by Randy810 » Sat Apr 23, 2011 7:36 am
Hi Guys,
Wow... what a great site! I bought this guitar from George Gruhn sometime in the early 90's I think. It is a short scale model: 22 3/4". The fingerboard is ebony, flat, and 1 15/16" at the nut. This guitar also has a truss rod. The build quality is pretty decent except the nut was fit sloppy (file marks at the ends). Also, intonation was terrible. I could tune for high register or low and play... but not both. My other issue was tuning. The large classical style rollers made tuning silk and steel way too sensitive. I never did anything about the issues because I had never found a repairman I trusted.
I live in Wisconsin. Tommy Emmanuel tours through Milwaukee just about every year now. At first (~8 years ago???) he played a very small venue (Shank Hall). He would come out after the concert and chat. He's the only guy I ever got a chance to talk with regarding the DV. He said he borrowed one of Chet's DVs for the recordings and told me all about the set-up.
With that info, I got the courage to find a great repairman. He made a new compensated saddle for silk and steel. I also had a machine shop make 1/4" diameter brass rollers to fit the original machine heads. They turned nylon bushings which pressed into the headstock. The original rollers and saddle are in the case and could always be put back.
It's a wonderful guitar now!... I just don't play it enough. I'm selling other nice guitars as well. With your emails, I'll send as many pics as you'd like.
Regards,
Randy