G. P. Sittner guitar?

[Mike Kolb]

I had a customer bring me a real basket case, an old "G.P. Sittner" nylon string acoustic. Many, many cracks, all the bracing's loose, the top's in pieces, it's terribly in need of a major neck reset, etc.

The customer and I are still debating if there's any point in trying to resurrect it, although it's caught my interest only because of the homemade label inside.  

Haven't been able to find anything on the maker, leaving me to suspect it's an amateur-made, "one-off" instrument.

Has anybody here ever seen one of these or know anything about Mr. Sittner of Portland, OR?

[Frank Ford]

I'd say your guess is correct.  Nil cash value, but sentiment can trump $$ sometimes. . .

[Mike Kolb]

...and no real sentiment on the owner's part. He picked-it up online for $25, just because the "label looked cool".  Not enough reason to dump a lot of work into it for him or me.  

I was thinking of suggesting we cut-out the section of back with the label on it to frame, and jettison the remainder... or maybe keep the broken chunks for repair-wood stock down the road.

Just for grins, here's the completed auction listing where he made the purchase....

http://www.shopgoodwill.com/auctions/Antique-GP-Sittner-Classical-A...

[Ian Pender]

Hmm. I've had a lot of customers picking up stuff off of shopgoodwill.com lately. I work just a short drive from the Goodwill where all of the Columbia-Willamette auctions ship out of, so most of my customers beat other bidders out by knowing they can pick up their winnings in person, rather than have to shell out more money in shipping. I've seen a few good guitars pop up on that site though...

[Glen H]

I'd glue it up, throw some used tuners on it, nut, strings and hang it on the wall (no intent on playable). Make a nice conversation piece.

[Thomas James]

I like Glen's idea. Make it whole and enjoy the patina. With $25 it would be hard to buy a better piece of retail wall art.

[Mike Kolb]

Indeed, Glen... that's a viable option, we'll see what the owner has to say. His choice on the outcome, but he's already got a good dose of 'buyer's remorse' (even at $25) so I'm not sure he'd want a reminder to be prominently displayed :)  In any event, I'll post what he decides. 

[William F.Eden]

If you are interested in finding out anything about the maker why don't you go on the iternet phone directery and see if you can locate some of his family?????????????Bill...........

[Mike Kolb]

I did a bit of that, Bill ...but my enthusiasm for tracking-down the maker's family is about on a par with trying to ever make this wreck playable, which is pretty close to zero :)

PS: (did your key get stuck?????????????)

[Ned Knepp]

I think this is a good example of an extreme hobbyist guitar by which I mean a total basket case, not worth much even if it was functional. I'm in the "keep the guitar as a wall hanger" camp since I can't think of a better frame for the label than the sound hole but it's a complete "Guitar Repair" study course in a single instrument..

Judging from the Goodwill pictures and the one's you posted, someone's already made a start on cleaning it up. If the owner has any interest in doing this as a hobby, you might think about working out a deal to supervise/teach him as he tries his hand at fixing it himself.  In this manner, maybe he could see "value" in the education he could get rather than the money it isn't worth. It's just a thought. 

[Mike Kolb]

Not bad, Ned.... there might be some interest on his part. In fact, maybe I'll e-mail him a link to the whole thread here and have him take a gander at all the possibilities expressed. He might have an easier time making a choice once he reads everybody's "two-cents" on the subject. Thanks! 

[Ned Knepp]

It's kind of too bad that some of these old guitars aren't worth more. This one appears to be made with decent materials and they can be fun guitars if they're made playable. It's kind of unfortunate that they aren't worth enough to be pay someone to fix them but they are also available for people like me who can pick up some fun projects because they aren't worth much. 

I could have used some help from someone with experience when I started repairing instruments as a hobby. There's a lot of details that I just wasn't aware of  that kept me from succeeding in my early attempts at repair. I simply didn't know what I didn't know, if you get what I mean, so I kept making the same mistakes over and over.  I would have progressed faster and has more fun if I'd had access to someone with more experience early on. I really enjoy it now but it was pretty frustrating sometimes when it wouldn't have been with some help.

As a hobbyist, I see this guitar as a good buy. It' will never be a "great" guitar and it would only be worth pennies per hour for the time I would put in on it but it has a lot of potential to be a fun guitar. There doesn't appear to be anything other than it final value to keep it from being repaired to playable condition and that's what gives it much greater value in the form of experience. It could be a good "kick off" for someone wanting to get into repair as a hobby.