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Got this at a local auction two weeks ago for $41. FON 433, raised fretboard, 1934? What would you do with this instrument?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ruby1638/s ... 057637464/

By the way, it needs a neck reset.

Ed Minch

Well, there are two obvious answers. You could fill it with potting soil and plant a philodendron in it. Or, you could fix it. I hope you will do the latter. I wouldn't even pretend to know how to fix it, but there are plenty of people on this forum who know. I hope they will chime in with detailed advice. Then, I hope you will post pictures of your progress. I'll admit I know next to nothing about this sort of save, but I'm pretty sure the top can be saved. The bridge can be fixed or replaced easily enough. Neck reset (I know you were joking) is the least of its problems. Now... as to that back.... Man, I just don't know what to say. But I still hope you will fix it. In monetary terms, the guitar might or might NOT be worth the effort. But let's not think in monetary terms. It cost you next to nothing. It's a 1930's artifact and I say it deserves a heckuva try. You will only be out some materials and your personal time. Please go for it.

Okay, repair gurus, please help Ed save this old axe.

Patrick

Guitars are like people...some are more repairable than others.

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New back, new top, new bridge, refret...

How are the sides? Need new sides?

Probably needs a refin, too...

So at least you bought a vintage guitar neck.

I'd put it up on eBay.

That said, if I were interested in making a project of it, I'd be thinking in terms of patching the side, replacing the back, reinforcing top cracks and fully refinishing so I could us a normal size bridge and pick guard. In the process, I'd be resetting the neck, refretting, and achieving new-instrument playability.

Too big a job for me to consider being cost/effective, though.

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Cheers,

Frank Ford

FRETS.COM
HomeShopTech
FRETS.NET

Well, there you have it. Nobody thinks it's worth much. I still hope you will dive in and try to fix it. I know it's not practical. I guess you just need to think in terms of what you can learn from it. After that, if it doesn't seem like a fair deal, well, you are the only one who can decide what to do. Nobody ever accused me of being practical. I would at least take it apart and practice some repair skills here and there. ....but I like doing things like that, and this is a hobby for me. I was never in it for money.
Patrick

It seems that I am thinking what most are thinking. I believe I will remove the back, patch the side, fix and cleat the cracks in the top (they are very tight), put on a new back, reset the neck, take out the frets and flatten the board, install new frets, install a new bridge, and have some fun.

My daughter is a very experienced vintage instrument tech and she can walk me through this. Her business partner is a finishes expert and I think I will try to get the side patches and the back to be a close match. I plan to build a copy of the Stella "Gambler" 12 string (no decals) and this will get me some practice in making a guitar black.

If this does not work well, I can still part out the neck, the pickguard, and the tuners. This is my only chance to own anearly Gibson, and I anticipate that my total out of pocket should be under $100 on this.

Thanks all

And by the way - is the bridge original?? It does not seem to be oversized - although it is compensated.

Ed Minch

Hi Ed - I have a bit of a different point of view that I wanted to share with you but I also wish to pre-qualify my remarks in so much as it is not my intention to be offensive to you or anyone else for that matter.

This is a historically significant guitar. L-OOs are important as historical instruments go and highly coveted too by many of us with myself being a HUGE fan of original Gibson L-OO's.

Our shop in Ann Arbor sees these from time to time and last summer we had two from the 1930's in for restoration at the very same time.

I don't know what your skill level is but to me this is not an instrument to learn on or even attempt to restore after practicing on something else. It's too important an instrument for that.

My advice to you is to either pass it on to someone who will restore it properly for you which will not be inexpensive by any means or pass it on to someone who will do restoration that is appropriate for the instrument even if this means selling it as a project guitar to someone else who sees it as a highly prized piece AND has the chops to bring her back to life again.

I understand that you have some experience in your family but guitars are a different sort from many other instruments and it is best in the hands of those who know why the scratches are in the fret board going in the same direction as the frets, Gibson used a wire wheel is the answer.

Attempting to pull this off on your own before you have the chops may deny the world this historically important instrument and that would be a shame.

