I received a Stella from my mother on Christmas of 1963, I was 9 years old at the time. Mine had a tail piece and a movable bridge that slid back and forth to intonate it. I learned on this and a few other Lechmere Sales guitars and 60 years later I'm still playing. Oh, I forgot to mention that it had a tobacco sunburst finish. It had light steel string on it. My cousin found one of these at an estate sale, don't know what he paid for it but i picked it up and I was transported back to 1963, oh the memories.
I have a 1971 Epiphone F150 acoustic POS that has had catastrophic events. After watching twoodford vids for awhile I repaired it and the old gal is playable with acceptable action and intonation. This guitar was almost in the trash and I am indebted to my video mentor, thank you.
I've watched a lot of guitar repair videos over the years, and twoodford videos are my favorite. I've learned a lot from him, especially different ways of looking at things and methods of doing things I was already doing, but better/easier.
After Lomax convinced authorities to release Leadbelly from prison, Leadbelly bought himself a new Stella 12 String. These guitars were usually tuned down to a D or C tuning, and had a remarkable rumbling tone.
Lower register strings seem near inaudible when you played it. Then again I'm an old codger,probably my hearing. I wonder do you know luthier Bob Peterson in south Florida?
I bought myself a Fender 12- string from a pawn shop in ‘86. I kept my 12 string tuned down to D years and years. 7-8 years ago I decided to tune it to standard tuning. It still plays and sounds great.
I had a twelver as a young man. I don’t think I ever got it in tune. Maybe in passing…lol. Traded it for a six string eventually. No digital tuners back then.
This is a brilliant consideration. I have no idea if it will actually prove more effective, but it certainly sounds like it would. Thanks for the wisdom!!
I really enjoy your providing a background on the company that made this guitar. Most of us learned to play a guitar on a used Stella. When I was learning to play the summer I was a dish washer for a Christian summer camp back in 1954, I’m sure it was a Stella in my hands. It had steel strings and a high action. My fingers became very painful because they were softened from dishwashing. Intonation, didn’t know anything about that but the high action was a challenge. I did lean to play. When I went home at the end of the summer,I picked up my dad’s 1945 Martin D-18 guitar and could not believe the tone.I never forgot that moment as to the difference between guitars and always played my dad’s guitar in public. Shows one the difference between a mass produced guitar and what the Martin Company was producing at the end of WW 11. What a time to learn and soon we were into the folk revival and guitars were the kings on the show!
Leadbelly was from around here. We have a bronze statue of him playing his guitar in Downtown Shreveport. Possibly even the Stella. It's been there for quite a while. He's also buried here and his burial location has some stuff there, too. Around the corner is another statue of Elvis and then we also have a statue of James Burton near there, out in front of his Foundation, IIRC. Or maybe the Municipal Auditorium? I don't remember exactly. I'd have to look it up to be sure. But being that James is from here, also, he is highly respected amongst everyone in this area that knows who he is.
Simply beautiful work. Love the "make sure it plays like you want it before you lay down the money" honest great advice and absolutely true. Been there Thank you for the dissertation,
I love when two odd rod does not have to do a neck reset. I love when you carry on about other ways to repair or instrument care. I don’t even do guitar repair but this man makes my Sunday. Like Luther church. And no canuckistani kopeks spent. Best gang ever Ted.
That is a nice OS Stella model. Nice save. Position marker at 10 and reverse gear tuners strongly point to 1920’s. I assume the back and sides are birch?…….but the quick side view given in the video wasn’t conclusive. Definitely some of the best sounding ladder-braced guitars in existence. Playable spruce topped models are certainly not common these days. The guitar is definitely worthy of a proper neck reset. Thanks for keeping it playing !
It cost me $1000 bucks to give my hundred and some year old Stella a neck reset and replace an old mustachio bridge. Play it every day, at home. It took a very special luthier, who like you, appreciates the vintage
I had a sovereign, in fact, that is where I learned to play chords, got my callouses. Legendary action height. Glad to solidify my Stella roots. Had another Stella before or after that, that I never really played.
Sweet! A buddy had an ol' Stella back in 1964. All Black body with the white plastic ring inset in sound hole. Always figured it was plywood. Used to bang around on it when visiting.
Oscar Schmidt died at his factory in Karlsbad, Czechoslovakia on a visit and later, the company was sold to John Carner in 1935 and he traded as Fretted Instrument Manufacturers, Inc but in 1939 he sold the brand names of Stella and Sovereign to Harmony- along with various bits and pieces including completed instruments. Carner then appears to have founded United of New Jersey shortly afterwards and that firm traded into the 60s or the 70s.
