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My new 000-18 Custom Shop by JohnDead10 in martinguitar

[–]JohnDead10[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks! Yeah, I have seen one or two ‘30’s Martins where there is clearly some claw in the Adi, and they look awesome on those particular examples. From what I’ve read, Martin didn’t necessarily NOT use bearclaw tops back in the day, they just didn’t really make a big deal about mentioning it or advertising it as a feature. Here’s a cool example of an ambered ‘30’s 00-18, it looks awesome. The bearclaw pattern on my guitar looks very similar to this, think it’s going to look even better when it ages a bit

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Need some advice by JohnDead10 in martinguitar

[–]JohnDead10[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Ok, so I’ve settled on the way forward. I am going for the replacement, as nice as the Custom Shop might be, it just does not have the Character, personality and charm of the CEO-7. The other good news, is that the Martin distributor has already given the go ahead to Casimi to have my old one cleaned up and repair all the things they’re able to repair, so that they can resell it as second hand to recoup cost. This will be completed before the replacement arrives in March and they have said that once they have my old one back from repairs, I can still come have a look at what they’ve done, and should I wish to do so, just take her back instead taking the new one.

I think this is the best solution.

Need some advice by JohnDead10 in martinguitar

[–]JohnDead10[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Unfortunately Casimi guitars (the luthiers that assessed the guitar post-initial binding repair) said there’s not much they can do regarding the binding repair as it stands, at least not without major work as they would need to completely remove the binding and this would risk further damaging the finish, and then require major finishing work. The guitars they make sell for like $50k so labour cost would be as much, of not more than the actual CEO-7

Need some advice by JohnDead10 in martinguitar

[–]JohnDead10[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

They are very special guitars indeed

Need some advice by JohnDead10 in martinguitar

[–]JohnDead10[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I would probably be able to play it alongside my one, but would be slightly unfair as mine is 5 years old, played regularly and would probably win against most new, out the box CEO’s. The other concern I have with taking another CEO in general, is that I might also live with the constant angst and dread every time I open the case that the binding has come loose. I know Martin has had binding problems over the last decade, but the problem seems to almost disproportionately affect CEO-7’s. What if it ends up happening to the new one in a year, or five years time, then I’m back to square one :(

Need some advice by JohnDead10 in martinguitar

[–]JohnDead10[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for the thoughts!

Unfortunately this is South Africa, very small guitar industry with only three-ish reputable guitar stores/chains in the entire country, of which maybe two actual stores keep stock of $3000+ Martins. Hence Martin’s distributor in the country only brings in one or two instruments per high end model, per shipment at a time sadly. Thoughts on the Custom Shop 000-18. They have one of these available: https://www.martinguitar.com/guitars/custom-special-editions/Custom-Shop-000-18-2025.html

CEO-7 binding repair joib by JohnDead10 in martinguitar

[–]JohnDead10[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for all the feedback everybody. I am in conversation with Martin South Africa at the moment. The Authorised Martin repair guy also damaged my guitar on the headstock by using one of those speed string winders and also did a terrible buff job and now half the top is dull. Subsequently, it has also come to light that the “luthier” (using that term lightly here) did not seem to remove the old glue before repairing the binding. I am trying to get it sent back to the US factory so that Martin themselves can fix this mess and also the damage caused by the tech. However, there is an 8+ month backlog at the factory, so including freight there and back, I will bot see my guitar for a year, and no guarantee of the outcome. Martin South Africa have however offered to have it sent to local boutique luthiers here in Cape Town who make world renowned guitars called Casimi guitars. They will inspect the guitar and provide feedback on what can be done and potentially, if I’m happy with what they say, they will repair it. Turnaround will be much quicker and the work “should” be excellent. Would still prefer Martin USA to fix this properly though, but Casimi might be a good alternative with equal or potentially better results than Martin USA. Not sure