WATCH how furniture restorer restores a guitar! 

My music channel: ru-vid.com

Congratulations. You brought two and a half thousand guitarists to tears.

At 10:10 you can see the makers stamp, this of course is after cracking it open. Hope it helps Muusikariistade = Instruments Töökoda = Workshop T. Olbrei & Ko = Tönis Olbrei & Companion(s) Tallinnas = Tallinn Hermanni T. Nr 1 = Street name and number EESTI = Estonia Tönis Olbrei was a piano maker, his brother Jann and August Kraemann, a builder, merged their companies and started making pianos, harmoniums, mandolins, guitars and other musical instruments in 1905. So I'd say that guitar is from earliest 1905 or a bit younger like up to 1915 or so.

I love how there is no cheesy narration, or crappy "upbeat, inspirational" music track. Makes this video much more enjoyable.

I enjoy watching your skilled hands as they work with the wood. My grandfather built violins and repaired all kinds of instruments for the local music store. I was enthralled watching him work.

He sanded the magic out of the neck and fret board.

As a guitar repairman/builder, I gotta say that you broke a few rules in this restoration, but I honestly don't think it's value or performance were compromised at all. The guitar is a folk instrument, built and repaired by regular folks with all kinds of approaches. It's your instrument, and I think it's a honey!

The back and sides are a surprising duo of the glory of wood refinished to show the tree's, the builder's and the restorers contributions. Thank you.

Does my heart good to see a item many would toss in the trash loved back to life. The Medullary rays on the back and sides are beautiful, also the binding and marquetry detail on the front are subtle__yet speak of the craftsmanship and thought that was given many years back. Thanks for sharing! ✍)))

That's why professional guitar builder/repair people are called Luthier's, great work but so many OMG! what are you doing moment's. But I applaud the effort, so many would have just tossed it away.

I worked in both fields, Luthiery AND Furniture. Saw the comments. This guitar was old, but not valuable. I saw nothing wrong in his treatment of the piece. Good Job!

I really enjoyed this. The techniques were not what I'm used to seeing, but the end result was amazing. My grandpa was a furniture repairman and he was an unbelievable craftsman. Felt like I was watching gramps work again. 🥰 thank you for the video!

Wonderful methodology and complement of shop tools and technique, thank you! We can all use these for various projects, of all kinds. Thanks for the inspiration and for exemplifying uplifting workmanship.

A great Guitar Devaluation Masterclass

What we really need are reaction videos of luthiers watching this. That'd be fun.

"There you go! Good as new!..." '....yeah Viktor, about that...'

I look forward to other videos in this series, like "car wash guy rebuilds F-1 engine" or "nurse practitioner performs heart transplant."

That was painful to watch. Amazing what you can do with the right tools.

OUCH! Definitely shows the difference between a luthier and a furniture restorer!

Why can't they make a guitar as cool looking as this.

When I first read the title I was like “he’s gonna rune this beautiful patina” fast forwarded to the end, I was happy, solid work ! Thank you

I feel like the body restoration was top notch, but the neck and bridge still need to be seen by a luthier for a proper bone nut and saddle, and a refret. Right now, it's just pretty furniture that happens to play music, but it could be brought back to being a mighty fine instrument.

It's really interesting to see what another style of woodworker thinks is important when restoring and instrument. There's some overlap like fixing the cracks and filing off the end of the frets, but a luthier would have ignored the finish entirely to focus on the braces, neck, nut, bridge and saddle. Gotta say, it looked fantastic in the end.

Keeping the body face with its history was a good thing . Beautiful restoration and sound . Nice .

OK I'm 1 year late I know. Just wanted to say, I think you done a fantastic job on this guitar. You treated it with care and compassion which is great. Thank you for posting ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Next time I suggest you glue the braces to the back before you glue the back to the sides, and it helps to make a plaster mould of the back's dome at the outset so as to maintain the integrity of its shape - a common procedure in violin repair.

My heart sank so many times watching this, but it absolutely *broke* when he whitened those tuners.

If that is a 'J' (and not 'T') on the label, this guitar was made by Jaan Olbrei in Estonia, sometime between 1905 and 1918. His father, Juri owned the company that eventually became the Kramann-Olbrei piano makers. 'If it says 'T' (Tonis Olbrei), it would place it between 1918 - 1944. These instruments were well-regarded in the region. As the OP is asking for opinions on the repair, I think it's a good functional repair by a skilled worker, but with little sympathy for the instrument or consideration of tone, and no real attempt to find out what was needed structurally, and the conservation 'etiquette' required. Still, it plays again 👍

The years of building up that awesome irreplaceable patina finish!!… well you did prove that it can indeed be replaced!

