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I found a old classical guitar for 10$.
When it arrived I found it it's a smoker's guitar
Body is pretty beat up. top is coming off from one side and theres a gap between neck and the body (at the joint). However neck is in decent shape.
I'm holding it in a big garbage bag (It was impossible to breath in my room after 20 minutes when I was inspecting the guitar).
Sides&back are not as beat up as the top so I thought I should keep the sides&back and make a new top.
I wouldn't want to make a simple classical guitar, I thought I should make something different like a resonator or something crazy like a fretless acoustic

Would sanding and air freshener get rid of the smell?
Neck is 5 piece (mahogany, something, mahogany, something, mahogany) would it handle steel strings. (it has an unadjustable truss rod)
Are there any nylon string resonators? (sorry for my ignorance)
Any other good ideas I should do with the guitar?

Before thinking about sanding, I'd just give the guitar a good cleaning to start on the smoke smell problem.
There are specialized enzyme cleaning products used to clean houses - a friend bought a very (tobacco) smokey smelling house and had it cleaned professionally - some rooms weren't even repainted and the smoke odour is gone completely. You might be able to find more info on this type of thing- similar to getting rid of smoke smell after a fire.
Trying to mask the smell is probably not a great idea, IMO.

This could be a good opportunity to try out a different style of classical top construction - lattice bracing, double top, etc.

I got an older Hofner classical with a smashed top a few years ago. Did a new top, converted to bolt-on neck, etc- pretty interesting project. Unfortunately, I got distracted and it's still awaiting a bridge. (Hung it up to 'let the finish harden for a week or two' in 2007!)

Cheers
John

Some pictures:

http://img266.imageshack.us/img266/83/pilt0005.jpg
Neck
http://yfrog.com/2ppilt0006j
Top
http://img97.imageshack.us/img97/7726/pilt0007.jpg
Sides are seperated little bit. Neck has lifted little bit
http://img696.imageshack.us/img696/9660/pilt0008.jpg
Gap between the top and sides

Sorry for bad quality


Is it possible to glue sides back together at the neck heel?
Should I just salvage the neck or make a new top and experiment something crazy

John that top looks great

Hi Rasmus and welcome to the OLF!

Can an old classical be turned into a resonator? Sure - if you hit it hard enough.....

John is giving you great advice so I have nothing to add other than that top looks excellent John - get a bridge on it and string her up!

Welcome aboard Rasmus!

Rasmus-
That guitar doesn't look so bad!
You could use it to practice some repair techniques, or something more drastic (re-top, etc).
Resonator guitars tend to be quite heavily built, so perhaps a bit 'far' from the classical end of things. (I don't know how heavy your guitar is..)
One thing which the separating back might allow you to see is what sort of neck joint the guitar has. Traditional Spanish-syle classical necks with the sides let into saw cuts are essentially 'built-in' to the guitar and not removable without quite a lot of disassembly. Factory guitars use a variety of attachment methods- dovetail, dowels and butt joint, etc. The Hofner in the pics above had a straight tenon glued into a laminated U-shaped plywood headblock.

Some poking around with a mirror and light will give you more info as well.
What you do with the guitar should probably depend on its quality when new as much as its condition now.
What info is on the label?
You didn't say whether the top/back/sides were solid wood or plywood. Checking at the soundhole and looking at the grain patterns on the inside and outside of the guitar can give you a hint about that.

In any event, it will definitely need a refret.

Another thing to consider would be to turn it into a 'nylon jazz classic' with a K&K pickup under the soundboard.

Keep us posted- these projects are interesting.
Thanks to both you and Hesh for the comments on my little Hofner project- I added some (glass) tube struts from the headblock to the waist as well. Top was a $4 Englemann top. Spalted wood for rosette from the firewood pile. The bridge is going to be a Gilbert-style with pin-type saddles- some day! It's fun when 'you've got nothing to lose' on a project -it's one of the great benefits of being an amateur.

Cheers
John

Label inside says Musima resonata and made in German democratic republic.
B&S are made of laminate mahogany and top seems to be solid spruce (not sure about the top).
Neck seems to have dovetail joint.

I found an old dreadnought body. I think I should salvage that classical guitar's neck and see If I can use it with that dreadnought body. I don't know what that dreadnought body is made of or how is it's condition. It will arrive in few days.