I appreciate your willingness to go the extra mile for the benefit of the guitar itself. I performed body repair and veneer refinishing to piano's back on the 80's and sometimes it's hard to stop and say that's it, I'm finished. Cheers!
There's a video(that Ted has seen 🤣👌) here on CZcams of a guy testing glue up myths. He does end grain to end grain and a few other things. The results are not what you expect, IIRC. I haven't seen it for a bit so I forget what the results were exactly.
I just heard an old interview with Mama Maybelle Carter, and she stated that her first recordings were done on a Stella. If it were not for the Stella brand there might be no classic country or delta blues!
I really enjoy your tender sensibility when it comes to expounding on your repairs. I find myself in agreement with you more than not. I like common sense alot!
Just wanted to say I truly love and enjoy all your vids... I wish you wasn't so far away... (picturesque Koreatown, Los Angeles... wishing for folks to jam (with)...)
I love your gentle informative way of making videos. I'm also intrigued by your use of metric and imperial measurements. Its very handy living in Australia where we only use metric and all the talk of 64ths and thousandths leave me perplexed
That was amazing and honest! A thousand US money is a deal for inherited instruments or people who loves that guitar. My Uncle Tom loved Stella's but he loved most was his D-28 Martin 1973 now mine. Near the end of his medical problem he did a traded his Martin 1978, 00028 from Norm's rare guitars for an OM-18, with a twisted neck, no intonation and no way it won't stay in tuned. He died about 2 month's later. It took me 2 or 3 months to figured out what happened. Maybe collectors like Trogly's Gibson. I'm almost done 2. So hopefully 3 for 2023? A lot of work and body pain and arthritis but I'm enjoying the results, might be worth the pain?
Im on the edge on my seat seeing a gentle giant carfuly and masterfully fix delicate old guitars. This show is all about being human and interacting with humans through an object, amazing.
i feel that the endgrain gluing "myth" is largely due to the fact that boards are cut along the grain, so endgrain joints tend to have less surface area - which IMO is the real important part of a lasting joint.
Thanks for another enjoyable video. I have to comment on your use of a suction cup to force glue into a crack. As I am sure with your experience you are getting good results I can't help but wonder if there would be a worthwhile improvement if there was a hole through the center of the suction cup similar to the rubber primer "button" on a small engine. When pushing on it your finger would seal the hole and force glue into the crack. Releasing your finger would eliminate any suction that would pull glue out of the crack. This is probably not necessary but I think of it every time I see you do it and I just couldn't keep it to myself any longer.
I appreciate the realistic approach to this repair. Owners need to assess each old guitar and determine if it is worth spending a ton of money on. Not every guitar is.
Great sound! Nice playing ♫ My first guitar was a Stella with trapeze tailpiece and action you could drive a mack truck under. It was good for building the grip or playing slide ;)
Just saw a CZcams video called "How to ebonize wood with steel wool and vinegar. How to turn wood black. Aging wood." Looks like a simple, inexpensive and effective method. Thanks for reminding me about the strength of a butt joint. I did see the video you mentioned where different types of joints were tested, and the butt joint did surprisingly well. It was interesting to learn that it has been used on guitars. I have an old Classical Guitar that years ago, the Airlines dropped and broke off the headstock, which I fixed. I tried the fingerboard heated blanket trick on it about 6 months ago to see if that could fix the high action on it, only to discover when it didn't work because the airlines had also managed to crack the neck at the body joint too. Since a neck reset would likely be futile, I think cutting off the heel so I can get glue into the neck cracks, and making a new heel to glue with a butt joint may be the best solution. Thanks
ughhh the frets on my fav strat neck have gone a lil further than twenty thousand tall and ive gotten used to how it feels..its seen its last level and re crown that's for sure. and that guitar you just fixed sounds pretty amazing! sounds fantastic to me.
THANK YOU! So I've watched enough of your videos to know I'm not a luthier, BUT I have a 1930s Kay mandolin POS that I bought for $50 with a $30 gig bag... The neck was separating and I was thinking of attempting a full reset. I used your strap clamp technique and it's as good as new.,.😂 Not saying much but you can no longer see daylight between the neck and the body.
I received a Stella from my mother on Christmas of 1963, I was 9 years old at the time. Mine had a tail piece and a movable bridge that slid back and forth to intonate it. I learned on this and a few other Lechmere Sales guitars and 60 years later I'm still playing. Oh, I forgot to mention that it had a tobacco sunburst finish. It had light steel string on it. My cousin found one of these at an estate sale, don't know what he paid for it but i picked it up and I was transported back to 1963, oh the memories.
