buzzes. And after putting the new wiring harness in and re-stringing it, I'm getting a bit of buzzing at times acoustically so I'm wondering if a cracked or two I've thought in the finish are maybe into the wood. Pressing my body up against the back makes it more buzzy, and with a soundboard .... not sure what's going on. Originally Posted by guitarcarver
Stumbling fingers still need love ...
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Have you tried raising the bridge a quarter turn or so?
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The buzzing is from the body not the neck so the "new" buzzing hasn't been affected by raising the bridge, which I did try. In fact I even swapped to the original rosewood bridge and set various heights. Originally Posted by sgosnell
Stumbling fingers still need love ...
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If it's not fret buzz, it can be hard to track down. There are innumerable things that can rattle on an archtop. Sometimes it takes patient investigation over a period of time.
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And sometimes ... just time? After "setting in" a couple weeks the majority of the buzzing so gone. At first it sounded almost like a distortion pedal ... now, very little and some notes/chords not at all. Mainly when playing the B string between about 7th and 14th fret. Originally Posted by sgosnell
But the buzz seems to be coming from the body, perhaps between the bridge pup, bridge, and neck volume pot area.
I love the tone with the new pots/caps & treble bleed.
Stumbling fingers still need love ...
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That would indicate to me that it's fret buzz from high frets, and it can take time for a truss rod adjustment to really take effect. If it's from just one string, the saddle slot may be lower for that string. For a wooden bridge, that usually means carefully taking the entire saddle down to the level of the lowest slot, and making new slots. Or just raise the entire bridge. It's also possible that you have one or more frets that have risen slightly.It doesn't take much to cause a problem. But again, I don't have the guitar in hand so I can't be sure what is causing the buzz. It could still be something loose and vibrating, but less because of humidity and the wood swelling very slightly. Dunno.
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