My God! The contrast between what you started with and what you ended with is magnificent as is the contrast between your old world top notch craftsmanship and 99.9999% of today's craftsmanship.
Well done, incredible and daring work. You have many lovely tools too. The cat is sweet and adds to the silence needed. My wife says an instrument only sounds good when it is loved, and you can certainly hear the love in that sound. Ps you chose good bracing on the top, quite rigid. Thanks
That's my all time favorite flat top. Sunburst Gibson J-series. Martins are awesome too but the Gibson is my fav you have done outstanding work sir, and my hat is off to you. Another beautiful amazing guitar has a new lease on life!
Man it’s great to see a lost cause being resurrected. And it’s probably a better sounding and playing guitar than when it was new. All the woods have naturally dried out & the resins have hardened, & those beautiful scalloped braces you made are way better than anything Gibson ever used. Bravo Sir
Thanks for the encouraging comments. This restoration is about 5 years old now and it is still holding up well. I recently "crazed and cracked" the finish with an inverted compressed air can for a more vintage look.
Gary, If I could reach through this computer I would shake your hand. If you don't work for Gibson you should. That is outstanding work! Thanks for sharing this. I hope to see more of your work soon. Keep saving these American musical icons. Take Care! Jim
Wow, Gary. Beautiful work. I have an early 70's J-40 that has gone to pot due to neglect. The model isn't very high on the collector scale, but it has sentimental value. I wish I could find someone like you to rebuild my instrument.
I have the exact same model, of the same vintage and condition. Sat in the case in a basement or under a bed for 30+ yrs. Bought it in '73 for $265, still have the receipt. I think it dried out too much. The binding started cracking and falling off and the back has a couple small splits. A hobbyist friend has had it for a couple months, working on it in his spare time. I'm hopeful.
Beautiful work!! I restored a 1960 Jose Ramirez Brazilian rosewood guitar ..i wish I had recorded the work all I have is before and after it was french polished ..I sold it on Ebay to a classical guitarist in San Francisco just the feeling of having a guitar that was in ruin being play again is worth it . not as bad as this one was though!! .. thanks for posting!!!
Great vid. I had a B45-12 in similar condition (except no top) and didn't do as good a job as you. Great tone to that guitar. Great cat, too should be listed in credits!
Wow. I might of put a new top on that mid-late 50s J-50. But I’ve repaired few that were in pieces like that-keeping it as original as possible . Great job on that 50’s Gibson period Sunburst!!!! Most folks have no clue the time/Dedication to Restore Acoustic guitars the proper way!!! Nice work
That is the most amazing restoration work of art Sir much respect to you. I have the worst luck with keeping Gibson acoustic guitar in my home it would literally crumbled in front your eyes due to dry humidity I wish I can have a guitar like this one
This is an outstanding job you have done! I'm gonna say this guitar is c.1951; the dot on the "i" of the Gibson logo is connected to the G, which went out some time that year; the peghead is NOT heavily tapered front to back, but is close to a constant depth; the vertical side braces, which Gibson used c.1948-51. I suspect someone replaced the pickguard with the later batwing style, maybe to cover scars from overly-aggressive strumming. Other details that would point to pre-1954 construction are missing - I'm betting the original fingerboard was a 19-fret and not a 20, and that the original top braces were scalloped and not the later tapered style. This one turned out better than the '50 J-45 I had restored even though yours started out worse! Mine had been lovingly, professionally refinished, and then probably got hot - the neck block had popped free from the side, and the tension resulted in 24-count-'em-24 cracks in the top and back. Required a neck set, too. Probably why I got it pretty much for free, and I paid $500 in 1994 dollars to have it put to rights. Over the years I've had luthiers bring back other basket case guitars with very good results, including a 1940s Gibson L-7 that was stripped to a bare unfinished body; a '70s Guild F-212 missing big chunks of its treble side; and an early '30s roundhole Gibson L-4 archtop, also missing a chunk of the side, with a gaping hole cut into the top and smaller holes where volume and tone pots had been fitted. All of them, but most especially the L-4, were AMAZING guitars when they were finished. Besides, there's something very satisfying about restoring or having restored a guitar that was left for dead. And I swear, it's like they KNOW it, and are grateful.
Amazing work, great final product!! Maybe in future restorations you could go into more detail and explain while you work, maybe make a series of videos out of it. Looking forward to more videos, you're a very skilled luthier!
An amazing restoration of a beautiful guitar. You rescued it from little more than firewood into something to really be proud of. One question though - how did it get to being in so many pieces?
