Darryl Hattenhauer said:
That ebay D55 with everything ruined except the back has me wondering. What would it cost to swap the backs of two dreadnaughts? I assume the bracing inside would be the same on each, so you could leave the bracing alone.
Well, assuming the dimensions are exactly accurate for swapping (which is maybe asking alot for two old Guilds), let's see.
You've gotta get the binding off the back. I don't know if Guild used cyanoacrylate (crazy glue) to apply the bindings on older guitars, but I think you could heat/melt the glue off the old binding. I'm pretty sure it wouldn't be salvageable though once you pulled it off. Then, I guess you just start cutting, trying to avoid the back braces. You'll cut through the kerfing (unless there's some way to get that off -- I don't think so, but maybe a hair drier could blow hot air in through the removed binding...)
I don't know. Sometimes I'd love to try my hand at something like that, but I doubt I ever will.
Cost? I'd easily expect north of a grand Darryl.