10
Background: Owned since new, this guitar has given countless public performances. Well taken care of, well-played, and well-worn. This anniversary Taylor’s bridge was coming unglued, the frets had significant playing wear, and the top by the rosette had a growing 1″ gouge from pick damage.
Repairs: The bridge was heated and removed. Bridge patch routed clean, and a rabbet routed on the bridge so it sits on the wood instead of the edge of the bridge patch finish. Frets were leveled, crowned, and polished. The top gouges from pick wear were filled, flattened, and polished. A small, clear acrylic pickguard was installed to protect the finish from future pick wear while maintaining the guitar’s original look.
13
Background: The first year for the Les Paul. 1952 and early 1953 models had a tailpiece and shallower neck angle. This is an all original guitar, down to every bit of electronics. It was never abused but clearly well-played.
Restoration: Minimal work was performed to maintain the instrument’s originality. Dirt and grime were carefully removed, as this was a player’s guitar. Binding had shrunk in places. The nut was original but broken above the low-E string, which was rebuilt rather than replaced. All electronics were cleaned. One tuner was carefully repaired. Several fretboard trapezoid inlays were re-installed.
03
Background: This mandolin arrived with the top glue separating, as well as the back waffling from lack of braces. The top was also warped from brace separation, where the bridge pressed the top.
Repairs: The back was removed, and much of the top separated from the sides, due to glue failure. Upon inspection two back braces were completely missing. The linings had come loose in places as well as missing a section. New braces and linings were made. All braces and linings were reglued, then the top and back were mounted. Finally a new bridge was made to set the correct string height.
03
Background: This beautiful 36-string harp was made by Bedford, VA instrument maker, James Jones. It is a beautiful piece of work, in Eastern Hard Curly Maple and Sitka Spruce. Living in northern Virginia, a lack of winter humidity caused movement of the column. The knee plate took pressure from string tension. Finally the soundbox also warped at the bottom no longer able to be flat against the base.
Repairs: The harp was de-strung and disassembled from the bottom. The column was pressed back into place though still about three-eighths of an inch past the bottom. The column was cut with a Japanese Dozuki Saw and then leveled with a hand plane. The soundboard base was then leveled, and all the attachment points were repaired.
09
Background: This SG has been in the owner’s hands since the early seventies. In the late sixties, the headstock was abused, puttied and painted with a black spray can. The owner wanted the instrument restored to original condition (that is, 50 years old and unabused) along with a return to original style pickups.
Restoration: Extensive work was done to rebuild the headstock, tint and match original faded red color, and relic work to keep the headstock looking original to 50 years of wear and tear. Pickups were wound and relic’d to match. All aspects of the guitar were returned to as close as original as possible.
08
Background: This beautiful archtop had the misfortune of slipping off the owner’s lap during a recording session. The guitar landed square on the input jack, which punched through the body taking a good chunk of curly maple and the inner plies. Unfortunately access inside the body of an archtop is only through the f-holes, making an internal repair relatively impossible.
Repairs: A 3-ply jack plate was made from curly maple, black fiber and rosewood. The woods were bent on a hot pipe and glued in a caul with a radius matching the side profile. The jack plate was wiped with shellac to pop the curly maple grain. The 3 tints were mixed to match the factory tobacco sunburst on the jack plate. The body damage was cleaned up with the finish cracks filled and repaired.
27
Background: A good example of how factory guitars are not necessarily well set up, this Telecaster was brought to our shop by a player complaining of the low E string slipping off the neck. Furthermore the frets showed significant wear. The neck had 0.010″ relief and the bridge saddles were set very high.
Repairs: The original factory nut was installed in the wrong location, with the nut approximately 30 thousandths too close to the edge. The original plastic nut was cut from the finish, the bottom of the nut slot cut flat and a new buffalo bone nut made. Frets were leveled, crowned and mirror polished. Action was then dialed in, including neck relief, intonation, fret height and 1st and 12th frets. Finally dents in the back of the neck were filled and flushed to improve playability.
22
Background: The East Indian Rosewood back to this guitar was ruined with heavy scratches which may have come from the player’s shirt buttons.
Repair: The back was stripped back to original wood. Layup epoxy was used to bring the color depth out of the rosewood. The back was finished with nitrocellulose lacquer and blended to the sides for an indistinguishable repair.
22
Background: This wonderful guitar was made in the Smallman style by Henner Hagenlocher in Granada Spain using Canadian Cedar and Brazilian Rosewood. Unfortunately the guitar had suffered misrepair by a previous luthier and its player, who plays 2 hours/day, complained of left hand fatigue. The neck finish was worn through and the frets exhibited significant wear. The back was also separating at the lower bout. As a working instrument the now thin french polish required complete rejuvenation.
Repairs: The neck had to be stripped of its original finish. The player’s body chemistry etched the finish. Given chemistry issue, the neck was refinished with epoxy with french polish over top. The frets were then reground, polished with careful chamfering of the fretboard edges to improve playability. A complete setup focused to minimize left hand fatigue while still supporting the players right hand playing style. Finally the back was repaired with hot hide glue and the complete guitar received french polish.
22
Background: Gibson necks are very weak at the nut, due to a large truss rod access hole. This mid nineties Les Paul came in with a broken neck, suffered from falling off a stand. The complete guitar was also hazed out from the binding and finish gassing out.
Repairs: The neck was carefully cleaned out to prepare for a glue and a caul made to support the back of the neck break during glue-up. Thinned hot hide glue was used to ensure the full crack area received glue. The crack was now nearly invisible. Thickened lacquer was then used to fill the finish crack which was then leveled and polished. The complete guitar was disassembled with all metal and finished buffed, removing the gas out haze. Playability issues which the client articulated were addressed with a complete setup.