Hope you take this as intended, to be helpful and I also hope that you consider getting it the care that it both deserves and is truly worthy of. It was a great find and score on your part but part of dealing with these important instruments is to know one's own limitations as well and never, never do anything that would detract from what the original maker's intended.

Thanks for listening and good luck to you.

The good news is that if you take the back off...or what's left of it...you won't have to reset the neck in the sense of taking it out of the dovetail. Just pull the thing into the right geometry when you glue a back back on.

Hi Rick - You mean the "California reset" that you guys call it and here in Michigan some call it the "Michigan reset..."

David Collins and I were talking about this very topic today as we did a "Michigan reset" on a 1917 Gibson mando. I suggested that we Michiganders should instead call it a "California reset" so that we only get the credit and you guys get the blame....

Hope you are doing well and here is wishing you a Happy New Year too!

Hmmmm. I think Hesh just offered a VERY good insight. I wish I had though of it in those terms. My instinct said "save", but I think Hesh is seeing the project with better and more full insight.

Patrick

is the bridge original?? It does not seem to be oversized - although it is compensated.

To answer your question, the original bridge would have been a rectangular bridge, not a belly bridge.

Cal

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Remember, there are no stupid questions, only stupid answers!

Ok...Ed me has seen a lot worst than this restored and a lot better scrappted.
So it really all depends on what you wanna do with it. Simple eh.

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Audiences and dispensations on Thursdays ~ by appointment only.


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The Padma

Scraped with what? A scrapper?

Ed

No Ed, not a scrapper, a scrappted. See a scrapper only gets rid of a bit of wood at a time. Now when its scrappted, its all gone in one shot into the dumpster. Get it now? If you still don't, then me recommend a few episodes of Sesame Street.

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Audiences and dispensations on Thursdays ~ by appointment only.


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Make a new one...

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Steve Sollod (pronounced sorta like "Solid")
www.swiftcreekguitars.com

Beautiful Steve - absolutely beautiful!!!

Thanks Hesh. That means a lot coming from you....

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Steve Sollod (pronounced sorta like "Solid")
www.swiftcreekguitars.com

In proper English, an L-00 becomes a loo...

You are very welcome Steve - that's my kind of guitar and I also love the burst that is very Gibsonesq with dark shoulders and a small, pick shaped lighter shade in the middle. Very well done!

Now Rick why did you have to go and bring up a loo???? It's bad enough for poor old Hesh here who just last month was chasing a rattle in a Martin and it turned out to be a large, partly green now..... toe nail.......

I'm already leery as to what's inside these guitars such as bong water, vomit, toe nails, boogers..... and now you want me to worry too that someone may have used the thing as a loo.......

I would save the neck and make a new body for it!!

Steve

Great looking instrument. I just finished one at Thanksgiving built to the older body style. Now I need to repair this one

Ed Minch

Ed - What needs to be repaired on that one?

I don't want to high jack the thread, but here's another photo of the one I made. As Todd said you could take measurements off of that one and use it for reference. I have noticed that the L-00s tend to be heavily braced, so it built it lighter. It's african mahogany, carpathian spruce, maple binding (except the fingerboard binding is ebony), and ebony fingerboard and bridge. I chose to only sunburst the top.
Steve

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Steve Sollod (pronounced sorta like "Solid")
www.swiftcreekguitars.com

Don't let Henry Juszkiewicz see those guitars...you'll get a nasty letter from an attorney's office in Nashville.

It's the dove wing peghead issue...

Many luthiers and small boutique shops have been threatened.

Steve

Again, very nice guitar. The one I just built is Sitka on Mahogany, a Nick Lucas tribute. Its braces are 1/4" X 9/16" on the top and just a touch wider and taller on the back. The broken L-00 may be out of the ordinary, but its top braces are 3/16" X 9/16" on the top (yes three-sixteenths) including the X, and on the back they are 1/4" by 1/2". The top edge of the top and back braces are about 1/16" wide - incredible.

I am just starting an LG-2 3/4 (the Arlo Guthrie model) and I will be using these smaller sizes I just found on the broken L-00, or maybe even a little less.