Goya glue type

[John McDonald]

Does anybody happen to know what kind of glue Goya was using in the 60's? I'm doing some work on a 60's Goya G10 and I cant tell what kind of glue it was assembled with. I'm hoping its hide glue so that I won't have to fuss with cleaning all of the glueing surfaces as much but the glue looks kind of clear and kind of white. I'm used to seeing hide glue with more of a caramel or brown color to it so this has me thinking that this is probably an aliphatic glue.

[Mark Pollock]

I dealt with hide glue on the 50's G10 I fixed up last year.(Multiple popped braces and a badly crushed top - a fellow teacher had a student drop a big backpack on it. Of course the teacher claimed "it's always in the hard case", which was an ancient cardboard case.)

What kind of work are you doing? Love Swedish-made Goyas - great spruce wood on the top. The birch on the sides and back really wants to distort if left off, though.

[John McDonald]

Thanks Mark. I was able to warm a little chunk of it up and also determined that it was hide glue. Sounds like your Goya was in pretty similar condition to mine. I found this one on ebay for $15 by a seller that listed it as a "broken guitar that would make a good painting canvas or stage prop". Lots of extremely loose braces causing warping to the top that then of course caused a few top cracks. Its also missing 2 of its 3 back braces and missing the tail block. I'm just glad I had the one back brace so that I can copy the radius for the 2 new ones I'll be making. Sounds like a total wreck but i enjoyed popping the back and getting it all glued back together today and its actually looking like its going to come back together quite nicely. I'm just hoping this one sounds at least half as good as a friend of mines similar old G10 that I really love playing.

[Mark Pollock]

Great deal! They are sweet little guitars, and lots of people had one for their first guitar. Very playable, wonderful sounding, and that crackly look of the too-thick finish always makes me happy, for some unfathomable reason. :)