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| vintage restoration help needed ! https://www.luthiersforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10101&t=18056 |
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| Author: | Tony Burns [ Mon Jul 21, 2008 8:45 am ] |
| Post subject: | vintage restoration help needed ! |
I have a few short question :for those vintage buffs - About 30 years ago i bought a number of old guitars, banjos, banjo mandolins-etc. I have an old 000 12 fretter ( brand unknown) name sanded off the scroll on the top - no label - but i know guitar quality - this one is a keeper ( probably a Washburn, lyon healy , gibson etc.) The tuners are totally worn and i dont want to replace them with new tuners - 1.) Is their anyway to rebuild the original tuners - they work OK hard to keep her in tune - and this baby has a beautiful sound - Brazilian back and sides Adirondack top -pretty inlay in neck ( of course no truss rod) 2.) The saddle insert has a maple insert under it ( i think i added this about 30 years ago to raise the action ) i have some old Ivory Piano keys I found on an discarded piano in a dump about 40 years ago - was thinking of laminating them and making a new saddle insert- will the Super glue I glue them together with -hurt the sound - or use bone ? 3.) I have been trying to identify this guitar - since i bought it about 30 years ago - have heard everything from Stella to Martin - but to my knowledge Stella made a guitar of this quality - thou its wide herringbone binding looks a little like a stella -Think i saw a picture of a guitar that was simalar in an old sears and Roebuck reprint catalog from the turn of the centure ( dont know how to post picture ) - are their guides for guitar identification ? ( please dont bring up gruhn ) My last question ( for now anyways ) i have an old BR parlor thats in pieces - icecream cone neck - neck broken at one point - are these worth anything - either the back and side wood - without a name attached to it - guessing not worth the money to have a pro restore- repair - or should i just keep it the waya it is till i figure things out ? Thanks for the help , tony |
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| Author: | David Collins [ Mon Jul 21, 2008 9:22 am ] |
| Post subject: | Re: vintage restoration help needed ! |
Not much anyone will be able to tell you here, especially without photos. Even then, these requests often end up in circles of speculation and guessing, and taking far far far far more effort than if the guitar were just viewed by a professional in person. 1) Yes tuners can usually be maintained, but are often among the least likely causes of an instrument not staying it tune. 2) Saddle - If it needs a new one, it should be bone. If it were a vintage piece actually worth putting ivory in (which it likely is not, and probably never used it to begin with), then it would be a case worthy of using real ivory. I can't imagine a case where a laminated piano key ivory saddle would be desirable. 3) The best way to identify it is to have someone who really knows (like an appraiser) look at it in person. So many factories built for so many names and distributors, and built such similar styles. Sometimes you can narrow it down to a decade and a factory like Lyon and Healy, or Regal, or Weymann, sometimes you can't. There aren't any good books I know of that cover the broad range of identifying catalog instruments. I'm not sure why you don't want mention of George Gruhn's reference book - t's still about the best reference out there for major brands, though I know most catalog instruments aren't covered. Last question - take it in to someone, in person. From here I can say it's probably worth between $1 and $100,000 - probably - can't say for sure though. I know you were looking for more serious advice, but it would be uninformed. Even if well intentioned, uninformed advice can be more damaging that good at times, and that's all the advice that can be offered from the information we have. |
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| Author: | jhowell [ Mon Jul 21, 2008 11:03 am ] |
| Post subject: | Re: vintage restoration help needed ! |
I can only add a very little bit to what David has said. If you are on or near the east coast, get in touch with and then show the guitar to Neil Harpe. http://www.stellaguitars.com/ He has a pretty good handle on the older catalog type guitars. |
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