1971 Gallagher 71 Special Dreadnought Guitar

A customer of mine has owned this Gallagher since new. His lady bought it for him with an alarming amount of pinching and saving -- almost three months' wages at the time -- and it's lovingly remained with them ever since.

That said, it was a bit run-down and had seen a mix of OK and certifiably bad repairs in its lifetime. This time around it got a neck reset, replacement ebony bridge, fret level/dress, and setup work at Wildwoodville. While the neck can't completely adjust dead-straight via the truss rod buried at the neckblock, it's still playing spot-on and fast. The new bridge is one I made from the old one's template and while the saddle is extra-tall right now, I fully expect that the guitar will "settle" a bit and need to be reduced after a month or two.

The basics? It's like a Martin herringbone D-28 clone but it has some extra bling and nice, scalloped bracing. The neck is interesting because it's definitely a soft V shape on the rear but it's relatively thin and fast and has a lighter, 14" or so radius to the fretboard and "modern" 1 11/16" nut width. I was expecting that I might be driven crazy by the profile but it actually fits great.

The top is solid spruce and the back and sides are solid rosewood. It has an ebony fretboard and bridge, extra trim all around, and mahogany neck. The scale length is a little longer than your average Martin dreadnought but I don't remember offhand what it is exactly as it's already gone back to its owner.