Old Guild Repair Project

[Cypress Knee]

I know John Hall through my affiliation with the Unofficial Martin Guitar Forum. His shop is Blues Creek Guitars. Anyway, he is currently working on fixing a broken headstock of an old Guild and documenting his work on Facebook. I thought that since a lot of LTG'rs are looking for good repair people, you may want to check this out. His Facebook page link is here - https://www.facebook.com/john.hall.756

 

[jedzep]

Boy, that's commitment! I couldn't tell what model it is. I'd like to know.

 

[SFIV1967]

Scary!



What a difference to the "before" picture where somebody "repaired" using screws!



Ralf

 

[tommym]

Ralf,

Thanks for posting those images as I don't use Facebook.



Tommy

 

[Br1ck]

That has to be in the category of anything is fixable, you just have to want to pay for it. Good for you.

 

[Opsimath]

Scary!



What a difference to the "before" picture where somebody "repaired" using screws!



Ralf

The unfinished headstock (with the foot in the picture) isn't the same one, is it? Shape is not Guild, and looks like one piece of wood, not the headstock with the wings from different wood on each side. Was it a mockup or something?

 

[tommym]

The unfinished headstock (with the foot in the picture) isn't the same one, is it? Shape is not Guild, and looks like one piece of wood, not the headstock with the wings from different wood on each side. Was it a mockup or something?

It looks like a one piece reinforcing veneer to cover the repair work.

Also, the crown at the top of the headstock might still be a work in progress. Not sure.

Tommy

 

[Opsimath]

It looks like a one piece reinforcing veneer to cover the repair work.

Also, the crown at the top of the headstock might still be a work in progress. Not sure.

Tommy

That makes sense, thank you.

 

[chazmo]

Dang, that's one terrible break. CK, thanks for posting! Always good to know who the good repair luthiers are!

 

[SFIV1967]

The unfinished headstock (with the foot in the picture) isn't the same one, is it? Shape is not Guild, and looks like one piece of wood, not the headstock with the wings from different wood on each side. Was it a mockup or something?

It looks like a one piece reinforcing veneer to cover the repair work.
Also, the crown at the top of the headstock might still be a work in progress.

Tommy is correct, there was a veneer added as reinforcement to the back and it was not shaped yet.
Here is the back of the headstock with the first spray paint leayers. Also on the right another early repair picture from closing of all the gaps which later was again routed out to add much more stabilizing wood (you see that picture in post #3, first row right picture)



Ralf

 

[wileypickett]

The back veneer is an interesting idea -- never seen that before.

 

[tommym]

If needed or desired, even with a one-piece veneer overlay, there are ways to mimic the wings on the backside of the headstock via taping/tinting of the finish and or very subtle mechanical scribing of the finish.

Tommy

 

[SFIV1967]

The back veneer is an interesting idea -- never seen that before.

Used in many headstock repairs to stabilize the area.



Some higher end guitars from small luthier shops add one for cosmetic reasons to new instruments:






Ralf

 

[Br1ck]

Aren't these repair pieces thicker than what you'd consider veneers? I've seen some on the order of a quarter inch thick. Still, a showing of what can be done. Everything can be repaired with the will and skill to do it.

 

[Nuuska]

We have 3-ply veneer of 0,4mm thickness available here - that is about 1/64 inches for three layers . . .