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Ok so a friend took an original 1960 P Bass neck in to Gryphon Strings and they pretty much blew him off about doing any work. Which I was surprised about since Gryphon has always had a good reputation. I need a good recommendation for a repair/restoration Luthier in the Bay Area or Sacramento area. It needs at the very least some binding repair, some fretwork, possibly a re-fret and maybe a new truss rod installed and a neck refinish preferably nitro.

We really want to keep the vibe/vintage look of the neck if possible. So only people who are knowledgable about period correct restorations.



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They have earned a good reputation because they have the wisdom to turn this job away, not in spite of it.

Your friend may feel "blown off", but I would suggest that if Frank or anyone else at Gryphon saw fit to turn this job away, it's likely that they were acting in best interest for both themselves and your friend. It sounds to me as though this neck has issues to an extent which may make it a poor candidate for restoration (knowing these necks, I'd bet it likely had some kinks and twists beyond the described repairs requested as well). With all the work you describe, even if done extremely well it would loose virtually all trace of originality and vintage value in efforts to restore function, and at a cost which would likely be much greater than an honest luthier would appraise the value of the final results to be.

If your friend wants to restore the instrument to ideal function, while also wanting to preserve a vintage artifact, it sounds as though a replacement neck would be a better option while setting the original aside for preservation. From the description of work requested, this is likely what we would have recommended had it come in to our shop. Holding to high standards of preservation ethic and advocating for customers' best interests even when contrary to their initial requests, this is key to maintaining the kind of excellent reputation as ethical tradesmen and trusted advisors which shops like Gryphon have earned.

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Thanks for the info David. I was kind of thinking the same thing myself. Gryphon has a great reputation among the Luthier world. So I was thinking something similar in that it mightbe easier to replace the neck. However my buddy wants to reuse the old neck and is willing to spend the money to have it done right.

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Ok so my next question. Who might have a Fender Jazz Bass rosewood board with block inlays? I can't seem to find a decent one other then Wamouth.

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That's a tough one. Warmoth is among the more reliable suppliers of quality necks, but this approach of replacement would probably be much more easily embraced by your friend if he could find someone able to finish out the neck to more accurate historical specs and vibe. I wish I had a recommendation for someone in the area who could meet this demand, perhaps someone else here knows and will chime in. If not, you may find a more ready source of referrals over on the TDPRI or Talk Bass forums.

Good luck, and I would pitch to your friend that setting aside the original neck (even with all it's flaws) may allow better opportunity to preserve its originality, and perhaps allow its proper restoration as more advanced and less intrusive techniques are developed in the future. Whether this outcome is likely or not I honestly don't know, but a lot of those necks can be so squirrelly that with methods known today there is no way to restore them without fundamentally corrupting their originality. If nothing else though, arguing the ethic of preserving components to someday allow for less invasive repairs with techniques not yet imagined, may make the compromise of using a replacement neck for now seem more psychologically bearable.

Good luck, and I hope he can find someone able to get the bass back in action again.

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