S 100 74 restoration project

[Ppolfeldt]

Making pickupframes of oak, mounted them although roughly cut.
The bridge frame is 6mm-5mm leaning slightly forward.
Orderd a repro pickguard, will shape and colour the frames when the pickguard has arrived.

 

[Nuuska]

Now THAT is great idea !

Over here we have birch plywood, that has 3 layers and is only 1mm thick - or thin - that means 75 layers per inch for our non-metric readers. One could cut right size rectangulars and glue them together to desired thickness - then put it in a jig and route the inside.

And if 3/mm is too coarse - there is also the 3layers/0,4mm variety - about 189 layers per inch

EDITED - corrected first - 3 layers 1mm - is correct

 

[Ppolfeldt]

Here come the parts.. literally from all over the Globe..
Trussrodcover from Philadelphia Luthier tools, PA USA
Vol and tone knob, Guitars Electric, Wolverhampton, UK
Neck pickup, made to order by Q-pickups, Croatia
Sticker w Guild Chesterfield logo from Creative Cuts, Burbank, Ca
Pickguard is coming in from the US

pity about vat and taxes, all but the mainland european one are at additional custom fees, ca 30%.

 

[Nilfisken]

Are you by any chance Swedish? Couldn't help spotting the text behind one of the pictures

 

[Ppolfeldt]

Swedish, yes…
Text from new song with singer songwriter H Venant, from TT Reuter, and many other bands…”Midnatt” ..
We’re rehearsing new material..

 

[Ppolfeldt]

Little by little, piece by piece..



Now to the next level…
How does it play…

Very well, but not without problems..
GREAT wood resonance and acoustic sound, fantastic low action, good intonation, and the pickups and electronics are good too.
But..
Seems the neck has a little bump in it at the 2:nd fret.
I was pleased when I got it - no neck repair from break at the headstock.
A common thing for gibsons, don’t know about Guilds.
My guess is however that the fretboard also has been loose, maybe at the same time as headstockcover and neckbreak at the body. Just the top 2-3 frets. And that someone has glued it together with a lot of glue and clamped it at the first fret. Leaving this slight bump at the 2 nd fret.
So the 1 st fret buzzes a lot.
Solution: A refret.

 

[Supportive_daughter05]

Day 3 -
Some oilbased paint ”rosewood”
Stringing it up and mounted a pickup with the one frame I have that fit. The gibson and epiphone frames are too small.
It plays well. Electronics work perfect. The home made wooden nut isnt very good, and unfortunately very firmly glued in place..
Tomorrow a trip to my friend Per Sonnerup, the luthier, who builds acoustics. He’ll help me with the nut and give me advice on the headstock repair.

Nice work! The framing on the first photo was beautiful! The guitar looks nice too :b

 

[Nilfisken]

Nice to see I'm not the only Swede with a 74 S-100, bought mine in Lund 20 years ago, and it has stayed with me ever since, currently based in Scotland (Glasgow). Impressive work you are doing getting that poor beaten up guitar back in shape again!

 

[Masonian]

Solution: A refret.

You are an unstoppable rebel force and i like it.

Watching this refurb has been cathartic.

 

[LeFinPepere]

Little by little, piece by piece..



Now to the next level…
How does it play…

Very well, but not without problems..
GREAT wood resonance and acoustic sound, fantastic low action, good intonation, and the pickups and electronics are good too.
But..
Seems the neck has a little bump in it at the 2:nd fret.
I was pleased when I got it - no neck repair from break at the headstock.
A common thing for gibsons, don’t know about Guilds.
My guess is however that the fretboard also has been loose, maybe at the same time as headstockcover and neckbreak at the body. Just the top 2-3 frets. And that someone has glued it together with a lot of glue and clamped it at the first fret. Leaving this slight bump at the 2 nd fret.
So the 1 st fret buzzes a lot.
Solution: A refret.

Nice post, and a cool song I'd never heard.....Think I'll check Mink De Ville .....Thanks!

 

[Guildedagain]

Oak pickup rings should give a woodier tone?

Flame rings from quartersawn oak?

 

[Ppolfeldt]

So much support..
Here a piece from jp - senior member

 

[Masonian]

I like the open grain "raw" look of your finish. Was that just due to not using grain filler?

 

[Ppolfeldt]

Guitar now at luthier for fret-job..
Repro Pickguard lost in Ca by usps.
A little more before it comes w me to rehearsals..

 

[Ppolfeldt]

I like the open grain "raw" look of your finish. Was that just due to not using grain filler?

No grain filler. Oilbased dye w rosewood reddish, and mahogany brownish pigment.
After that its just clearcoats for cars, modern one I had at home, not a ”perfect” choice for guitars, but…
The final look…
I hope these are the results yoy mean…
There are also posts at various stages of treatment in the thread…

 

[chazmo]

Really like the finish and the color, Pp... Can we see some more of the finished guitar? It's completed, right?

 

[Ppolfeldt]

Not quite.
The pickuprings need to be finally shaped and coloured, was waiting for the pickguard to shape them. The guitar is in the luthiers shop for a fret-job right now.
Project has been moving slow.
Ill proudly post asap however.

 

[chazmo]

copy that, Pp.... Looking forward to the finished product when you're all done. Good luck with the fret job!

 

[SFIV1967]

So much support..
Here a piece from jp - senior member

Oh, looks like that original celluloid headstock veneer was sitting in the sun or near a heat source for some time as it shrunk! I would immediately clamp it in between two hardwood boards to get it flat again. Don't put any heat to it as it might only shrink more. Unfortunatelly it separated already from the base layer, so it makes it a bit harder to glue it on the headstock. But still doable for a luthier. The problems of celluloid...



Ralf

 

[jp]

Oh, looks like that original celluloid headstock veneer was sitting in the sun or near a heat source for some time as it shrunk! I would immediately clamp it in between two hardwood boards to get it flat again. Don't put any heat to it as it might only shrink more. Unfortunatelly it separated already from the base layer, so it makes it a bit harder to glue it on the headstock. But still doable for a luthier. The problems of celluloid...



Ralf

When I bought this, the seller's pics didn't truly show how warped it was, although he mentioned it in the ad. There was no way to get a refund, but I kept it at least for the inlays. When I saw this thread, I figured I'd give it to Ppolfeldt in case he wanted to salvage it.

I wondered if very, very gentle heat between two metal plates over a long period of time would flatten it with a minimum of shrinkage.