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I recently acquired a 1967 Harmony Sovereign (and other guitars) with a lot of issues. My primary reason for getting it was to practice and develop my lutherie skills. Upon inspection, the sides are cracked from either side of the neck block and it looks like through the neck block also. Whoever owned it tried to fix it and used a lot of glue making a big mess of things inside and put 2 metal straps from back to top to hold the neck block together. Also, they stripped the finish off of the sides and top and used some kind of dark stain on them. They have not applied a finish back over the stain though. The back and neck still appear to have the original finish. It also needs a neck reset. I will attach pictures.

Since I am developing my skills, I would like to treat this guitar as if I were restoring a valuable instrument and do everything I can to restore it as best I can. All that said, I have a few questions:

1. Should I try to remove the stain from the top and sides and restore like the original back? I'm not even sure if it is possible to remove the stain.
2. Should I strip the back too and refinish the entire guitar?
3. Should I remove the back to re-glue the neck block and clean up all the glue mess or should I just do the best I can without removing the back?

I know I am asking a lot, but any and all suggestions are appreciated!

Pics: https://firecrackerjoe.com/Sovereign.html

Post pics, it might give us a better idea of what the best advice is.

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My very first neck reset was a Harmony Sovereign but in decent shape and not requiring the kinds of repairs that pro luthiers may go a lifetime and not have to do. The Sovereign I restored belonged to a gigging musician and was put in service right after I finished it and it remains in service playing out to this day. I worked on it 16 years ago. I also installed a pick-up but can't remember which one.

So yes let's see pics but this one sounds pretty far gone from your description to be anything other than a labor of love with little value for learning valuable skills that people will actually pay you to perform. I certainly could be wrong but let's see some pics please?

What will be the deciding factor on is this a good learning mule is if undoing the poor prior work is not too involved and time consuming.

What is great about the Sovereign for learning neck resets is the dovetail joint just like a Martin and other quality instruments so the skills leaded here will translate to the things pros do to earn our livings.

I'll add that one of the most common things that stops a restoration project from being worth the effort in the billable hours world is poor prior work. If we have to deal with Gorilla glue, metal straps and all manner of stuff that has no business in a guitar it's often an indicator of something not being a good learning mule for someone serious about learning to be a professional Luthier.

There will be disagreement here with my comments from the folks who if they see it they want to fix it and are usually the last to know that they went bankrupt last week. And yes my perspective is commercial because generally those wanting to develop repair skills have interest in hanging out a shingle.

But you did good in getting a Sovereign it's my number one recommendation for learning proper neck resets, fret work, bridge reglues, nut and saddle making and general set-up. All these things once mastered on a Harmony will translate to a Martin and other guitars that people will pay to have the work done.

Might be though that a Sovereign without the prior work, side cracks, cracked neck block would be a better starting point for you, it was for me.

You might consider doing a neck reset and getting the guitar back into playing condition, and letting it go at that for now. As you get more experience you can better judge what needs to be done and how to do it. The more things you take apart, the more things you have to get back together in their proper place. There is some value in having a nice playing "beater" and if you can make it that at this point, you will have accomplished something.

I added a link to the pictures. I will paste it here too. https://firecrackerjoe.com/Sovereign.html

Thanks for the responses so far!

Just looked at the pics. Man that binding is WHITE isn't it? It looks like a fine old instrument.

Your to-do list looks good if those are the skills you want to build upon (re: refinishing). Removing the back and repairing the neck block would be a boatload of good experience. Finishing is likely the hardest, and most expensive part.

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Karl Borum

On many of those old Stella and Harmony guitars the glue globs on the inside are original to the construction.
Looking at the pictures I think I would reset the neck, rub some dark filler into the pores on the back to make it match the sides and then start applying a toned topcoat over it. plenty of mahogany bodied guitars had dark filler rubbed into the pores to accentuate the grain and then a red stain or finish applied over it.
I wouldn't remove the back. If the neck block is truly cracked and has not been glued I might wick thin CA into the crack when the neck is removed for resetting. I would also remove those metal straps and fill the screw holes.
With a little bit of work you could have a nice playing and decent looking guitar.

Just a warning before you go too far. The top looks like somebody sanded it prior to staining it. That pops warning bells in my brain. These were originally ladder braced, and require that top thickness for structural integrity.

Given the scratches in the wood and the blotchy stain appearance, I would stop there and make sure the top isn't already too thin. If it is, you may be looking at a retop prior to the rest of the festivities.