# 1980 Epiphone FT-120 - sunken top



## dwardle (Apr 30, 2011)

So my mom found her guitar in the attic that she bought in 1980 and never ended up using it. Its an Epiphone FT-120 made in Japan, which according to my searches is a pretty decent guitar. Nothing like the American made ones from the 70s but still good enough.

Unfortunately with no humidity control for 30 years the top has sunk in a bit. Long & McQuaides quoted me about $70 to put a shim in the neck (luckily it's removable) to line up the strings better. Is that a good quote or should i look around? 

also does anyone have feedback on their work (specifically the Guelph or Waterloo stores)?

Any information/feedback about the guitar is also appreciated


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## washburned (Oct 13, 2006)

You could do it yourself for the price of a new set of strings. Lots of info online to show how to adjust (shim) a removable neck.


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## cknowles (Jan 29, 2008)

The shim will only be a temporary fix. What has happened most likely is that the neck block has become loose
and allowed the neck to tilt. You can fix this yourself if you can get some tightbond into the gap between the
neck block and the end of the body. Fortunately you can see this for yourself when you remove the neck.
I've repaired several of these old Epi's made by Matsumoku. I love the sound of them. My first guitar was
an Epiphone Ft-130 vintage 1975.

Chris


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## dwardle (Apr 30, 2011)

Great so I'll search around a bit online for a fix. How would i know if it's just a looseness issue or if the top is in fact sunken?


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## cknowles (Jan 29, 2008)

Easiest way is to see if you can move the neck. Hold the guitar in the playing position and carefully pull the neck toward you. If the neck block is loose the whole neck will realign as you pull it back. The heal of the neck will get closer to the body joint. Note a very small amount of movement here makes a big difference at the headstock end.

If you look down the neck from the headstock toward the body you can see how it aligns. The frets should point at the base of the saddle, chances are they are pointing into the sound hole. 

A sunken body is fairly easy to diagnose as well, place a straight edge across the sound hole from side to side or neck joint to heal. The top should arch slightly in the middle, if it is perfectly flat or if the sound hole is below the straight edge, then the top has collapsed. Most likely at this point you will need to glue the top braces back in place. Not exactly difficult but in some ways similar to building a ship in a bottle, it is an exercise in patience. 

Hope this helps

Chris


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## cknowles (Jan 29, 2008)

You are in Breslau, there is a fantastic Luthier in Stratford called Mike McConville, he taught me all I know. He could give you a pretty fair assessment on your guitar. I am in Hamilton, about 45 minutes from you if you wanted me to take a look at it sometime.

Chris


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## washburned (Oct 13, 2006)

I wouldn't bother with the top repair on this guitar, but definitely check out the neck block. if it is solid, shim the neck for a good action and enjoy.


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## dwardle (Apr 30, 2011)

searched for a how to,cant believe they were going to charge me $70 for that. All fixed up, plays amazing 

Is it okay that there's a gap between the top of the guitar and the bottom of the fret board right by the sound hole?


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## cknowles (Jan 29, 2008)

Cool, what did you finally do to get it playing again?
A bit of a gap at the end of the fret board is fine on these guitars. It will not affect
the tone or playability in any negative way.

Chris


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## dwardle (Apr 30, 2011)

I took the neck off and put in a shim (i used a small piece of an old credit card)

It took a couple tries to get the right angle, but it works amazing now, great action.

[video=youtube;NNT-T6T5Oo0]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NNT-T6T5Oo0[/video]


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## cknowles (Jan 29, 2008)

That's fantastic, I'm glad you got her playing again.

Thanks for posting the link, pretty cool setup on a Big Baby Taylor. 

Chris


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