Case Studies
This is a selection of guitars that I have worked on over the years. I look for high quality vintage guitars - typically Gibson archtops - that need significant work to restore them to playable condition. Some of these I have kept as personal instruments, some are offered for sale.
1957 Gibson ES175
This was the first vintage instrument I worked on. I found it as a husk on eBay back when there were bargains to be found. It had been stripped of all it’s hardware - the pickups would have been 1st year PAF’s so very valuable in their own right.
The photo’s on the auction weren't very clear so I took a bit of a risk and bid. It made it’s way across the Atlantic in a cardboard box.
Structurally it is perfect, so I just had to keep an eye out for some period correct parts - bridge and tailpiece in particular.
I fitted low output Bare Knuckle pickups and vintage correct caps.
I’m pretty sure the frets are original, the neck is big and perfect. This has been my main personal guitar for the last 20 years.
1960 Gibson ES125TDC
This was another husk of a guitar found on eBay, this time with a broken headstock and very worn frets.
Always a bit of a gamble as these guitars are known for their tops collapsing over time necessitating a neck re-set or worse.
The headstock break was more of a split than a break, so I decided to drill small holes to allow me to syringe hide glue deep into the crack. The repair and re finish of the headstock worked really well.
I decided not to re-fret this instrument, some frets were very worn, so I did a level, dress and re-crown down to the level of the lowest section of wear. I’m glad I chose this route, the frets are low but comfortable and the intonation is great, and the neck has kept its character.
The pickups are ‘60’s reproductions by Monty’s, and I fitted a Monty’s harness / pots kit.
I love this guitar, it sounds wonderful - seeming to prefer flatwotunds - so much character, the finish, particularly the way it has aged, is wonderful.
1991 Gibson Custom Shop L5 Wes Montgomery
This has been my most ambitious project to date. I bought this from an auction house with all sorts of issues. The previous owner had done a very cruse Charlie Christian pickup installation and it had had some sort of catastrophic event. There were multiple cracks in the top and side. But what hadn’t been damaged; the neck, back, and most of the top was in lovely condition and I could see huge potential in the instrument if I could repair and restore it.
The key challenge was to fix and stabilise the cracks, this involved making small spruce cleats to glue in place inside the guitar. This was a bit tricky, particularly with cracks that were some distance from either f-hole or the pickup hole. Once the cracks were solid I needed to level the surfaces - I think the cracks were old and the top had moved under tension. I did this with scrapers to achieve flat - or as close to flat - surfaces across the joins
I then needed to repair the damage left by the installation of the CC pickup - I filled the bolt holes with spruce dowels, and carved small spruce inserts to re shape the pickup hole to accept a humbucker.
Then is was a question of finishing the surface, there was a lot of visible damage after the repairs so I prepared the surfaces and spent weeks building up laters of sanding sealer and nitrocellulose lacquer to blend the repairs with the original lacquer sunburst. Some areas I could hide completely, some are still visible under the lighter areas of the sunburst, I actually quite like being able to see some of the scars.
The frets actually needed a fair amount of work, I understand this guitar had been owned by the Gibson UK rep and possibly hadn’t been through the final stages of setup. There were several high frets that were impacting the playability so I did a full level, and dress, the guitar now plays like a dream.
The final stage was re-installing a humbucker, I chose a Gibson ‘57 Classic which would have been originally installed in the guitar.
I’m really pleased with the final outcome, there is something very rewarding about brining an instrument back from the dead. I learnt a huge amount from this restoration, not least that, if you take things slowly, even the scariest of jobs is possible.
The guitar is currently offered for sale.