I have a 1971 Epiphone F150 acoustic POS that has had catastrophic events. After watching twoodford vids for awhile I repaired it and the old gal is playable with acceptable action and intonation. This guitar was almost in the trash and I am indebted to my video mentor, thank you.
I've watched a lot of guitar repair videos over the years, and twoodford videos are my favorite. I've learned a lot from him, especially different ways of looking at things and methods of doing things I was already doing, but better/easier.
After Lomax convinced authorities to release Leadbelly from prison, Leadbelly bought himself a new Stella 12 String. These guitars were usually tuned down to a D or C tuning, and had a remarkable rumbling tone.
I have my 12 string tuned down to C. Really nice lows.
Lower register strings seem near inaudible when you played it. Then again I'm an old codger,probably my hearing. I wonder do you know luthier Bob Peterson in south Florida?
I bought myself a Fender 12- string from a pawn shop in ‘86. I kept my 12 string tuned down to D years and years. 7-8 years ago I decided to tune it to standard tuning. It still plays and sounds great.
@@philovance1940 You actually get in a fight with a 12 string as you play. It sounds good if you win. Those things are a beast.
I had a twelver as a young man. I don’t think I ever got it in tune. Maybe in passing…lol. Traded it for a six string eventually. No digital tuners back then.
Stella out here pioneering the multi scale guitar movement. True forward thinkers. 😊
I've had good luck working glue into tight cracks by drilling holes in the pallet knife, I feel like it carries more glue along with it
This is a brilliant consideration. I have no idea if it will actually prove more effective, but it certainly sounds like it would. Thanks for the wisdom!!
I really enjoy your providing a background on the company that made this guitar. Most of us learned to play a guitar on a used Stella. When I was learning to play the summer I was a dish washer for a Christian summer camp back in 1954, I’m sure it was a Stella in my hands. It had steel strings and a high action. My fingers became very painful because they were softened from dishwashing. Intonation, didn’t know anything about that but the high action was a challenge. I did lean to play. When I went home at the end of the summer,I picked up my dad’s 1945 Martin D-18 guitar and could not believe the tone.I never forgot that moment as to the difference between guitars and always played my dad’s guitar in public. Shows one the difference between a mass produced guitar and what the Martin Company was producing at the end of WW 11. What a time to learn and soon we were into the folk revival and guitars were the kings on the show!
I love this Guitar.
Leadbelly was from around here. We have a bronze statue of him playing his guitar in Downtown Shreveport. Possibly even the Stella. It's been there for quite a while. He's also buried here and his burial location has some stuff there, too.
Around the corner is another statue of Elvis and then we also have a statue of James Burton near there, out in front of his Foundation, IIRC. Or maybe the Municipal Auditorium? I don't remember exactly. I'd have to look it up to be sure. But being that James is from here, also, he is highly respected amongst everyone in this area that knows who he is.
I met a few crack hoes near that leadbelly statue
Shreveport has more than its share of influential guitarists.
Jimmy's just an all around swell guy.
I love luthiery, especially to your standard ... I could watch it for hours! Well done sir!
Great work! Thank you for reanimating that lovely antique voice!
Absolutely loved the little ditty you played at the end! Thanks for another awesome, and very informative video sensei! 🙇♂️
RESPECT!
Stella are legendary! Iconic of the blues.
Simply beautiful work. Love the "make sure it plays like you want it before you lay down the money" honest great advice and absolutely true. Been there Thank you for the dissertation,
Simply the best , thanks for a 1/2 hour of instruction.
Yes!! A Ted Video!!
That’s one sweet Stella! ❤️❤️❤️
Wow, that old Stella sounds great! I am surprised, thanks Ted you made me smile.
Somehow these seem to just keep getting better. Our friend twoodford is a delight!
Your pickin' practice is starting to show harmonious results!
I've never seen checking like that on the Stella...the aligatoring looks quiiiite nice!
Lovely looking guitar and masterfully restored 🎵🎶
You, Sir, are an education.
Wonderful to see and hear.
Thank you.
👍🎸❤️
I love when two odd rod does not have to do a neck reset. I love when you carry on about other ways to repair or instrument care. I don’t even do guitar repair but this man makes my Sunday. Like Luther church. And no canuckistani kopeks spent. Best gang ever Ted.
