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Hello all,
I am working on a repair of a 1970s Giannini acoustic. These were from Brazil and certainly have a distinct body design. The guitar suffered from a bad belly bulge, which I have flattened and I have been preparing to replace the bridge which had pulled away from the top due to string tension. While I was hoping to avoid it, it appears that the guitar is going to need a neck reset. Is anyone familiar with this brand and can confirm that the neck joint is likely a traditional dovetail?

The image attached (for reference) is not of the actual guitar but is similar to the one I am working on.

Thanks in advance!

Rick

I'll ask Dave Collins he has a few of them I think. More to come.

He collects some Strombergs not these but he's knowledgeable and they are butt joints likely doweled. He said he reset a 12 string of these 25 years ago and would never do it again. It was never intended to be reset so good luck with that.

Would this be an opportunity for a bolt on conversion?

Thanks Hesh! I was looking at this as an opportunity to learn something new but it is sounding like more work than it’s worth. I think I will try thinning the bridge a tad (I know not ideal but the owner is fine with it).

Meddlingfool, I would agree with you but I think I’ll pass on the reset altogether.

Thanks for your help gents!
Rick

Many long years ago I had a Craviola. Giannini made several styles of guitar. Many or most had plywood construction rather than solid wood, including the soundboards. It might be possible to do a bolt on conversion, but I would be inclined to saw through the heel with an oscillating tool, leaving the fingerboard attached to both the neck and body, floss the heel to change the neck angle and reglue with high strength epoxy.
Some people really like their Craviolas, but I wasn't one of them and resold it after a few months (as I have done with many guitars).

Thank You Rick it's nice to share the idea that there is little to no learning value, certainly not from a commercial sense if one wants to learn repair of resetting a doweled neck joint. It was never intended to be reset.

You could learn a term we use to describe a condition that we seek to avoid in the repair world "scope creep....." Scope creep can put one out of business....

Sure we hack it off and bolt the sucker back on but this is not a practice that any commercial luthier with chops and business would ever do unless they had nothing to do. Hell why not use JB Weld....

So no learning opportunity neck reset wise with this one. It also is interesting and just preserving it as an example of the past is a worthy endeavor too.

There are guitars Rick that make excellent learning mules like Harmony Sovereigns which are largly constructed just like a Martin with a proper dovetail joint.

Here is a re-built Harmony Sovereign sound sample that a customer sent to me:

https://soundcloud.com/wlindz/doxology- ... al_sharing

They are fun to work on and as you say, they are great projects for learning.

Thanks gents. Guitarjtb, that Harmony sounds wonderful!

Regarding the Giannini, the owner of the guitar told me he had been keeping the guitar as it had belonged to his uncle who gave it to him. It sat for years and he thought he should at least pick it up and play it but found the bridge had lifted off the top. He knew I was getting back into the lutherie gig and offered that it might be a learning experience for me to try to fix it and if it came back as toothpicks he was okay with that. My offer was to fix the bridge. I learned a lot on that exercise (removed the bridge, bridge plate and flattened a belly bulge issue. The reset was an after thought on my part as the angle of the fret board is very low. I can get it playable but it is not the ideal repair, IMHO. None-the-less, I have a build on my bench that I want to get back to and given this neck reset isn’t shaping up to be that straightforward, I am going to stop at the bridge repair. I appreciate the feedback you folks have offered.

I’ve been away from the forum for quite a while - work got in the way. I just retired, so I’m gunning to get back at it and make some sawdust. I truly appreciate the OLF and the community it offers.

Take care folks.
Rick

Exactly! And when completed you have a guitar to be proud of that I would even gig with. You also brought a piece of history back to life.

Welcome back Rick!

Thanks Hesh. I learned an awful lot from your posts several years back. Glad you are still on the forum.
Have a great weekend!
RIck