That nylon jazz classic sounds like a interesting idea but would it be playable with wide classical guitar nut?



If I already made a thread, I've got few questions about my first acoustic build I'd like to ask.
There are spruces, maples, oaks, ashes and cedars in my country (Estonia). I could probably get those woods from local lumberyards dirt cheap. I wouldn't want to spend too much money on my first build.
Top: solid cedar or spruce
Sides&back: solid maple
Neck: solid maple
Fingerboard: ebony or maple
Binding: abalone?
Rosette: abalone?
Bridge: oak?
Inlays: ?
Bracing: ?

Why Isn't maple used on acoustic guitar fingerboards?
I've heard that oak is not a tonewood but It has about the same density as rosewood.
How hard is it to work with abalone? Using it as binding and rosette.
How hard is it to bend maple sides?

Rasmus-
I'll get back to you with a more detailed reply later today.

I just wanted to mention that it's usually better to start a new topic when you have a new question. So for your questions about the materials for your first build, it would be better to start a new topic in the 'Guitar building' area rather than here in the 'Official Resonator' area. You will get more people seeing your question there, I think.

There is no problem just copying and pasting your questions from here into a new topic, which should have a title like 'Will these materials work for my first build?".

Cheers
John

Rasmus-
It would be very unlikely that the scale lengths and bridge positions would work out for that idea, I think.

For you dreadnought project, a new neck would be a better option, if it has no neck at all. You would need to figure out the scale length to work with the existing bridge position.

Cheers
John

Tradition, and the fact that maple gets 'dirty-looking' quickly if not lacquered (like electrics).


It's not just the density that counts. Good oak guitars have been made. Again, 'tradition' is at play here.
See:http://www.luthiersforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10101&t=25276

I'd save it for a later build and use wood at first, myself. I think you mean 'purfling' ? Usually wood/plastic/fiber binding is used with abalone purfling. Expensive.

Plain maple bends fairly easily. Figured maple is more liable to break, cup etc.

Cheers
John

Actually I thought about making a nylon jazz guitar, resonator or something else less common.
I don't think it would be worth it to repair cheap laminate acoustic. I could probably get more luthier experience out of it if I did something more than just fix it up.
If that dreadnought body has different neck joint, how hard would it be to match classical guitar's neck and draednought body together?

I'm still in the "research step" with my acoustic guitar build. I thought I would make a topic with pictures of the build and ask questions there If I can't find an answer in the internet.
I haven't found much information about uncommon woods and took a easy way out and just asked here

I wouldn't want to just throw that old classical guitar away. I would lose 10 bucks

No problem, but...
As I said, new subject, new 'topic' in the right forum will get you the most answers, and the most viewers. Some folks never look here in the Resonator area, but may be quite active in the Guitar Building' area.

Believe me, you don't want to get advice from only me!

It's not the neck joint that's the problem, really- you could just convert to a bolt-on butt joint if necessary.

Get out a piece of guitar-length drawing paper or even a piece of wood about 36" long. Mark one side '650mm classical 12th fret body joint' and the other '25.4" 645mm dreadnought 14 fret body joint". Make a mark across the sheet or board and mark it 'body-neck joint'. With a mm ruler mark out the bridge saddle positions, fingerboard ends and nut positions. Then the situation will be more clear.
You can print out scale templates using the WFret software from the MIMF library ftp://mimf.com/pub/wfret.zip

Cheers
John

Take a few min and look over the redneck reso thread , u prolly dont wanna do that , however its good for a laugh

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stumbled on this u tube vid, and remembered this thread...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PkuCVTsc ... re=related

It took me a while to find it in my collection of guitar literature.
In the StewMac Trade Secrets Book Two published in 1999, there is an article on one of their staff turning an old classic guitar into a resonator guitar. Page 148

So, I tried it and it worked OK. I wanted a more steel body blues sound and it sounded country dobro so I sold it on the Reso Hangout as a kit because no one wanted it as a complete guitar. Unfortunately I didn't keep any photos of it , but you can see it in the ResoHangout ad:
http://www.resohangout.com/classifieds/ ... sp?cid=271
An interesting project.