Ivison Guitars - Build and Repair Thread

webrthomson · April 2019

IvisonGuitars said:

I don’t think you can go far wrong with any of Ash’s pickups to be honest

Very true

OilCityPickups said:

Nice to hear the Firewatch put through it's paces :-)
The Jingo is a bit more 'mellow' and not quite so 'rude and in your face' lol.

Rude and in your face - perfect description of a Junior with some distortion!!!

IvisonGuitars · April 2019

Keefy said:

Hi Neil @IvisonGuitars, is that a Firewatch in my TV Model?

Hi mate, 99% sure it will be. The only other alternative it could be is a Mojo which is no bad thing either really

sawyer · April 2019

I've a Firewatch in my GSPBASSES dc. Sounds fantastic! More defined than the p90 in my 87 Gibson sc.

IvisonGuitars · April 2019

Just to confirm my geekiness....for the side dots on my Special models, i'm using the same NOS celluloid material that I use for the DC pickguards, punching them to the correct, vintage size and installing into the binding...

Philly_Q · April 2019

IvisonGuitars said:

Just to confirm my geekiness....for the side dots on my Special models, i'm using the same NOS celluloid material that I use for the DC pickguards, punching them to the correct, vintage size and installing into the binding...

Quite right too. Nice touch.

IvisonGuitars · April 2019

Just (in time) finished the '57 Special Model in time for Bristol Guitar Show tomorrow and did this very quick vid in the workshop to show a potential customer how it sounds, really pleased with this one, it's a lot of fun!

monquixote · April 2019

Sounds great.

I wasn't aware you made specials as well.

JonHosker · April 2019

These look great .. all the best Neil.
One day...love to order!
Jon

GluedtoMusic · April 2019

Love those side dots! @IvisonGuitars ;

designerseye88 · April 2019

Great seeing you at the show today Neil, Guitars look awesome!

IvisonGuitars · May 2019

monquixote said:

Sounds great.

I wasn't aware you made specials as well.

Yup, i've crossed over to the dark world of two pickups now...!

JonHosker said:

These look great .. all the best Neil.
One day...love to order!
Jon

GluedtoMusic said:

Love those side dots! @IvisonGuitars ;

designerseye88 said:

Great seeing you at the show today Neil, Guitars look awesome!

Thanks guys, appreciate the kind words!

roberty · May 2019

IvisonGuitars said:

monquixote said:

Sounds great.

I wasn't aware you made specials as well.

Yup, i've crossed over to the dark world of two pickups now...!

Literally dark

monquixote · May 2019

Am I right in saying 2 pickup double cuts are dangerously weak?

I've always fancied a 2 pickup DC Jr but worried the neck will snap off.

roberty · May 2019

monquixote said:

Am I right in saying 2 pickup double cuts are dangerously weak?

I've always fancied a 2 pickup DC Jr but worried the neck will snap off.

Depends where the neck pickup is positioned. In 1960 Gibson moved it back a smidge and which fixed the problem

IvisonGuitars · May 2019

Here's a recent repair I completed: A 1970 Lake Placid Blue Jazz Bass with matching headstock that someone, perhaps King Kong, had tightened the truss rod nut so much that it had pushed the anchor into the neck, cracking the maple neck, the rosewood fingerboard right along the grain line AND cracked the inlay!!

LUCKILY the truss rod anchor was right under the last, cracked inlay so the idea was to remove the broken inlay and go in underneath it negating the need to remove the fretboard.

After removing the frets and the inlay an initial inspection reveals that two pieces of rosewood have cracked along the grain lines so they are carefully removed and stored safely as I'll be able to glue them back in place and the join will be invisible. It also give me a bit more room to work.

I then take the dremel and route down and carefully around both sides of the truss rod and anchor. Once I expose the rod, I push the anchor back to where it should be...

....and cut a new piece of maple to fit around the rod and keep it in place.

This is then glued in along with a further piece shaped tightly around the anchor.

The two small pieces of rosewood are replaced, the crack in the board is glued and clamped tightly overnight which brings it closer to its original position. A tickle with a radius block the following morning brings us back to where we should be:

The rosewood dust is used to fill in any rosewood chips around the fret slots, the original frets are replaced (on the customers request) and the missing binding is replaced and then aged to matched the existing...

And we have a 1970 Jazz with a fully working rod again

Philly_Q · May 2019

Lovely job!

IvisonGuitars · May 2019

monquixote said:

Am I right in saying 2 pickup double cuts are dangerously weak?

I've always fancied a 2 pickup DC Jr but worried the neck will snap off.

You are right @monquixote, as is @roberty ....the '59 DC Special had a VERY weak neck joint as the P90 route was routed directly into the neck tenon leaving only 10mm of wood holding it on. Gibson has so many returned under warranty in the first six months that, by mid/late '59 the P90 was moved back to the end of the tenon to make the neck joint more stable. 'V2' is much less prone to cracks.

As an example, I took the neck P90 out of the guitar documented below to check that there wasn't further damage inside:

So, not only have they got 10mm between the wall of the P90 route and the 22nd fret but also the void that the P90 route leaves which goes below the maple truss rod fillet...probably about 8mm at the bottom of that tenon....it hasn't really got that much chance, has it?!

And this leads me perfectly on to my next repair thread....

I recently had a 1959 DC Special come in that was unbroken and all original down to the last screw until an unnamed courier decided to use it as a football and it picked up a neck fracture:

It wasn't a bad break, i've certainly seen worse. I was able to open the crack enough and, with the aid of a drinking straw, blow and wick enough glue into the crack then clamp it overnight to stabilise it. I was able to re-flow the original lacquer, keeping the colour transitions of the already faded cherry with just a minimal amount of new clear to smooth things out again.

roberty · May 2019

Flawless work! I don't think there's anyone else more qualified for the job

sawyer · May 2019

Amazing work. Mega talent!

rsvmark · May 2019

@ivisonguitars Sorry if this is a daft question but just interested. How do you re flow lacquer?

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