Worried and a bit sad

[narr8or]

I just joined this amazing forum and have learned a great deal already. I'm still looking for a 12 string but that's not relevant here. After reading about StewMac cleaner and applying a small amount of lemon oil to the fretboard every year or so, I ordered some. I've never ever done this procedure and I very carefully followed instructions.
I thought my 1992 C-10 Mucha Lady could do with some attention and it was new string time anyway so the old strings came off in preparation. To my horror, the nut fell off as the last string came off. The strings were the only thing holding it on.
Then I noticed the neck binding starting to detach by the base of the neck.
Then I saw the woeful state of frets 1-5.
I love this guitar, it has been everywhere with me (Oregon to England to L.A. and all points between) and I was saddened to see that I should have addressed this stuff before. I'm in L.A. so I filled out the repair form on the Larrivée site. That's when I read that it can take months to get your instrument back. So I'm looking for a good luthier. I'm in Pasadena, east side of L.A.
I might throw a K&K in there while she's in hospital but I'm primarily worried about finding a tech that understands these guitars. I learned how to play loooong before I learned about maintenance. I'm pretty ashamed.
By the way, the StewMac cleaner? Brilliant. She looks amazing. Injured but still beautiful. Any advice is appreciated. Scolding will be a waste of time, I feel bad enough already. 

[ducktrapper]

Sorry to hear about your guitar troubles but it could be a lot worse. I would let Larrivée do the work. Get a beater or rental for the couple of months and know it will be done right. By the way, I never use anything but warm water and a dry cloth to clean my guitars. I don't trust the goop they sell and lemon of any kind can dry out your fingerboard. 

[Paraclete]

Welcome!

I don't have any brilliant advice for you.  But don't beat yourself up over this!  Fretwear is a normal sort of thing, and it's good that you caught the binding issue now.  Just let Larrivée do the work since you are close.  And like Ducktrapper said, get a rental or a beater for the time being.

As for the cleaning stuff, I use a small amount of Lizard Spit maybe a couple times a year.  The Preservation Polish/cleaner from Stew Mac is great stuff.

[unclrob]

This is a simple do it yourself.Get some wood glue and some painters tape.Clean the nut slot and if you can the area under the binding.A small drop of glue were the nut sits place nut back,small drop under the binding tape the binding down and place another piece of tape across the nut let it sit over night.With a damp cloth clean away any extra glue up.If I can help please feel free to call or PM my number is on my website posted in my signature.

[ducktrapper]

This is a simple do it yourself.Get some wood glue and some painters tape.Clean the nut slot and if you can the area under the binding.A small drop of glue were the nut sits place nut back,small drop under the binding tape the binding down and place another piece of tape across the nut let it sit over night.With a damp cloth clean away any extra glue up.If I can help please feel free to call or PM my number is on my website posted in my signature.

That won't dress the frets though. Unless you know what you're doing, I'd leave that to someone who does it all the time. 


AND NO SUPER GLUE! Right Rob? 

[narr8or]

This is a simple do it yourself.Get some wood glue and some painters tape.Clean the nut slot and if you can the area under the binding.A small drop of glue were the nut sits place nut back,small drop under the binding tape the binding down and place another piece of tape across the nut let it sit over night.With a damp cloth clean away any extra glue up.If I can help please feel free to call or PM my number is on my website posted in my signature.

Unless it has a 4 barrel carburetor, I'll leave the pros to it. But much appreciated!
Great advice everyone, thanks so much.

[tlp2]

I didn't glue the nut back in when I replaced it with bone.
Saddle's not glued, right?
Just leave a middle string in, say d for example,
to hold the nut. After you've got a new string or two on,
change d. No big deal. Just my 2 ¢.
But do fix the binding.

[unclrob]

Glueing the nut is ok,NEVER glue tha saddle,,,,,,,,,NEVER EVER!!!!!!

[flatlander]

Doesn't sound bad at all to me. A little glue by yourself or a tech and some routine maintenance on frets. I wouldn't send it to Larrivee for that. There must be a lot of qualified techs around L.A.  

[C-10-4-me]

The nut issue is easily fixed with a drop of glue. Or remove part of the strings instead of all of them at once.
The binding is an easy fix as well. My C-10 had the same problem with the binding so I emailed Larrivee to ask what kind of glue they used. They told me to get a tube of model glue and put a dab on the binding,being careful not to use too much. That's what I did and it worked perfectly.

[headsup]

it's rather common for larrivee to not glue the nut in, I think it's a good thing actually.
binding is easy, fret wear normal.

lots of folks on the forum can help you with such standard procedures....