Official Luthiers Forum!

Well, some days are better than others.

I sold this guitar to a friend of mine some years ago, and yesterday on the way to a sunshiny porch with coffee in one hand and a book in the other, relying on the strap buttons to be kind and supportive, well..., they weren't.

The results are close to catastrophic. However bad it looks, I understand that even the most ghastly of errors can be rectified. Sometimes Humpty can in fact be put back together again.

Looking for someone in the Portland Oregon area with the touch of a reanimator to maybe breathe some life back into this poor creature, if possible.

It has little financial value, having been sold as a well loved but poorly looked after B stock, being my main gig guitar for many years, even making it to Europe and back in the cargo hold in a gig bag, but as such it has some fair sentimental value, enough that it deserves at least a consultation...

Any recommendations, or do I just start playing Taps?

Hi Ed,
If you are not too concerned about aesthetics I'm sure you could just glue everything back together. If you are concerned about aesthetics, as a non-vintage instrument retopping it might be easiest. If you are concerned with aesthetics, and want to keep everything original , it could probably be done, but that's more work. The right repairman could probably make most of the damage disappear.
You might want to take the strings off of it, line things back up, and lightly clamp or strap it together.

I am with Clay, "take the strings off of it, line things back up, and lightly clamp or strap it together. "The clean on grain line cracks go back together nicely, The dark split binding can be put together cleanly as well.

_________________
http://www.Harvestmoonguitars.com

Duck tape - it even comes in fun colors now.

Lols!

I built it, but it isn't mine anymore, I sold it to a friend when I stopped gigging. He's in Portland, I'm in Van, BC, and I don't really want the job, though it may come to that depending on certain things...

Toonces, any particular colour you recommend?

They know their stuff, coming out with a spruce color! Maybe we can get them to print winter grain lines on it to boot!

Hi Ed,
Sorry to hear about and see the damage to one of your guitars. I'm at the NW handmade musical instrument exhibit this weekend, and one of the luthiers here showed me your post. I worked at Gryphon Stringed Instruments for the last 7 years, and just opened my own shop in Portland. I really love doing heavy structural repair like this one, I made a blog on the Gryphon site of one sort of in the same vein here: https://www.gryphonstrings.com/repair-p ... al-repair/

I just set up shop in January in Montavilla on Stark St.
My website is www.pdxguitarrepair.com
Hope this helps!

Kind regards,
James Hingston
Portland Guitar Repair

Looks like a lot of work. If it were me (and I'm glad it's not) I would be inclined to save the bits and re-top it. Good luck.

_________________
Ken Franklin
clumsy yet persistent
https://www.kenfranklinukulele.com

"yesterday on the way to a sunshiny porch with coffee in one hand and a book in the other, relying on the strap buttons to be kind and supportive, well..., they weren't."

Although that gives it a bit less "Mojo" than the proverbial bar fight or jealous girlfriend, I would probably glue things back together and let it live on with a few scars. It is surprising how much damage a top can sustain and still sound good.

Portland Fretworks on Alberta street is where I would go. Todd Mylet and his staff are masters of repair. I've had Todd lacquer several of my recent guitars. He does beautiful work. And he works in more than just nitro.


http://www.portlandfretworks.com/

_________________
michael propsom
www.propsomguitars.com

Oh my! Did I just also get a hookup for a nitro finish?

Kerry Char is great and very knowledgeable.

_________________
https://www.instagram.com/fostinoguitars/
https://www.facebook.com/PuraVidaUkuleles/

... and that it just received.

"poorly looked after B stock" says most of what you need to know. Not worth fixing. This is not a glue it back up from the top repair - the internal top bracing is completely compromised. This is a re-top. Tackle the job as an education. Or put it in the burn pile.

"but as such it has some fair sentimental value, enough that it deserves at least a consultation..."

Sometimes we underrate sentimental value. I still have my first guitar, a plywood Giannini classical that my parents bought me when I was a kid. It went with me many places, including the Appalachian trail where it developed a fairly large crack from being dropped on a rock. It was glued and puttied in the finest amateur fashion. It also when through a couple of less than successful refinishings way back when. At this point it probably only has sentimental value, and if it breaks maybe it doesn't deserve the finest repair techniques available, but with a little effort and Elmer's could sound a chord or two again. Ultimately it is headed for the burn pile, but ultimately so am I.

The perfect existential crisis . Elmers glue should produce a sentimental repair. Look forward to the youtube video with chords strumming!

Fretworks Portland put Humpty Dumpty back together again...

Unreal. That’s some incredible work.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Very nice work!

_________________
Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

Not too shabby, nice one!

_________________
The name catgut is confusing. There are two explanations for the mix up.

Catgut is an abbreviation of the word cattle gut. Gut strings are made from sheep or goat intestines, in the past even from horse, mule or donkey intestines.

Otherwise it could be from the word kitgut or kitstring. Kit meant fiddle, not kitten.

I was impressed, and happy for my friends, plus I found a place to get nitro done!

Im-freakin-pressive!!!

_________________
The Shallower the depth of the stream , The Louder the Babble !
The Taking Of Offense Is the Life Course Of The Stupid One !
Wanna Leave a Better Planet for our Kids? How about Working on BETTER KIDS for our Planet !
Forgiveness is the ability to accept an apology that you will probably NEVER GET
The truth will set you free , But FIRST, it will probably Piss you Off !
Creativity is allowing yourself to make Mistakes, Art is knowing which ones to Keep !
The Saddest thing anyone can do , is push a Loyal Person to the point that they Dont Care Anymore
Never met a STRONG person who had an EASY past !
http://wiksnwudwerks.blogspot.com/
http://www.facebook.com/groups/GatewayA ... rAssembly/

Wow that is impressive work. Was it another angry spouse?

Not this one, just a careless mishap...

Hmmm... A likely story

What kind of wood is the back and sides?