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I took on a project to convert an old broken Martin to a D45. The body has loose and broken braces. The top barely attached and the neck broken so I started by removing the top and addressing the back cracks.

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John Hall
blues creek guitars
Authorized CF Martin Repair
Co President of ASIA
You Don't know what you don't know until you know it

Once all the braces were removed I could address the other damage.

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John Hall
blues creek guitars
Authorized CF Martin Repair
Co President of ASIA
You Don't know what you don't know until you know it

Once I took out the braces I repaired the old cracks by steaming out the glue. I started with Deglue goo and softened it. The steam allowed it to come out like a rubber band

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John Hall
blues creek guitars
Authorized CF Martin Repair
Co President of ASIA
You Don't know what you don't know until you know it

with the back fixed I address the kerfed lining

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John Hall
blues creek guitars
Authorized CF Martin Repair
Co President of ASIA
You Don't know what you don't know until you know it

with the back fixed I address the kerfed lining

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John Hall
blues creek guitars
Authorized CF Martin Repair
Co President of ASIA
You Don't know what you don't know until you know it

then a new top and close up the body I used Torrified red spruce and typical forward shifted braces.

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John Hall
blues creek guitars
Authorized CF Martin Repair
Co President of ASIA
You Don't know what you don't know until you know it

Once the body was closed I can do the pearl and set the shell. I do this old school and use .0625 on the top and .049 on the side and back. I also use maple and black wood fiber. The miters take the most amount of time. I also have to set the neck first to get the points of all the extension miters for the top and the heel.
I also made the red dots for the fret side dot markers I also inlaid a new back strip to go with the 45 scheme.

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John Hall
blues creek guitars
Authorized CF Martin Repair
Co President of ASIA
You Don't know what you don't know until you know it

once bound the pearl goes pretty quick. I use duco for the binding and tite bond for setting the pearl. Now I send it out for finsh
this represents about a good weeks work

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John Hall
blues creek guitars
Authorized CF Martin Repair
Co President of ASIA
You Don't know what you don't know until you know it

Awesome Work John!! Watching these kind of repairs/conversions is awesome!

Very very nice

The old top looks awsome...

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Rian Gitar og Mandolin

Hey John. Cool conversion! What's the story on the guitar? What year? What happened to this poor thing? I hate seeing a potentially abused guitar but love seeing them go back together. I can't wait for the rest of the fix! Thanks for posting this.

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John Lewis
Wannabe builder owned by 2 crazy dachshunds

Looking great! These restorations always look impossible to me. Building from scratch is much easier, but I'm glad people have the skill to rescue some of these classics,
Mike

Very nice John. I love seeing old guitars come back to life.

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

Wow! So is that even a Martin anymore?

I am a Martin authorized shop all the parts are Martin or Martin spec. This is a mid 60's martin I took in on a swap. The top was toast and the neck was shot. My client wanted a 14 fret slot head so I got a Martin neck for it and I made the fretboard. There was a lot of damage on this. I will be writing a detailed article on this for Guitarmaker Magazine and it will be part of a discussion at the symposium. I finished the guitar today and inlaid the head stock and fretted the board.
Neck will go out for approval from the client and the body hits the finish guy Monday.

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John Hall
blues creek guitars
Authorized CF Martin Repair
Co President of ASIA
You Don't know what you don't know until you know it

Nice work John!

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Jim Watts
http://jameswattsguitars.com

That really is beautiful work. I don't know how you do work that clean on that much inlay.

practice I have done over a dozen of these conversions now . Having the proper equipment is key

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John Hall
blues creek guitars
Authorized CF Martin Repair
Co President of ASIA
You Don't know what you don't know until you know it

Do you always replace the top when you do the conversions? Are all the guitars "basket cases" that you have converted? Do you leave the original designation and serial number in the guitar so a person can know it was redone?

when I do a conversion I do want ruined guitars. I will not convert a guitar that is repairable. In all cases the tops were taken to the point of no return. Since the object is to make these to pre war spec bracing , it is easier to do it with a whole new top. Of all the conversions I have done this was the most fun and enjoyable as the guitar was so far gone. It is out at finish and I am looking forward to getting this back together.

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John Hall
blues creek guitars
Authorized CF Martin Repair
Co President of ASIA
You Don't know what you don't know until you know it

Nice work, John.

Did you use torrefied red spruce braces?

Dan

Please explain the rational for converting such guitars as opposed to restoring. Want to understand.

One reason I can think of, is that with the extensive replacement of parts and the perceived increase in the value of the back and side wood why not bling it up a little? The guitar may not have had enough good wood left to do a restoration and is more of a reconstruction project.

The conversion process is to take a Martin guitar from one time period and restore it to the specs from a different period. if the conversions I do all are rebuilt to the pre war period. Braces on the top get shaped to the time period of 1937 . In most cases people request the "Bone" and that is the herringbone D28 . The old Martins did use a herringbone perfling up to the mid 40's when the D28 spec changed. In the 45 the guitar is made as much as can be to the old spec and technique. Hide glue , solid shell etc.
In this case the guitar was not salvageable to the period it was built . There is also a Financial reason . A 37 Bone is 40 grand or more. This particular guitar , the top was abused and no longer repairable. I will not do conversions on restorable instruments. If I restored this back to a 60's D28 the best I could see would be $4000 as it would have had a neck replacment , top replacement and not original . To buy a BRW modern Martin will set you back a good bit and these are a great option . I have been doing these for a number of years

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John Hall
blues creek guitars
Authorized CF Martin Repair
Co President of ASIA
You Don't know what you don't know until you know it