187*** One Year Later

It's exactly a year ago that I got the old D-18. I played the thing most of the day yesterday, on a cold slushy/snowy day, that seemed tailor-made for loafing. This is one of the the nicest sounding guitars that I have ever played. I have never been a big fan of Martins, or the D-18, so when this one fell into my lap, so to speak, I only thought of it as a rescue project, and one that I would probably move along to someone fairly soon after it was done. But now, after getting to know it as an instrument, rather than as a puzzle which needed to be solved, I have to say...this is a great guitar and...I think I want to keep it. A long time ago I was lucky enough to play a 1937 D-18. The first strum proved to me what all the fuss was about. I walked away from that experience with a new respect for what an old Martin could be. In the years since I have never played another Martin D-anything that had the vibe of that '37. To me, the Martins I have encountered seemed fairly bland; nice sounding, but bland, so I didn't pick up that, "I-need-me-a-Martin" bug. I knew that the really great ones were way out of my reach, financially anyway. This guitar, while certainly no collector's item, will satisfy any residual D-18 longing I may have had hidden deep within my vintage guitar psyche. As a '63 it still has all of the design elements that I find cool in these things. Above all, Martin was still using hide glue to build their guitars in the early sixties. I believe hide glue is very important to the sound of a guitar. Call me crazy; but that's what I believe. In addition, this particular instrument has all the right stuff: a great neck feel, nice action, frets and fretboard, and that tone that we are all looking for. It also has the cool individual small Kluson tuners (before they switched to the huge and ugly Grovers) which I think match the feel of the 18 series better. It has the rounded headstock corners of the fifties and sixties which were the result of a well-used, (some might say overused) template from the Pennsylvania factory. It has the tortoise pickguard and binding, rather than the black that Martin would switch to in the mid 60's. And, this particular guitar has the shadow of a hard life it lived before I got it, the scars of mishaps that it just barely survived. I like how I let it wear these scars openly too. There was just no way I wanted to send it to off to Martin, or to some expert repair guy/luthier, and spend thousands of dollars on it so it could be all artificially perfect again. What's the point of that? This guitar has had a tough life, and it's earned its place at the table with the veterans. Side by side, tone-wise I don't know how it would compare to the '37, and I don't really care. It has presence, tone, sustain, depth, a dynamic woody tonal range across all the strings, with perfect dead-on intonation. But more than anything, it has a sweetness I have never heard from one of these before. If you were in a shop with a dozen D-18s, this is the one you'd keep coming back to if you were primarily looking for a great sounding guitar. I think this is the guitar you'd leave the shop with too. This guitar has that "it" factor. It says, "Play me. I'll give you back more than you came with."

All together now

The new pickguard looks good.

The whole guitar looks good.

And it sounds amazing.

It Plays

I've been playing the guitar this weekend, and despite the fact that the nut is sitting on a shim that's too tall, while the original saddle is sitting on a shim that still makes it too low, let me just say this: Holy *&%$^@!#!

This old beast sounds like a canyon. It's got sweetness, depth, tone, range, balance, and that dry woody thing I can never explain, but only recognize when I hear it. This guitar sounds way better than I expected it to, and far better than I can describe.

It plays.

Now for a little set-up work, and then the installation of the pickguard. I kind of like the old one, that came with the guitar, but the concensus around the house is that it looks like an old telephone receiver. I have a new 'guard that looks pretty cool on there. It is a nice one, and looks pretty correct for this vintage of a Martin guitar. I guess I will listen to the critics on this one.

Neck ON

We glued the neck back on today. It's a guitar again. Now, it'll need some set-up work, and the guitar will play music once more.  What will it sound like?

Top patch redux

The top patch that Todd convinced me to re-do, looks really good. Todd helped mightily, with the binding as well as the tinting of the very, very white patch. Thanks Todd. Numerous layers of French Polish have been applied.

Bridge work

Last night the bridge was reattached to the top of the guitar. Chisel made a nice clamping caul and I mixed up a fresh batch of hide glue. It seemed about as perfect as glue can be. I left the bridge clamped overnight, and all today. Overkill perhaps.

French Polish

A lot has happened since my last post. The violence that was deliberately done to the top has been repaired and disguised to look a lot like the rest of the top. Additionally, a few coats of french polish have been applied. The light is on at the end of the tunnel. I believe the guitar will be making music soon.

Chunks

Yes, that's right; what was once a patched complete top, now has a fresh hole in it, inflicted by me, with a little help from the Chisel. Why?! Why would we do such a thing? Well, long story short, the guitar guy we most respect--Todd at Fraulini Guitars--said, "You don't want to put a finish on the top and then look at the four piece patch and think...maybe I shoulda done something about that..."  And, well, as much as I hate to take a step backward like this, I know he's right. So, when the Chisel came over the other night, he agreed too, and that sealed it. So, we got all abusive with the guitar and produced more wreckage.

I also need to find/order/make some binding that will somewhat match the stuff on the top of the guitar. There's also a little patch in the back of the guitar that I need to take care of too. So, one step forward and a few steps back?

Back Bound

Tonight I put the original back binding in place again. Now I really am at the point where the only thing standing in the way of putting the neck back on, is the need for some kind of finish. French polish, or nitro-cellulos? Hmmmm......

Stripped!

