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I have a Guild here that is pretty banged up and needs some love. My first instinct is to remove the back and repair everything then close it back up. However there are autographs on the back that the customer is very keen on keeping. How do I protect the signatures? I really would rather remove the back instead of the top. Any thoughts?
Jason

What's the damage on the top and bracing?

Do you really have to 'open 'er up'?

Cheers
John

It's pretty ugly inside. All the braces from the centerline to the bass side (on the lower bout) are either shattered or loose plus there are a bunch of cracks. Not to mention the sides are....well you can see the pic. It seems the most expedient to remove the back fix everything while I have good access then put the back on and rebind it. I just foresee rebinding it and removing a lot of the signatures with binding tape and scraping.
Jason

The advice to shoot some protective finish over it now I think is a good one. i've never done anything like this before, but you mention possibly damaging the signatures with binding tape. What about wrapping the binding using rubber band that's often used to hold binding on? Would that be a better option than tape in this case?

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Mike

The only thing nescessary for evil to thrive is for good men to do nothing.

I don't see why R&Ring the back is any problem for the signatures.

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Howard Klepper
http://www.klepperguitars.com

When all else fails, clean the shop.

I agree with Howard. Rebinding shouldn't be a problem for the signatures, although you will have to be gentle.

What I would be worried about is how the heat used to loosen the back will effect the signatures. As Filippo suggested, spraying some protective coat of varnish or lacquer won't be a bad thing.

One thing that is for sure is that you will not be able to properly fix this without removing either the back or the top.

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Alain Moisan
Former full time builder of Acoustics, Classicals and Flamencos.
(Now building just for fun!)

Sure seems like a Guitar with a story to tell!
???????

i'd yank the top.
it's already a quarter of the way there anyway, then feather the finish on the sides, and don't touch the back at all.
tops got a big crack in it too!
anything you do would be an improvement.
what year is it?

I agree with Alan. All the necessary repairs will be easier with the top off. You add the complication of removing the fretboard, but I think it's worth going that route.
Hard to know for sure from a few pictures, but that's the way I would probably go.
I'd be careful spraying lacquer over the signatures. If they are done in felt pen, they will bleed like crazy. Shellac might work to seal them & you could use lacquer over top... some judicious testing would tell the tale.

Wow, I've done some pretty serious restorations but I am not even sure I'd want to take that project on. Seems the cost of repair is greater then the value of the repaired guitar. This may be a fine opportunity to start talking about a custom replica Guild Guitar You could probably even use the same neck and back.

The repair will almost certainly be more than the value of the guitar but the customer wants it done no matter what. He really loves it because of whoever signed the thing.
Jason