S60-3/4 Short scale guitar...

[GuildFS4612CE]

They don't call Kauai the garden island for nothing

Rainsong graphite guitars were started in Hawaii for a good reason.

 

[Zelja]

Looking forward to how you rehabilitate her. Very cool & rare guitar with the best combo in guitardom - a hog body & a HB-1 pickup!

 

[SFIV1967]

Oh, almost forgot...
Serial number ED100031
(edited, it looked like "LD..." but Hans suggested i look closer and sure enough. I can see very faintly that it's an "E")

So I guess you got the answer from Hans already. Should be a 1979 one.
Ralf

 

[Masonian]

Even the insides were filthy!

THERE WAS A FINGERNAIL IN THE BODY CAVITY (along with dead spiders)

The finish just couldn't be saved. It flaked off in some spots, had crazy mold bloom in others, and was gummy elsewhere. The underlying mahogany looks really nice. I'm going to strip it and respray w clear nitrocellulose to let that wood shine. I bet there will be a few blemishes or fill spots (hence they painted it solid color) but they'll fit right in with the dings!

Ironed off the fingerboard. Slow and steady wins the race.

Next up, the strip and refin... when it gets dry enough. Which is never up here on Kauai's north shore.

 

[davismanLV]

I'm glad you're saving this poor old thing!! It deserves a chance.

 

[GGJaguar]

And so it begins. I can't wait to see the final product!

 

[walrus]

Excellent recovery going on! Keep us in the loop - great post!

walrus

 

[Masonian]

Still plugging away at this restoration.
I removed the old & moldy lacquer and found this underneath!

This is the raw wood, no finish at all.

You can spot the original imperfections in the mahogany which led them to paint it solid black. (as well as the dings of a long life of abuse)
But I love it just as it is. Imma just gonna clear coat it with spray on lacquer, polish, and go.

I have very little experience with wood finishing, but pro tip: for lacquer don't bother with lacquer thinner, just go acetone. It's way less nasty.
And forget heating or scrape, scrape, scraping. Lay a cloth on the finish (I used painter's canvas), douse with acetone, let it sit & soak for 20-30 seconds, & the finish just wipes off.

p.s. I've been filming the whole thing. If I ever stop being lazy I'll start uploading each phase to my youtube channel.

 

[Prince of Darkness]

Still plugging away at this restoration.
I removed the old & moldy lacquer and found this underneath!

This is the raw wood, no finish at all.

You can spot the original imperfections in the mahogany which led them to paint it solid black. (as well as the dings of a long life of abuse)
But I love it just as it is. Imma just gonna clear coat it with spray on lacquer, polish, and go.

I have very little experience with wood finishing, but pro tip: for lacquer don't bother with lacquer thinner, just go acetone. It's way less nasty.
And forget heating or scrape, scrape, scraping. Lay a cloth on the finish (I used painter's canvas), douse with acetone, let it sit & soak for 20-30 seconds, & the finish just wipes off.

p.s. I've been filming the whole thing. If I ever stop being lazy I'll start uploading each phase to my youtube channel.

The neck / body joins on this and all the guitars and bass's in this family is a work of art!

 

[Masonian]

I conquered my laziness and made part one of the restoration video (conquered for now, I'm procrastinating on the remainder...)
This first part is the initial inspection and teardown. (and some sound samples)

It's kind of gnarly what I encountered.

https://youtu.be/pCE7vcUWOw4 Guild S60-3/4 Restoration Part 1

I'm looking forward to putting together the rest of the videos. This was quite a project.
The upcoming videos will detail the bridge and hardware, regluing the fretboard, the headstock surprise and tuning pegs, refin, and pickguard restoration.

I'll also be posting here some close ups and details on the restoration process.

A huge shout out to @GAD and @hansmoust for their treasure trove of valuable information (and Hans' actual treasures of hard-to-find intonation screws) And to all of you here on this forum. Your wealth of knowledge and passion for Guild guitars is inspiring!

More to come...

 

[Masonian]

Part 2 of the restoration. Removing and regluing the totally trashed fretboard.

Other than right up above the 12th fret there was very little glue (or, little remaining glue if ever there was much in the first place).

First time I've attempted this surgery. But thanks to YouTube University it was a success!
The video even has sound samples of the guitar. Fun times.

 

[Nuuska]

Thank you

I spent some time in Honolulu @ 1977 and learned that you have moist salty wind blowing from every direction and that's why your cars will rust and electronics go bad.

There was a music store where I first saw Guild acoustic bass - fretted blonde - most likely B-50

Also there was a recording studio - and I spent a day or two there rewiring their pach bay.

Slept in a tent at backyard of rfiends cousin - 2-3- miles west from downtown - every night before creeping into my sleeping bag I had to first check there were no other critters besides me