*Quick note* I switched computers and I haven't been able to access my blog from the "new" one. Google is on the case and will hopefully be helping me with that soon, but in the meantime, I am at my old laptop which has the info stored for automatic use....
You remember my beauty...some of you have met her in person...(I apologize for lack of a better picture; see above quick note)
She has finally been given the name Caliope. It means "Beautiful voice." My goodness does she have a beautiful voice.
Sadly, a few years ago I began to notice that her voice was changing. There began to be a metal-like string vibration noise coming from her E and B strings and other things were happening too. As you can see, Caliope is very special. What you cannot see in this picture is that Caliope is a 12-string guitar. There is an incredible amount of pressure on her at all times and she began to show signs of stress.
I took her to the local guitar repair shop, which at that time was in Rosepine. They shipped it to their best guy in Lake Charles. He called me with the news that he was unwilling to even attempt repairs to this guitar because of the danger to the finish. And so it went. Several attempts rendered the same response, "Put her on display." Then one day entered.....
I heard about him through my friend Jenster. Jenster has heard Caliope and she felt my plight! He said he was willing to have a look at her. The trouble was, He is all the way in Pennsylvania and I am not. This was also during the time when we were doing construction in the Barndominium and it was no good place to be storing a sensitive guitar. I asked, "Can you look at her and tell me if you can repair her without destroying her?" This gracious man agreed to house Caliope with him for as long as it took to repair her (if he decided he could) and then for as long as it took for me to have a healthy environment for her to return to.
The calendar would show this to be nearly an entire year. By the time UPS dropped her at his door, she had MAJOR cracks and her bridge was separating from her body. When he had given her time to show all of her colors,(cracks) and completed all repairs AND there was a suitable environment for her to come home to, he carefully packaged her back up and sent her home. I have included some of the work and pictures of some of the damage from his page. If you click on the first picture, it should take you to the album where he explains all the work he did.
This guitar means a great deal to me and this man lovingly, patiently and carefully restored her to playable condition. She WILL eventually have to be retired, but he assures me that I have several good years left to play her before that day comes.
I very highly recommend Thompson's Guitar for your most complicated or not as complicated repairs.
Blessings on your day,
