Today I had to take my guitar in to the repair guy, again. A few weeks ago the bridge popped off, for second time in a little over 20 years. This time it cracked in two. I sent away to Lowden (it’s a Lowden guitar) for a new bridge, and they sent a replacement that is stronger and of a superior design. I took it to Norio Imai, a great guitar repair person in the city. He put the new bridge on, and repaired some of the bracing inside while he was at it. It was a $650 repair. The problem is that the new bridge sits a little bit taller on the guitar so my action is too high. This means that the strings sit too high above the fretboard for my comfort. I had a gig coming up and no time to change the action, so I played one gig with the guitar like this and one gig with a borrowed guitar. I felt frustrated because I didn’t think I played as well as I could have due to not having my guitar, the way I like it. So I took the guitar back in today. I hope we can get it the way I was used to it.
Norio Imai is a good repair person. He seems to work 24/7. He’s very friendly. He’s always kind of half-laughing at me. I think I amuse him. His client list is very impressive. Keith Richards is on there. There’s a picture of him and Keith Richards embracing on the wall. John Mayer, Sting. Guys like that. I should have my guitar back Monday. In the meantime I will use my backup guitar which (for now) is a Norman guitar. I like some things about the Norman, but am really ready to have my Lowden back. I have some friends who are luthiers, like Ryan and Stephen at Kinnaird guitars. They make beautiful guitars and are great people to boot. I was honored to play a Kinnaird guitar for a spotlight showcase at the Healdsburg guitar festival in Santa Rosa, CA many years ago. That was a really fun time.
Thanks for the shout out Jason. It was a fun time. Sorry the Lowden is under the weather currently. At least you’ve got a good guy working on it. One day I’ll get a decent backup into your hands. 🙂
That would be great :). Just got the Lowden back today. Hopefully it’s back to normal.