As it turned out, there wasn't much 'original' finish underneath the paint. So, millions of brain cells later, here it is:

The body still needs prep work before the finish, but I like what I see. Soon, I'll re-install the back binding.

Back and Sides

This weekend, I hope to strip the back and sides of the guitar and get it ready to re-finish. I've been dragging my feet on this, because it seems like there might be some 'original' finish under there that I'd like to preserve; but I'm pretty sure getting the paint off means ruining the other. I'll just have to bite the bullet and strip the thing.

This weekend.

Top again

Here's the top after another round of stripper. I think it looks better. It also looks to me like the pickguard shadow from the 'guard that it came with proves that, at the very least it's been on the thing for a long time, and was there before the paint.

I am a bit discouraged about the paint/finish on the back and sides. It's a thin coat, and I think a round of stripper would go straight through and kill whatever original finish remains below.

...unless I use some of that citrus Safest Stiripper...?

Cleaned up

Here's the body after a round of glue removal from the edge. But, speaking of removal, I am convinced there is a layer of some sort of clear coat or something like that, on the back and sides. Underneath this--which I admit has a kind of old-guitar-funky-finish vibe--you can see that it looks the way a Martin mahogany back and sides should look. I think this coat of...whatever it is...needs to come off, but maybe I'll get a few professional opinions before I do anything rash.

The top still has a ways to go before it'll be ready for any kind of finish.

Back glued to sides

A three hour tour today with indispensible help from the Chisel took the two pieces and made them one. A momentous occasion for this battered old guitar. Suddenly, it really looks like a guitar again, rather than a weird woodworking project.

Pay no attention to that "mitebond" bottle back there. We have used hide glue for this job, and all gluing jobs on this Guitar Rescue project.

Now I need to clean off the excess hide glue on the ledge/edge of the guitar, and get it prepped to re-install the original binding.

The Silk Road

I wanted to add some strength to a few areas which have been repaired. My buddy Todd recommended using a piece of banjo head--skin--for top cracks. I am vascillating on whether or not I even need to cleat them at all, since they closed up so nicely. But, a few of the more major side cracks and bashes do need reinforcement, so I'm choosing to use some stuff my wife--an expert in all things fiber--guarantees is perfect for the job. It's silk organza. Traditionally guitar makers did, and still do, use fabric on the sides for reinforcement, but I believe they usually use linen. This organza she gave me is so strong and light, that when it's glued on the wood it becomes a mesh patch that just isn't going anywhere. Here's a glimpse or two:

The pic on the left the patch itself glued in place. On the right is a swatch of the organza, with the patch in the background. It seems like great material--tough and light. In addition, the color she gave me blends into the wood very nicely. I put a small bit of it over a repaired side crack near the heel block, and almost couldn't even find it afterwards.

Ready for glue

Yes, I will probably remove a bit more glue residue. I definitely have to fiddle around with the top and back some more, to get the fit right, but essentially, the two parts of the body are ready to become one again. Maybe this weekend?

Funky Crack

So, I glued up the funky crack on the bout near where the pickguard will be. It does look better than in the above photo now. I'll post a picture of it soon.

Top Cracks Revisited

There is still one top crack I haven't really dealt with, and that's because it has remained closed from an earlier repairman's work. I believe he used white glue, and even worse, it's not a very good repair. It could be improved upon if, and this is a big if, IF I can get the old glue out of it.

The finger brace which needs to be made would lay right across this crack. Unfortunately, there's a ledge instead of a nice flat surface for that brace to sit on. Re-repairing this crack would make the guitar look nicer on the outside, as well as giving the brace a good flat surface to be glued on, on the inside.

I'm itching to glue the back to the sides, but my better judgement says, fix this little mess before I do, or later I'll wish I had.

Miscelaneous gluing

Chisel came over again tonight and helped me do a little gluing here and there on the guitar. We decided that an extra brace needed to be added way down by the heel block, just to add some stability to all those cracks that have been closed up there. Yes, the heel block itself would tend to add some stability, but Chisel has noticed on the J-50 we rescued for him, that the area down there is a bit mushy. So...on goes the brace.

I took the spatula and checked around every brace in the top one last time to see if there were any gaps. It's pretty well all shored up. I did find that the heel block had a spot where the spatula went in pretty easily, so I slathered some hide glue in there and clamped it.

There was also a small side crack I discovered in the once-over that needed a bit of glue and clamping.

Tomorrow night I will make the small finger brace for the top, and I'll put some fabric patches on a few of the side cracks.

Not long now until the back will be re-glued to the rims.

More Strippage

On Sunday, the 29th, I spent a lot of time stripping the top. I'd put a coat of stripper on, close the thing in the new basement bathroom--which has an exhaust fan--and set the timer for fifteen minutes or so. By the end of the day I had most of the top stripped.  The "sunburst" finish meant that the paint at the edge of the instrument was thicker, and took several more coats to get down to the wood.

I did try to send another picture of the top in  mid-strip, but I must have mis-addressed it. (I'm using my wife's iphone now.) Anyway, the top is now pretty much stripped, though it is somewhat blotchy looking. There is a fair amount of general clean-up to be done as well--the binding is messy looking, the line around the bridge needs cleaning, and there are still quite a number of spots on the top which need to be attended to.

On the positive side though, I think it'll look pretty cool once it's got a coat of some kind of finish on it. This guitar will be all about funky, but I think it will wear its repairs well.