So, this is my first repair entry. I'm hoping to keep up much more with this side of my business, along with the regular blog section of the site. I have to say, I enjoy writing, it's more a matter of finding the time to write the stuff I want to write, the way I want to write it! With that said, here's an archtop that a student of the Galloup School of Lutherie made several years back. A local musician owns it now, and has some issues with the neck shape, so, I'm shaving the contour and re-shooting it with lacquer. Not really sure why, but I've done a TON of this very thing lately. It makes me think back to when I was just starting repair work, and how the thought of shaping, and certainly RE shaping a neck was terrifying. Time and experience. It's a lot like playing an F chord the first time (although playing an F chord doesn't bring along with it absolute terror of screwing up a customers instrument). The first time you try it, it feels foreign, and like you're doing it wrong. Now, an F chord is just another chord in the bunch. I don't think about it any more than an A, a G, or a C. Neck work is the same thing now. I have a set of measurements I like to work within, a taper, a shape, and at the same time, a feel. Customers seem to like Boswell necks, so I must be doing something right! It took a long time, and a lot of practice, but it's become repeatable, and predictable. Time and experience.