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An Austrian guitar, inherited. The top is in terrible shape. Beat up and used. Seems my mother in law killed this with a pick. What do the repairmen suggest here ? Sand down maybe?

The side had a 14" long crack/split straight down the middle of the side. Glued up fine now though.

Fretboard is in bad shape too. I think it will need to be either replaced or sanded down too. Not as bad as the top though.


Something else I am unfamiliar with is this guitar seems to have no heel... Kinda afraid of that actually. Any info?

Thanks in advance again OLF!

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Is it playable? It might be worth leaving the top like it is. It could get pretty thin if you sand out all of the scratches and dents. That sure is one interesting neck joint. Is the neck angle settable with it maybe with shims. Almost looks like an electric guitar neck. Bolted on? a guitar with 40 years of character.

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Generally there is no wood to spare on a classical top.
I would not sand the top.
haveyou put a mirror inside?
looks like you could see the neck joint inside.

Playable for sure. I think it sounds good compared to how beat up it looks. I will try and get a picture inside soon, haven't gotten a good look yet. The neck/fretboard over the top is not glued you can literally move/tilt the whole neck back and put shims or something underneath. I haven't messed with that, I didn't know if it was designed that way or a flaw.

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Here is a snap of the block


I assume it is a damaged or faulty joint that the neck is loose. How it's joined I have no idea. Is it possible it is joined horizontally instead of vertically ?

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Heck, I dig it just like it is.


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The neck extension may be sitting in a routed pocket in the neck block. On an electric guitar there might be bolts from the back. Given that this neck is loose but still attached and you did not mention bolts in the back, there may be bolts under the fret board. Using shims to set the neck may be a feature. But the neck should still be tight.

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John, it never occurred to me until you mentioned electric guitar. I then looked at the construction from that point of view, and there it was a hidden bolt straight on the back. Blended in so well I didn't even notice or think to look at the back really. I'll post a pick of it with the "cap" off. This guitar has obviously withstood the test of time, traveling I'm sure all over Europe. Do you think this will hold ? This is a guitar I mainly keep for a memory of her. It's nice to play on it with the family.

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As you said it has withstood the test of time. Why not a bit more time? If it was mine I would clean it best I could, fix cracks like you did, use a few wipes of shellac in areas where raw wood was exposed and set and tighten the neck.

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Thanks John I appreciate the advice. I think it will be very happy I am not messing with it much

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Maybe pore fill the top to level and keep the look and then a clear pick guard over it .... just a idea ... maybe bad one lol

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Michiyuki,

I agree it looks beat up and prematurely aged, but I think it has a certain "cool" factor about it. It looks well worn, well played, well used, well loved. If it were mine, and if it is structurally sound and playable, I'd be very tempted to leave it alone. Or maybe......MAYBE......consider a little finish touch up on the top. My problem would be that I don't consider myself competent to attempt such a thing, so I can't begin to advise you about doing it. But I think I would be safe in saying: First of all, do no further harm. This is only my personal opinion, and should not be interpreted as expert advice.

Patrick

I took it apart and cleaned it up last week but this is what I found. What is the deal with the second hole ?

I ended up deciding to wipe some walnut oil on the top to fill in all the exposed areas. It might dampen it slightly but not enough to try something more drastic. I made a small maple shim for under the fretboard it seems to be the best solution. While cleaning the finger board (NaSTY!!) I can tell it needs a refret, I left that for the future as I don't have a fret puller. This guitar for some reason looks like it was built by an apprentice.

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