Different to the chairs, but equally as skilfull and fascinating to watch.

The pattern of the grain on the back looks incredible!

Sounds so OLD . Has such a haunting delicacy . Why does it sound so unique??

This was a labor of love, and in truth, the back and sides are beautiful, the DELICATE, thin Spruce top is soft and you cannot remove much of surface damage, but you handled it nicely, and the character and sound has been rebuilt and renewed! A rare instrument given new life is special!

I fix up neglected student fiddles and violins as a hobby. It made my heart sing to see that quilted maple back...and I really like the way you think about your work. I learned a lot.

And that's why you take guitars to luthiers, not furniture people

I'm really impressed, whatever you touch, you change it to a treasure :)

Fantastic video, lovely old guitar, excellent workmanship and a 'belly laugh' too. Thank you for posting this video. Cheers!

This man tells dad jokes without even using words. Amazing.

Amazing as to what you did with a bit of firewood!!!! Joking aside, it looks amazingly well done, and the patterns in the wood grains, amazing as well!! Sounds great also!!!! Wonderful work you did on it

The wood grain on the back of the guitar is gorgeous

Beautiful work / great skills and craftsmanship! Thank you for sharing! I have an old parlor guitar from the mid to late 1800’s that I way to restore.

I worked in picture framing and did furniture restoration for 45 years. You can never have enough clamps:) or variety of glues. You have really beautiful equipment in your shop, we had good stuff, but I would liked to have gotten my hands on yours. The right equipment makes all the difference and I'm still amazed at what those 16,17 and 18th century craftsmen were able to achieve. I remember restoring a table and harp back chairs, It took forever to sand the chairs, I had to create all kinds of minnie tools to get in the grooves with sandpaper, talk about labor intensive! Finally, I REALLY like how you retained the old look while restoring the sound. Your show is lots of memories for me. Cheers, Frederick "Rik" Spector

The figuring on that back is amazing!

Somehow satisfying and isent it nice just to hear the natural sounds of the hands at work.

I liked the video, the restoration process and the result. It was a good idea to keep the guitar's face with the scratches. It preserves the original look.

I really love the fact that you left the witness marks on the face of the guitar. This instrument has seen many things, and that should not be forgotten!

When he rubbed down the back and revealed the flaming in the wood - incredible

I do this for a living...all in all you did a good job. Used the right glues and took time. Yes some oil its unorthodox and timber choices may have been better but I think it's well done.

My blood pressure was severely elevated throughout this entire deal

Браво, Мастер! Ваша работа вызывает восхищение. На Вашу работу интересно смотреть даже тем, кто в этом ничего не понимает.

There are few performances that can rival watching a consummate master craftsman perform a transformation of such a worthwhile subject for restoration. He was more than generous with his techniques and skills and all I can do is envy him his expertise. Bravo maestro.

Reading many of the comments it is refreshing that this "restoration" is a labor of love by a very talented woodworker. Love takes on many forms. The title was not "watch me build a better guitar." many of the techniques were irreversible and so it is with love. The guitar is better off having received the love and attention.

Using heat when disassembling will soften the glue. The frets should probably be replaced, and the neck angle adjusted to compensate for how much a ladder-braced guitar is going to "fold up" under string tension. Also, attention should be shown to the bridge and bridge plate. I don't think many Luthiers would have stripped the old finish. But, it's an interesting guitar.

Such an amazing video seeing a old Relic brought back to life awesome video thank you

I used to build guitars. I think you did a decent job for just a quickie without luthier tools.

I love the buzzing sound coming from the d string in the beginning

Thank you for leaving her story, told in the scars on her face, exactly as she was. Beautiful.

And he did all that in 22 minutes! Amazing.

I like how he kept the character of the top.

Hands & soul together makes a masterpiece !

Next: Watch how a Luthier restores an old wardrobe by turning it into an oversized Cajón

Greetings from Tallinn! I live 5 minutes from Hermanni street, though no such place exists anymore. Great work on the instrument, thank you for bringing it back to life.

