A Real Repair Pro

Wonderful! Watching that, I was thinking, "How much is all this gonna cost?" He answered that at the end. Not a financially viable repair, but most satisfying, nonetheless, and highly successful.

Kudos!

John Colter.
 
Is this guy a 'pro' just competent? I can't decide. In fact I am struggling with the term 'pro' and what it really means here. He certainly appears to know what he is doing but like all repairmen, we rarely get to hear what the final instrument sounds like because the focus is on repair skills. So are we admiring those or his professional approach to the job? Are we assuming because this is bread and butter to him that his facility and ease with it makes him a 'pro'. Or does his have a skill set most of us would give a small body part for?

Yes, I am trying to generate some intellectual debate rather than admiring the work of this Canadian poster boy for the repair business - and don't get me wrong, I would live to have his skill set....
 
The main reason I posted the video Pete was the laughably bad replacement bracing on the top. I mean really, how hard would it have been to shape them? I think the reason was that the person thought nobody would ever know or see their shoddy work. Now 10,000 people have seen the work. Oops!

I had some problems with the finished instrument: Why didn't he replace the pickguard? Looks awful without it with the screw holes. Maybe because it wasn't "original"? Why didn't he dye the filet piece he repaired the crack with to match the top? Stuck out like a sore thumb. And finally, I thought the dark brown finish job was just plain ugly. The original finish would have looked better. Just some thoughts. As to his "proness" I have no real opinion since I am not a repair person. He looked pretty competent.
 
I work in film and appreciate it when someone has the skill to clearly explain the reasoning behind what we're seeing and do it in a compact way. He really has the knack of keeping a narrative going - made it very watchable.
 
Guitar was switched to left-handed, thus the pickguard would be on the other side. I'm kind of with you on the brown shinola finish.
 
we rarely get to hear what the final instrument sounds like
The video did include music played on this instrument by its owner. Sounded pretty good to me. What percentages of the "goodness" can be attributed to the original maker and the repairer is up for debate.
Like Sequoia, I was surprised by some of the finishing decisions.
Miguel
 
Yes it was a bit of an expose how not to repair something and he did a great job rectifying that abomination. He is very skilled - I think that is what I am shooting for. The word 'pro' seems such a narrow category for someone with such skills.
 
The word 'pro' seems such a narrow category for someone with such skills.

I'm not sure but the phrase "he's real pro" might be an American idiom that is not heard in the U.K. I have a handyman that comes by and trims my bushes and I might say "he is a real pro" after he is done but has nothing to do with "professional bush trimmers". English is a funny language... Also the repair guy did have a good skill set but finishing was not one of them in my opinion.
 
If he engages in this type of work as his profession, he is by definition a professional. Beyond that, he also appears to be a pretty skilled craftsman.

And, although he didn't do much out of the ordinary other than his glue solvent and staining the back and sides of the instrument brown, I enjoyed watching the video. It's rare that I can't learn something from somebody.
 
I too wonder...
why wasn't the back sanded lightly to reveal the grain of the wood, then a thin coat of clear satin applied???
 
Nickie, my best guess is that the guitar had already been thinned down enough that he didn't want to remove any of the wood left, which is inevitable when sanding down to bare wood. Still, I'm not a fan of the new appearance. I suspect given the nature of the project, he had free reign to experiment a bit, and perhaps decided to try something he wouldn't normally be able to do with a more valuable guitar.
 
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