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A friend recently asked me to repair his guitar. It is an old Goya classical-type instrument. The bridge had come off and he wants me to put it back on for him. I would call the guitar a piece of junk, but it's his and he has no money to buy a new/good one. While I've built several guitars, I have never done any repairs. So I could use some advise about this one.

The bridge looks like it has come off before and has been inexpertly replaced. some wood has been torn out of the top when it came off at some time. It had been reattached with a ton of gunky glue. The old bridge came apart in two pieces with one piece still stuck to the top. Some of the voids under the bridge have been filled with some other Kind of gunk (epoxy?)

There are also a couple of cracks on either side of the top on the lower bouts. The were repaired with massive applications of some kind of finish (urethane?) I decided that I wanted to strip and refinish the top, and make a new bridge for the guitar. After going over the top with a gel type stripper and mineral spirits three times there still seems to be something there like a thin coat of some slightly tacky substance. I have been considering sealing it with shellac and then varnishing over that. What do you think?

Also, I don't know what to do about the voids in the top where the saddle came up. What would you advise?

Thanks in advance for anything you can offer.

Max

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Max Bishop
Brighton, Michigan

Goya (Levin) was a Swedish maker and made decent quality instruments at different levels of appointments and price points. Later the company was bought by Martin and used as a "budget" guitar line.
To repair it I would make or buy a new bridge, dig the epoxy out of the voids under the bridge and glue in spruce patches. You could try scraping the surface of the top with a single edged razor blade to remove the tacky residue. First dull the ends of the blade on a stone to prevent them from digging into the top.

Thanks, Clay.
Others?

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Max Bishop
Brighton, Michigan

A seal coat of shellac should kill the tacky residue, seals sappy knots so they can be painted.

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Brian

You never know what you are capable of until you actually try.

https://www.howardguitarsdelaware.com/

Based on what you've said about this Goya and the others I've seen,
I can second Clay S.'s advice.

What is your own opinion on this job?

Thanks, Brian and Carey. I think I will seal with shellac and refinish with marine varnish (Petit Z-spar). I have already started making a new bridge.

I think the challenge will be to dig the epoxy (if that's what it is) out of the bridge footprint on the top and glue in spruce patches. This surface is very uneven with rough shaped spots where the wood was pulled out. Anyone done this and have advice as to how to proceed?

Max

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Max Bishop
Brighton, Michigan

Yes, I have.. a 1/2" chisel with some curve to the bevel and a very shallow
initial cutting angle will work. Take care of the shoulders too.

Carey,

Do you mean to shave down the whole bridge footprint on the top? Or just the areas that have epoxy? Also, I'm not sure what you mean when you say, "Take care of the shoulders too."

Thanks,
Max

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Max Bishop
Brighton, Michigan

If the divots are quite bad you could always use a template guide to rout the surface clean sub .050", or whatever the divot depth is, with a template almost the size of the bridge footprint if you like. You then change guides/bits and use the same template to produce a slightly too thick spruce drop in patch. Once glued in place, level the patch, refinish, glue the bridge back on and...they'll never know.

If you go this rout Its a good idea to of course sand the bottom of the template to closely matched the radius of the top and also to support the top from the inside during the clean-up operation to prevent it deforming from the weight during the cut and a causing a misfit for the underside of the patch. Even if there are chunks missing completely out of the top you can still use this method if you are cautious.

In that circumstance you sometimes need to take the clean-up cut quite deep, and on occasions, outside the bridge footprint. If that becomes necessary, the repair will be detectable no matter what you do, but it can save a guitar and if done well, it still looks OK. Be careful that you do not to extend out past the bridge patch footprint below or you lose support for the patch. If you do go outside the bridge patch area, it will become necessary to form a 'stepped' patch and that is far more work than it is worth for anything that is not 'very' special. So the choice then becomes the bin, or a re-top.

Cheers

Kim

Hey Kim,

Can you direct me to any info' on making a template for this job?

Thanks,
Max

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Max Bishop
Brighton, Michigan

Bump

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Max Bishop
Brighton, Michigan