Advice need on a Favilla F-5 rebuild.

[Ned Knepp]

Hi folks,

 I just started a rebuild on a '60s, mahogany Favilla F-5. The instrument isn't pretty and probably won't ever be worth much. The top is cracked in several places with about half of them badly "repaired". The previous attempts to fix the problem included the use of both white glue and epoxy but evidently the person doing it never heard of cleating cracks. The result is that almost all of this cracks are now longer with glue stuck firmly to one side of the crack. The white glue cleans up easy enough but I have no idea how to deal with the epoxy. I would just leave it but it seems that it's was used as more of fill than an actually adhesive. 

The result is that the top is distorted along it's width. I removed the neck and the top and I've managed to get most of it to align properly so I can glue it back together but I just don't know what to do about the epoxy. Does anyone have a secret method for removing epoxy from cracks? Please? I'm open to just about any advice on this. 

While I'm at it, the guitar was fan braced with very small braces. The bridge plate must be replaces and was mahogany with the predictable results that it broke long the bridge pins.  I've never heard one of these so I don't know how it sounds with the original bracing. I have also seen where some people recommend replacing the original with an X brace. Any Favilla fans out there that can give me some advice on this guitar?

BTW, I took some pictures but it was late, the lighting was not good and most of them are not clear. I will post a couple now but I need to try to get better one later.

[Eric Steven Johansen]

You've removed the neck, removed the top, so why not make a new top out of your choice of tonewood and brace it to your taste. You'll for sure end up with a finer sounding guitar and no headaches down the road. This is not a high end instrument so think utilitarian and have some fun.

[Ned Knepp]

Hi Eric, Thanks for the response. 

I looked into a new top and can get one for a reasonable price from LMI. They seem to be the only peddler of tone wood selling mahogany tops. I'm not stuck on originality in a guitar like this but I wanted an all mahogany guitar when I got this so I want to keep it that way. I may end up purchasing a new top but I sort of like the challenge of repairing the original. If it turns out to be a bust then I'll replace it.

 No matter what I do it will definitely be a "utilitarian" guitar.

 

[Eric Steven Johansen]

Ned, Here's my mahogany top in waiting. 1958 Guild M30 that somebody installed 3 Dearmond pickups on. Unfortunately they had to remove a little meat (including the x-brace) to make room for the electronics. I purchased some Honduran stock from a local hardwood supply and did the re-saw myself. Full quarter with a little figure. Check around with your local wood suppliers, you might get lucky and save lots of money as well. 

[Len Biglin]

Hah , looks like something JJ Cale may have had a go at !

[Tim Mace]

the Favilla bracing does not look well suited for steel strings but more classical style...is it a nylon string guitar..I'd go w/the x type on a new top also..

[Ned Knepp]

 Tim, It was definitely sold as a steel string guitar. The bridge is a nice rosewood belly bridge with pins and the neck is 1 3/4 in. wide at the nut. What I have found on the Internet indicates that Favilla may have built batches of bodies that were all pretty much the same then fit the bridge and neck to suite their production needs so some were finished with wider necks and classical bridges for nylon strings and others were fitted with narrower necks and belly/pin bridges for steel strings.

There really doesn't seem to be a lot of information available for these guitars. Google returns a lot  of hits on their ukuleles even though Tom Favilla says that their main production numbers were in guitars. I'm just wondering if any of "us" have some experience with these guitars and maybe some insight into them as players. I need to make a decision about how I'm going to brace the top before I can put it all back together.  

[Kevin Parsons]

"A secret method for removing epoxy?" - I wish, no I'm afraid you will have to accept that epoxy is a death sentence in most aspects of repairing. I applaud you wanting to keep the original top on your guitar, I've had several Favillas, steel and nylon, and always thought them fine instruments, they don't sound like Martins but why should they? and don't we have enough X brace guitars anyway? something different is always interesting. The spruce top Favillas have a wider range response than the mahogany but they both have a deep percussive tone with long sustain. As for the cracks, I can only think of cutting out the dreaded epoxy and splicing in new wood. Laborious but satisfying when it's all done.

