M20 project

I recently picked up this 1958 M20. Obviously in need of some serious TLC.


Most obvious and serious issues are the split saddle and bridge pulling up from the soundboard.



Saddle came out with just a bit of tugging. With a bit of heat and gentle application of a putty knife and single edge razor, the bridge also came off fairly easily.

That revealed a more serious, but still fixable problem. A very compromised soundboard and bridge plate.


All that bondo has been removed, the bridge cleaned up and she's ready for the next steps. I'm of two minds on the bridge plate. Use a platemate to stabilize the bridge pad. Or add a maple shim over the existing damaged plate. I'll mull that over for several days. I'm afraid trying to remove the bridge plate may create more problems. If this was a really valuable vintage instrument then that would be the right approach. An M20 is a bit less obvious, at least to me. The sound board I will patch in some spruce (or mahogany if I can lay my hands on a small thin piece). The bridge will cover all that damage so it just needs to be structurally sound and flat.

Few more pics.




Once all the "big stuff' is done I'll tackle the headstock and decide yeah or nay on a pickguard (I'm leaning on yes).

FWIW even with all these issues it played ok and sounded great and for me the narrow nut, 1 5/8" is a bit cramped.

wow, ghost label! congrats! looking forward to the results.

Yes, very cool! A birth year for me, and like me, "in need of some serious TLC"!

walrus

I like it and I could get into a project like that. :wink:
Nice score.

Keep us posted,
Joe

Westerly Wood said:

wow, ghost label! congrats! looking forward to the results.

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Not a ghost label. This is a ghost label.

ah, right. what is the guitar shape label? that one is cool too.

Great project!! Can't wait to see how it turns out!! :encouragement:

Westerly Wood said:

ah, right. what is the guitar shape label? that one is cool too.

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WW, that's called the "guitar shape label"... :nevreness:

walrus

My luthier added a small maple strip over the spruce bridge plate, and it sounds just fine. If there's a good enough glue surface, I'd go with that. It doesn't have to be as big as the original since it's just there to provide meat against the string ball ends.

AcornHouse said:

My luthier added a small maple strip over the spruce bridge plate, and it sounds just fine. If there's a good enough glue surface, I'd go with that. It doesn't have to be as big as the original since it's just there to provide meat against the string ball ends.

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Good to know. I have some thin maple so that may well be what i opt to do. Thanks

Few more things clicked off the to do list.
A back brace was loose and suffering from a bad "fix". A wedge of wood had been stuck under one corner, then had glue dripped onto it. I managed to carefully remove the brace in one big piece, scrape off the blob of glue, sand all the surfaces and re-glue properly. Here's a pic with some temporary braces in place to keep things tight while the glue sets up


I've also fabricated a new bone thru saddle to replace the fractured one.

Interesting realization when making the saddle. The fret board has a very curved radius. Never seen another Guild like this, but I gather it's typical of the M20. M20's also have a rather narrow nut, 1 5/8". I'm very curious to see if I like all this. Over the years I've drifted to 1 3/4" nuts so my guess is this fretboard will feel a bit cramped for me.

evenkeel said:

.....Over the years I've drifted to 1 3/4" nuts so my guess is this fretboard will feel a bit cramped for me.

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Congrats on the M20! I really really like the looks of the older "lip" headstock. Thanks so much for posting those photos.

Like you, I have also drifted toward 1 3/4" nuts and slightly wider string spacing at the bridge. Unfortunately, that has put the brakes on ALL of the resto work on my other Guild guitars, even the ones with the 1 11/16" nuts. Yep, even the 1 11/16" nut feels cramped compared to the 1 3/4" nut on my newer Guild F-30 Standard and F-30R Standard. I recently passed on a F-42 (mahogany) as I always wanted one to go with my F-44 (maple), but I can no longer justify the cost of neck resets, etc. on something that may end up sitting in the closet.

Tommy

Enjoying following your restoration!

Tom

Great work so far J. Thanks for sharing!

Would love some help from the gang on this one. The waverly tuners are off, cleaned, polished and ready to go back on. But, first what to do with the headstock? It's been over painted and rather badly done. Original was satin finish, black with a silk screened, script style, Guild logo. Has anyone a source for a decal that looks like the old Guild logo? Other ideas for how to restore the look of the original headstock.

Not sure what happened to the original pics. Something goofy in Photobucket land maybe. At any rate pics are back and a few more items checked off the to do list.

I opted to add a maple veneer over the damaged bridge plate. Thanks to Acorn house for that tip. Also worth noting Dan Erelwine suggests this approach when removing and replacing is not viable. There was a lot of dry fitting, in and out, small adjustments before it was glued and clamped.


And here it is waiting for the glue to set.


While that was happening I removed the waverly tuners, cleaned and polished those up.


Also cleaned up the headstock and truss rod nut. That all works fine now.

Once the clamps and cauls came off the next step was to repair the soundboard damage under the bridge. Small piece of spruce, carefully cut to fit, glued and clamped in place. When the clamps are removed I'll flat sand it flush to the soundboard. Why not Mahogany? Simple answer. I had a small piece of spruce just a bit thicker than was needed and it will be covered by the bridge.



If all goes well I may have the bridge clamped in place tomorrow.

Looking good, Evenkeel!

I do not have good news to share on a silkscreen logo source. I have been looking for a more modern version to apply to my '81 D-35 (the "tent" logo) which had to be sanded down to bare mahogany. Yours needs the script guild logo, does it not?

If you find a source, please let me know.

Neal said:

Looking good, Evenkeel!

I do not have good news to share on a silkscreen logo source. I have been looking for a more modern version to apply to my '81 D-35 (the "tent" logo) which had to be sanded down to bare mahogany. Yours needs the script guild logo, does it not?

If you fins a source, please let me know.

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be sure to contact Hans Moust on his website, if you have not already. Never know what he has.

mavuser said:

be sure to contact Hans Moust on his website, if you have not already. Never know what he has.

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Already done. Hans has answered a bunch of questions. Great info and much appreciated.

Can I ask what you intend to do with the finish on the body, if anything at all. I am presently working on repairing the finish and just want to pick up any tips