First Project

[John McDonald]

Hey everyone, this is my first post after having been made aware of the

site (thanks Ryan) and pouring over it for the last month. What an

amazing resource.
So, I've been collecting some of those cheap
40's,50's,60's catalogue guitars over the last few years with the idea

of using them as my first test subjects. I was drawn to these guitars

because they were cheap, they have vibe, they are made of all solid

wood, and they all seem to have been put together with hide glue.
I've

started with the worst of the bunch, a 60's harmony student guitar that

was recently given to me for free because the body basically had cracks

everywhere (got sat on at some point) and the neck is kind of warped

(typical upbow). The nice thing is I have no concerns if I completely

botch some aspect of the repair.
So far I have pulled the bridge and
tuners and glued all of the cracks that I could find. My list of

things I want to do to this guitar is pretty long. It includes resetting

the neck, full refret, reglue one top brace, fingerboard leveling,

restaining fingerboard and trying to somewhat match and stain the body

where the finish and stain have crumbled off, and then of course setting

it up. I'm not sure what order i should go in for my list of repairs.

Was thinking I'd  go ahead and steam the neck off next but maybe I

should pull the frets and  do the fingerboard leveling first while the

neck is still attached.  Any guidance would be greatly appreciated.

[John McDonald]

Pics

[David Houchens]

John, Sounds like you're ready to get at it. I would pull the frets and level the finger board while its still attached. Then reset the neck. This will give a chance to check the area that some times gets THE hump. After reset you can double check under string tension ,if you want ,before fretting giving you a chance to address any new humps,dips, etc... Then fret.
Even though the guitar doesn't carry much value, I would not use the idea that its ok to botch it. I under stand what you mean but your skills will be much rewarded by treating it as a jewel.

[FRANK]

in my opinion id would fret last not first simply because of the neck re set .this is only an opinion.cheers phb

[John McDonald]

Thanks guys. That sounds like a good order of operation. Forgot to mention I was thinking about adding a radius to the currently flat fingerboard while im at in. Was thinking a 20 Degree would be good. And rest assured I will be treating this guitar as well as I can but am just trying not to put too much pressure on myself so I can enjoy the process and learn from any mistakes along the way.

[John Cadd]

That reminds me of a guitar in a charity shop window.I asked how much and the price was £6.I went back with some change next day and it had gone.It had clear tone and a scruffy well used top of spruce.Inside was a label with a hand written Spanish name. Curses! Six measly quid.

[Paul Breen]

If you haven't done this already, you should first string the guitar up and set it up for the best possible action you can get in it's current condition or you will have no frame of reference to work from. Take the start measurements with the best adjustments you can get out of the guitar or you will be working blindly on what really needs to be done. Do not pull the neck unless your sure it needs to be done. Level the board and fret after a neck reset.

[Paul Breen]

Hmm, guess I should have looked at the pics before commenting, might be a tad hard to string it up with no bridge. ; - )