[Ned Knepp]

Thanks for the reply, Kevin. I ended up doing exactly what you said except that one of the epoxy fills is still solid. 

 I may have messed up but I've just about finished re-bracing the original top with an X brace based on a '30s Gibson LG. The original bracing just didn't seem heavy enough to hold up under steel strings and the bridge area of the top was already broken across the grain. It took me a while to decide but I finally decided that I wanted something strong more than I want original on this old beater. I'll try to remember to get a couple of picture up on what I've done so far.

BTW, I intentionally didn't remove all of the original pencil marks so that anyone that might happen to want to restore the original bracing will find it easy to duplicate their layout. Of course, I'm hoping that my repair will work so well that no one will want to :)

[Kevin Parsons]

As long as you get the guitar you want at the end of the work, anything goes. Most folks just assume a fan braced top won't take steel strings because they are programmed to think that but if it is built right then the top will work fine.

It isn't true to say that Favilla built all their tops the same, they're all  fan style but the steel models are heavier braced and the nylon ones don't have a bridge plate so the centre brace runs clear to the end.

I was interested to see the two Torres style diagonal braces on your guitar, I've only seen that once before on a nylon string model I have, all of the other Favillas I've seen don't have them. Is yours a Manhattan made guitar ?( heat stamps on the inside back) or a Long Island one ( yellow label) .

I don't know why players look down their noses at these things, maybe if they had made a fancy pearl model then it would be different, but just making "working man's" guitars doesn't seem to qualify you for the Hall of Fame. I don't care, I've got a very early Favilla Dreadnought ( yes it is fan braced ) that I wouldn't swap for anything.

[Ned Knepp]

Mine has the yellow paper tag so I guess it the "Long Island" type. The braces on this guitar are very small and the bridge plate was... odd. It appears to have been made from the off fall of the body. The top on this guitar didn't fare very well. The splits were numerous and the top was bellied up almost 3/8th of an inch directly under the bridge but sinking in front of it. Someone tried to warp the bridge to the belly but only managed to attach it in a small area. It practically fell off in my hand after I pulled the pins and there was only about 1 square inch of actual glue contact under it. I believe this top would have decomposed beyond repair if it were not for the diagonal braces. They were about all that was holding it together. The fan braces were severely warped as they came near the bridge. I had to remove them to get the top flat again. 

I have the top flat now but I really don't believe that it would withstand the pressure of steel strings for long with the original sized bracing and, in the end, I made my decision on bracing based on the strings I wanted to use.  

[Edward Kauf]

I own a few Favilla's, and have an F5 a little older than yours that I got off E Bay.  When I received it it had been crushed in postage, but I decided not to put in an insurance claim, and instead see what I could do.  The back back was only attached in two small areas so that came off easily.  The interior looked just about the same as yours, but I shaved out the remaining braces, and replaced with an X pattern similar to a Martin O.  Once it was all back together it sounded great.  In fact it is my daughters "go to" guitar. It may have to be coaxed a bit, but once you find the sweet spot you'll see what a nice instrument it is.  One thing that I dislike about Favilla's in general is the string spacing, which is usually way too close.  If you can make a new bridge and nut with spacing for adult fingers you will like the guitar a lot more.  Of course you still have to get used to the chunky neck.        

[Ned Knepp]

Hi Edward, 

 I'm still in the refinishing process. I got stalled by the holidays but I hope to get back to it soon. I haven't decided if I want to replace the bridge yet. It's in good shape except that it's a bit thin in the wings now. It seems that the last person that tried to fix it sanded it down a bit. I haven't really looked at the string spacing yet but with your information, I may just make a new bridge and nut. I can deal with the neck, it feels like an old LG Gibson I used to own so it's weird but OK. I have also arched the fingerboard a bit because I don't much like flat fingerboards. I figured I've already modified it pretty severely with  the X brace so...

 One thing I haven't done is look for a way to replace the Favilla emblem on the headstock. It was already gone when I got the guitar. I suppose the last person to take a stab at repairing it sanded it off before they made their attempt at refinishing.  I don't know if it is a decal or a stencil. Which one does your daughter's guitar have?