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It has a lot of issues:

The top is developing a crack,
There's no rosette,
The bridge is in the wrong place,
The binding joint has gaps.

I was going to do some destructive testing on it, but the you guys talked me into using it as an opportunity to learn some repair skills instead.

So, I'm putting a new top on it. I'll probably also take the back off, and re-brace it, since it's lost all it's curvature. It'll be getting a new neck, with a shorter scale length. It's also going to be a 12 string.


Here's the crack:




After the neck is off:




Routing off the binding:




Then rout off as much of the top as I can:

_________________
Regards,
Phillip Patton

http://www.pattonblades.com

The bitterness of poor quality lingers long after the sweetness of low price has faded.

https://hoosierbladesmith.wordpress.com

I had to cut the rest of the way with a saw:




It's like a time capsule :






Here's the new top with all it's braces glued on:

_________________
Regards,
Phillip Patton

http://www.pattonblades.com

The bitterness of poor quality lingers long after the sweetness of low price has faded.

https://hoosierbladesmith.wordpress.com

Cool project, Phillip. Good on you for using it as a learning opportunity. Hope you'll share with us what you learn.

Regarding the back, any idea why it lost its curvature? The braces look pretty standard in the photo.

That's a brave rebuild. But its only from 2009!

I've pondered the same approach for my first, but decided to leave it. I'd rather invest the effort into moving forward than in bringing the past up to the present.

_________________
Expectation is the source of all misery; comparison the thief of joy.
http://redrivercanoe.ca/

Philip,
It takes alot of courage to retop one of your own!
But then again, that`s part of the journey, no?
Did you decide to make any changes to the bracing while you were at it? Just curious.
Coe

_________________
Give me 50 cents worth of regular.
Check my oil too, if you don`t mind,,,

The back lost it's curve before it was installed. I should have re-braced it then, but I didn't.







The original top was braced according to Cumpianos book, which suggested pretty beefy braces. I've since been making them much slimmer, but the new one here is beefed up again because it's going to be a 12 string. The X braces are 5/8" tall at the intersection, and 5/16" thick. For a 6 string, I've been using 1/2" tall by 1/4".



Some more pics:

_________________
Regards,
Phillip Patton

http://www.pattonblades.com

The bitterness of poor quality lingers long after the sweetness of low price has faded.

https://hoosierbladesmith.wordpress.com

Not that I know anything, but that looks like a pretty thick neck block. No weight concerns? Oh that's right. It's a twelve string now.

_________________
"Preoccupation with an effect gives it power and enhances the error"
from "Your Owner's Manual" by Burt Hotchkiss.

Actually, you're right. But this was an early guitar, and I didn't know any better. I considered replacing it with mahogany, but decided to let it be.

_________________
Regards,
Phillip Patton

http://www.pattonblades.com

The bitterness of poor quality lingers long after the sweetness of low price has faded.

https://hoosierbladesmith.wordpress.com

Some more pics. I got the top glued on and the binding and purfling installed:






Now for the back. Initially, I was going to simply take this back off and re-brace it, but I decided it was too thin anyway so I'm making a new back. First, have to rout off the old one:

_________________
Regards,
Phillip Patton

http://www.pattonblades.com

The bitterness of poor quality lingers long after the sweetness of low price has faded.

https://hoosierbladesmith.wordpress.com

Filling in the kerfing:




While the back is off, I have to do some things I didn't do before, like cap the X, make the bridge and FB extension cauls.




Also did some more work on the neck:

_________________
Regards,
Phillip Patton

http://www.pattonblades.com

The bitterness of poor quality lingers long after the sweetness of low price has faded.

https://hoosierbladesmith.wordpress.com

Bracing the back:

_________________
Regards,
Phillip Patton

http://www.pattonblades.com

The bitterness of poor quality lingers long after the sweetness of low price has faded.

https://hoosierbladesmith.wordpress.com

Tell us again what is going to be left of the original guitar?

Ha ha. The sides, head and tail blocks, kerfing, and I'm going to try to reuse the bridge.

_________________
Regards,
Phillip Patton

http://www.pattonblades.com

The bitterness of poor quality lingers long after the sweetness of low price has faded.

https://hoosierbladesmith.wordpress.com

Got the back on:






Before someone asks, I did carve the back braces. I just didn't get a picture of it.

_________________
Regards,
Phillip Patton

http://www.pattonblades.com

The bitterness of poor quality lingers long after the sweetness of low price has faded.

https://hoosierbladesmith.wordpress.com