Luthier Church: I've heard Ted referred to as " Canadian Jesus" by other luthiers. Amen
That is a nice OS Stella model. Nice save. Position marker at 10 and reverse gear tuners strongly point to 1920’s. I assume the back and sides are birch?…….but the quick side view given in the video wasn’t conclusive. Definitely some of the best sounding ladder-braced guitars in existence. Playable spruce topped models are certainly not common these days. The guitar is definitely worthy of a proper neck reset. Thanks for keeping it playing !
Thank God artists/ craftsmen as yourself exist.
It cost me $1000 bucks to give my hundred and some year old Stella a neck reset and replace an old mustachio bridge. Play it every day, at home. It took a very special luthier, who like you, appreciates the vintage
Bluesy indeed Ted. Love that delta tone.
Brilliant as always great video
Always a treat. Thanks!
I love your crushy thing with its pointy bit and its dimple. I'm heading straight to my workshop to make my own crushy thing!
I had a sovereign, in fact, that is where I learned to play chords, got my callouses. Legendary action height. Glad to solidify my Stella roots. Had another Stella before or after that, that I never really played.
Thanks for another great video, I always learn something useful.
Thanks again for the lesson, always so much to learn. Neat stuff as usual.🤘🏼
Sweet! A buddy had an ol' Stella back in 1964. All Black body with the white plastic ring inset in sound hole. Always figured it was plywood. Used to bang around on it when visiting.
Fantastic work and history lesson as always!
Great video as always. Keeping the voices alive. Thanks for your TLC and for sharing your knowledge sifu.
Once again… Bravo! 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼
Thanks Ted, this was a very interesting post. I learned a lot.
You have quite a respectable right-hand groove there on that Travis style picking! Nice work as always, sir!!
And the guitar sounded really great, too!
RESPECT!
Great sounding guitar ! Well done
Man you do good work! Thank you for sharing your knowledge. Much love sir
Wisdom, grace, and skill. Nice combo sir.
Oscar Schmidt died at his factory in Karlsbad, Czechoslovakia on a visit and later, the company was sold to John Carner in 1935 and he traded as Fretted Instrument Manufacturers, Inc but in 1939 he sold the brand names of Stella and Sovereign to Harmony- along with various bits and pieces including completed instruments. Carner then appears to have founded United of New Jersey shortly afterwards and that firm traded into the 60s or the 70s.
Ted, The guitar sounds Awesome with your cross style picking, You've been practicing (huge smile). Thank You for all you do!
I appreciate your willingness to go the extra mile for the benefit of the guitar itself. I performed body repair and veneer refinishing to piano's back on the 80's and sometimes it's hard to stop and say that's it, I'm finished. Cheers!
Many thanks. Something new to learn with each video.
Thank you so much for your videos!
There's a video(that Ted has seen 🤣👌) here on CZcams of a guy testing glue up myths. He does end grain to end grain and a few other things. The results are not what you expect, IIRC. I haven't seen it for a bit so I forget what the results were exactly.
Thanks for keeping me company as I drink monk beer and develop isolation psychosis, Ted, it's a blast having you here in my house.
MONK beer?
@@DriftinDoug It had a picture of a monk on it.
This one sounds great actually, very nice job :)
Crisp and clear camera. Thanks. Good job.
Bluesy oh! Yes, strings dirtyed up a wee bit. Great job thanks for sharing. Respect to you mate. 🙃🙃
So great! Who hasn’t played a Stella?! It sounded wonderful when you were done with it!
All right! I’ve been jonesing for another of your videos!
Holy moly! What a beautiful instrument! Just looking at it through the tubes gives me feels up my spine!
Love these.
I have a McKenzie and Marr Canadian sold guitar with an Anthem system factory installed, easily my favorite acoustic pick up system !!!
I come for the repairs,I stay for Teds musical stylings at the end.
My man! Starting the four-day weekend off right!
I apologize for my insensitivity to my non American friends Concerning the holiday weekend.😁
Never ceases to amaze me.
Glad you are back. I hope you had a good holiday
The Sneaky Spider at 15:00 xD
Yeah I noticed the shop pet as well.
I love it when ya do the old ones!
Leadbelly's influence cannot be understated. Your favorite band was either directly influenced or secondarily from another that was. I'm not kidding.
Lots of old guitars got the vinegar+steel wool dye treatment, and it does make for a brittle surface on some woods.
Used a Time Machine to watch the whole video.
I just heard an old interview with Mama Maybelle Carter, and she stated that her first recordings were done on a Stella. If it were not for the Stella brand there might be no classic country or delta blues!
Thanks for playing them for us Ted!
I really enjoy your tender sensibility when it comes to expounding on your repairs.
