Stella guitar restoration

[Tai Fu]

I have here some pre-war Stella guitars to restore:

 

These guitars must have been taken to Germany to be used as a weapon for killing Germans or something during WWII (they are pre-war). On both of them, the back has cracked in several places and the side has also suffered many long cracks, some of which were patched by a previous owner with white glue or whatever the goop is... The necks on both are in danger of falling off, one of them is held in place by some unknown goop (probably elmer's glue), while another is held in place by 3 nails through the back and one through the fingerboard. The bridge on one is lifting while the other has completely split in half, and the string zippered a little ways into the top. 

This is my first serious restoration work, I was wondering any advise on the best way to go about this? I plan on removing the back on both of them, because they all have loose back braces and the back is pretty much going to fall off without much persuasion anyways. How can I get the back off without further damage to the finish?

I need to add something: While I am reasonably sure the guitar was assembled with hide glue (it's the 1930's) on one of the guitar (the one with a missing section of the back) the back had came loose at one time, and the previous owner glued it back on with white glue, but while doing this he did not make sure that the sides are flush with the back, leaving a lip where the back overhangs the side. 

[Ned Knepp]

Hi Tai,

 Do you mind if I ask you a question? What do you know?  Have you been working on guitars before now? If so, what sorts of things have you been doing? What is your background? Have you done any wood working? What tools do you have available to do this.

I'm not trying to infer that you shouldn't do this, it is just that you are a blank page to us. We can help you much more if we know something about you and your level of knowledge as well as skill.  Have you done much study of the subject of restoration and repair?  Have you throughly digested the Frets.com site? In my opinion, you will probably have a much better experience if you have spent some time doing research about the subject of repair and restoration before you jump into it.

[Tai Fu]

I have read and learned most of my stuff from reading frets.com and have been working on guitars for the last 10 years or so as a hobby. I built my first acoustic guitar from a kit 4 years ago and a scratch build soon after, and am now working on a third and an ukelele. 

I've fixed headstock breaks, fitted splines, reglued bridges, etc. In fact I just repaired an Gibson L-00 that was also owned by this customer that had a lifted bridge, so I am well aware of the ins and outs of guitar restoration. I have a good idea as to what needs to be done but I always like to ask for advise before attempting something that is a bit in the "know how it's done but have not personally tried it yet" territory. 

thanks

[Paul Verticchio]

"These guitars must have been taken to Germany to be used as a weapon for killing Germans or something during WWII (they are pre-war)."

Sorry if that offended any of our German members.  Tai, we prefer sayings like: "Found at the bottom of a river" or "Was used for a hammer" or something like that.

My suggestion is that you completely disassemble the instruments and rebuild them. They look like they're half way there anyway. That way, you'll be assured of leaving no stone unturned and all 'issues' can be addressed.

Another advantage is that these are not valuable instruments (ONLY the pre-war Stella 12 strings are highly collectible), so it's a low risk way to tremendously expand your horizons, knowledge and skill sets.  Any way you look at it, it's got to be for the love of the craft as these are not cost effective repairs.

Best of luck and welcome to the board(:

[Ned Knepp]

Tai,

 I would start by using a very thin, hot pallet knife on the back joint where that piece of the back plate is missing and work toward the tail block first.  There really isn't any way to avoid needing to touch up  the finish when you reassemble but, if you are careful and patient, you can remove the back easy enough with very little damage to the finish except at the actual joint line. I use very thin strips of wood to hold my back separate from the sides so things don't stick back together.   Beware of the end blocks. They can take a lot of care and it can be easy to get into a hurry and split the back if you pry on it too much. It's better to take your time and allow the knife and heat to work. You may also want to use a bit of water.