54merk

Not too many people would be familiar with Conn guitars since this company was known as a supplier of student grade band instruments, things like trumpets and trombones. Your sister's Conn guitar is most likely a student grade instrument which was used in a school music program. Hey, it was free, so the price is right. By student grade I mean that it was an inexpensive guitar, and it was probably made by another company, for Conn. As longs as it's in playable condition it would be fine for learning. If the action (i.e. string height) is very high however it would be a discouragement. If you know someone who knows how to play ask them to change the strings and give you an opinion.

Originally posted by cybersecretary my old, really really old, martin needs repair.. i sent them an e mail and recieved no reply. from the serch on this fourm i understand why. it can't be true! that matrtin dosn't care abot the guitar once it leaves te factory Hey, Martin may not be perfect, who is?, but with my dealings with them they surely DID care. Others have had bad experiences, but I am satisfied with how I was treated. Years ago, around '78 or '79, I made an appointment with Martin, drove my guitar from New Jersey to Nazareth to have a crack repaired under warranty (although it was my fault for taking it to Vermont in Feb.), and picked it up 3 weeks later. These days Martin still keeps a repair shop at the factory however it is small, and will only handle repairs in special circumstances. Why do they do this? Because it's cheaper to pay outside shops than to pay salaries and benefits to a large staff to handle warranty repairs for no charge! This may not be the answer we want to hear but it's reality. They will answer the phone and do eventually respond to emails. Sandy Trach is the name of the woman who used to answer emails. Not sure whether she still has this job. You can also find service centers directly from their website, so this information is not at all difficult to obtain. When my neck was poorly reset by an Authorized Martin Dealer/Service Center, they reset it for no charge in Nazareth in only 8 weeks, which was 4 weeks sooner than they promised. This was done after I gave up on the first shop and visited a highly recommended Martin authorized repairman in Westchester County, NY who was appalled at the lousy work done by the authorized dealer. When he contacted Martin they instructed me to send the guitar to Nazareth for their evaluation, and upon receipt notified me that they would reset the neck again for no additional charge. They did an excellent job but it could've been done just as well by the guy in Westchester Co., however Martin needed to document the poor job done by one of their dealers. If you tell us where you live someone may be able to recommend a good shop. And your repairs sound quite minor, as long as it does not need anything else. How long ago was the neck reset and how old are the frets, anyway????

Originally posted by JasmineTea And furthermore, I had the ramps done before the set-up, -two seperate jobs- and even with "normal" action the tops of the pins are above the hight of the saddle, aprox 1/8 -3/16 higher than the saddle. The top is not warping or anything, I think they just set the neck wrong at the factory. If it does'nt get a re-set now, it's gonna need one way before the 25-30 year mark. I will talk to Denny about it again. Yeah, I would definitely get it looked at. The saddle should not be that low but with the ruler pointing into the bridge rather than the top Martin may not authorize it. I would not have bought this guitar in the first place, but hindsight ain't worth nothin'. BTW, don't be so concerned about the height of the bridge pins. They may just sit higher than what you're used to seeing. It's the break angle of the strings over the saddle that needs to be addressed. I can understand ramping the strings on an older guitar to avoid or delay performing a neck reset but question why a reputable technician would perform this on a new guitar which is covered under warranty. Unless Martin will cover the work under warranty it sounds like it would cost more than the guitar is worth to fix it from your own pocket. Better to fix the problem right the first time. Sorry to hear about your problem. Hope it all works out for you Jas.

Originally posted by JasmineTea Straight edge test has it pointing into the bridge about half way between the top, and the top of the bridge. It does not sound like the neck angle is off by very much by this test so I doubt whether Maritin would authorize a neck reset, but you can always take it to an authorize repairman and ask. When mine needed a reset the ruler pointed right into the top. Or take it back to Danny Rauen for his opinion? Why does the saddle need to be this low? Why did he need to put string "ramps" in a nearly new guitar? If there was a problem at the time Martin should have been notified. Something does not sound right.

Jas, A 2 year old guitar needing a neck reset? Doubtful, but it has happened. That would mean that the neck angle was not correct when in was assembled. Have you done the straightedge test? You know, put a long ruler across the frets pointing toward the bridge. It should touch the bridge. If the ruler points into to top, then you've got trouble. Frest.com shows all of this, doesn't it? So.. how are the Martin dealers in Milwaukee? Do you trust any of their technicians. I suppose you could drive down to Chicago. Martin actually has a very small repair shop and avoids repair work, but will take work if there are no dealers nearby or to fix botched work. They did end up fixing my neck reset after the local dealer botched it, but I think you already know that story. Of course, my D35 is 30 years old, not 2. Still, I would be surprised if you need such series work on such a young instrument.

Originally posted by Tioga_Man Well, since no one more knowledgable responded, I'll give you my 2 cents...which I acknowledge isn't wort much. I don't have one. I once played one for 10 seconds. I've read about some pretty expensive archtops that have laminated tops. I've also read that there are "carved solid tops". So there must be two "schools of thought" on how to make archtops. Now what surprises me is the carved solid top. Why carve the top - presumably with an arch? I thought the idea was to stress the wood and "bend" it so that it's under tension. True archtops are actually carved, which is how fine violins and mandolins are made. That is why they cost so much. Sometimes the woods are solid, sometimes they are laminated. I do not know anything about Maton archtops. Maton is an Australian manufacturer of generally midrange instruments, and their flat tops are well known. They have a good reputation but are not considered in the same league as the best North American guitars.

Never head of one. The closest sounding thing I've every heard of is Carlo Robelli, a house brand for Sam Ash. Not sure how you can tell when it was made. Is there a sticker inside? It should list the country of origin. If it is in fact late 70's it's probably Japanese. From what you're saying about the high action it may need a neck reset. Put a ruler on across the fretboard pointing down to the bridge. If it points into the top the neck needs to be reset. If it's pointing right to the saddle, then you should be able to fix it with the truss rod and sanding down the saddle. Frank Ford has great pictures. His site is a wealth of information. http://www.frets.com/FRETSPages/Musician/Guitar/Setup/NeckAngle/neckangle.html I have never seen a guitar with a brass saddle, nut and inlays, Very odd, indeed. Obvioiusly changing the nut and particularly the saddle will improve the sound. I doubt whether it's worth a whole lot more than what you paid for it but with some work it may turn out to be a damn good beater.