I find myself in agreement with you more than not. I like common sense alot!
Very nice work. Very nice description. Thanks
It sounds great! Thanks.
I'm kinda doing guitar-repair-inception - listening to you while I'm working on guitars, myself. You're the best.
Great work Ted
Just to add to the trivia knowledge, Doc Watson said that his first guitar was a Stella.
Great sounding little guitar!
Wonderful vicarious experience!
Gorgeous and totally worthy repair.
Just wanted to say I truly love and enjoy all your vids...
I wish you wasn't so far away...
(picturesque Koreatown, Los Angeles... wishing for folks to jam (with)...)
Nice little guitar, great work Ted!
I love your gentle informative way of making videos. I'm also intrigued by your use of metric and imperial measurements. Its very handy living in Australia where we only use metric and all the talk of 64ths and thousandths leave me perplexed
That was amazing and honest! A thousand US money is a deal for inherited instruments or people who loves that guitar. My Uncle Tom loved Stella's but he loved most was his D-28 Martin 1973 now mine. Near the end of his medical problem he did a traded his Martin 1978, 00028 from Norm's rare guitars for an OM-18, with a twisted neck, no intonation and no way it won't stay in tuned. He died about 2 month's later. It took me 2 or 3 months to figured out what happened. Maybe collectors like Trogly's Gibson. I'm almost done 2. So hopefully 3 for 2023? A lot of work and body pain and arthritis but I'm enjoying the results, might be worth the pain?
Im on the edge on my seat seeing a gentle giant carfuly and masterfully fix delicate old guitars. This show is all about being human and interacting with humans through an object, amazing.
Thanks. And great playing man.
Wow..that thing sounds good! Amazing.
Great work on this antique
You're back!
It coulda been a Contender... but it's a Stella.
i feel that the endgrain gluing "myth" is largely due to the fact that boards are cut along the grain, so endgrain joints tend to have less surface area - which IMO is the real important part of a lasting joint.
Your fingers look like they’ve been through a war. I guess they have! Great work. I really enjoy your videos
Thanks for another enjoyable video. I have to comment on your use of a suction cup to force glue into a crack. As I am sure with your experience you are getting good results I can't help but wonder if there would be a worthwhile improvement if there was a hole through the center of the suction cup similar to the rubber primer "button" on a small engine. When pushing on it your finger would seal the hole and force glue into the crack. Releasing your finger would eliminate any suction that would pull glue out of the crack. This is probably not necessary but I think of it every time I see you do it and I just couldn't keep it to myself any longer.
I appreciate the realistic approach to this repair. Owners need to assess each old guitar and determine if it is worth spending a ton of money on. Not every guitar is.
Great sound! Nice playing ♫ My first guitar was a Stella with trapeze tailpiece and action you could drive a mack truck under. It was good for building the grip or playing slide ;)
I still grooves in my fingers from learning how to play guitar on one of those and that was in 1972 😂😂😂
That fret tang expander is awesome. Sometimes (most of the time) the best tools are the ones we make ourselves.
Just saw a CZcams video called "How to ebonize wood with steel wool and vinegar. How to turn wood black. Aging wood." Looks like a simple, inexpensive and effective method.
Thanks for reminding me about the strength of a butt joint. I did see the video you mentioned where different types of joints were tested, and the butt joint did surprisingly well. It was interesting to learn that it has been used on guitars. I have an old Classical Guitar that years ago, the Airlines dropped and broke off the headstock, which I fixed. I tried the fingerboard heated blanket trick on it about 6 months ago to see if that could fix the high action on it, only to discover when it didn't work because the airlines had also managed to crack the neck at the body joint too. Since a neck reset would likely be futile, I think cutting off the heel so I can get glue into the neck cracks, and making a new heel to glue with a butt joint may be the best solution. Thanks
ughhh the frets on my fav strat neck have gone a lil further than twenty thousand tall and ive gotten used to how it feels..its seen its last level and re crown that's for sure. and that guitar you just fixed sounds pretty amazing! sounds fantastic to me.
Great vid. Thanks for sharing.
Genius working!!!!!!
I don't fix guitars, I can barely get one to make something that sounds vaguely like music. But I look forward to Sundays for these videos.
THANK YOU! So I've watched enough of your videos to know I'm not a luthier, BUT I have a 1930s Kay mandolin POS that I bought for $50 with a $30 gig bag...
The neck was separating and I was thinking of attempting a full reset. I used your strap clamp technique and it's as good as new.,.😂 Not saying much but you can no longer see daylight between the neck and the body.
Twooford uploads, I like