Well done! I restored a 115-year-old guitar-lute by myself, using bone glue, a 20 m rope of hemp to put and hold the pieces together without damaging the old lute guitare and within a month sided by my main work as a nurse, it finally got their talents of a find its music instrument again. I play it with love, proudness and happyness thropgh all deeps of my heart & soul. So let me say, vs v non professional restorer: your work has been very, very fine and well! With a rope, and some clothes between instrument and rope you lever damage it and you needn't work with clämbs what kind ever. It always will have the best power and won't hurt it. I spoke with an elder resorator of guitars 50 km away and he actually told me he uses this old metod, too, again, after having been working with clambs from all shabes and sizes. You HAVE all sizes using a long rope and some olt T shirts. And using time. Good work needs time. That I have and use it for music and that's the secret our work can be heart so softly and powerful as well in our instrumets and music. You're vore gifted, bro! Thank you! Be blessed!❤

You really revealed some hidden beauty... and made it look easy!

It was obvious from the top's internal bracing that this is a gut string instrument. It won't last long with those steel strings.

I like the way you fixed the damage, and cleaned up the guitar without wiping out all of its history. That instrument earned its battle scars, and it's nice to see them honored and preserved that way. Anyone can pull down a brand new guitar without a scratch on it. It's rare to see a time honored instrument like this in such good overall shape. Nice video! Oh, and that was a two piece, book matched back to begin with. That's why it cracked straight down the middle the way it did. The repair was perfect.

If at the end of the day it doesn't play as it should you can always put a cushion on it and use it for a stool. Great video!

frets and nut got the good ol landlord treatment. i like it.

All of that work! Not one step to check the neck angle, playability, saddle location for intonation, keeping a potential collectible as original as possible, on and on. But, I'm quite sure you're an excellent furniture restorer. Well done in that respect!

I think this showed a good, practical restoration. Not exactly high art, but done lovingly. Leaving the witness marks shows respect for what this little guitar has lived through. I thoroughly enjoyed it!

All that patience and intense, loving work to revive a dead instrument... to arrive at the verdict that it's in fact hopelessly dead. How sad!

Beautiful restoration! Im so happy you left the top virtually untouched! It shows all the history of the life of the guitar.

Stunning job!! The wood on the back and side is very unique. I'm so glad you left the "battle wounds" on the front. Sounds beautiful. I very much enjoyed this video and thank you for not adding annoying music. I love the sounds of just the work being done.

When you sanded off the finish from the back and revealed the curly maple, I literally said "wow" out loud. Thanks for that.

Absolutely Beautiful. I love how you kept the top original….

It turnd out great and back to a playable beauty great work

Superb! Love that you kept the history on the front!

I love it when old instruments are given a second life! Well done & beautiful work!

I like how you left the scuffs and scratches on the front. This retained its history and character. Nice work!

Wow! Can’t believe that I stumbled on this video. I sold this guitar quite a few years ago, I think on eB. My wife and I had a guitar business in Michigan. I found it in a 2nd hand shop and thought it would make a good wall hanger. It hung on a wall in our house for a few years until we moved and no longer had a place for it. I think that it’s great that someone took the time to bring this old girl back to life.

Felicitaciones.¡Gran trabajo! Y lo mejor de todo es que haya sido una guitarra y hayas devuelto a la vida un instrumento musical Bravo

The patience this requires is amazing ! Absolutely loved the transformation...great talent indeed !

Nice wood treatment, I like that the final piece retained some of the aged relic look and wasn’t sanded to death! Although a friendly neighbourhood guitar tech would have loaned a pair of fret pullers, I’m sure. 👍

BRILLIANT! Love how there are so many crossover skill between luthiers and furniture makers. What a cool video. Nice job!!

Good restoration job although not one for the purist. He saved the guitar from the fire-place and gave it an interesting look (although it probably needs a professional set-up). Not sure I'd send a quality vintage guitar his way though.

Beautiful! You left as much as possible intact. I love it.

Very well executed.First time ive ever seen a 7 string acoustic.

I wish you could show the response of the client when they get their item back! ❤❤❤

"А ну давай наяривай, гитара семиструнная..."© Вы её возродили просто, браво👏👏👏

The kind of thing kids should learn at school. Builds patience, respect, wisdom and self-reliance. Excellent job, mate.

I'd play it ! well done, maybe not as clinical as some purist would like, BUT, youre a furniture restorer, and youve restored a piece of furniture in your eyes, and it sounds well, well done to you you sir, youve saved an instrument that will play on !! top man ...

The way it sounds before and after is what it's all about. All the rest...I can't tell if you did it right. But surely you put in a lot of effort and you did the best you could. Respect...🙏🏼

Absolutely stunning! Just can't get over the beauty of the grain. Superb as always!

I would have never thought to encounter the most beautiful figured wood in a random guitar restoration video. This thick and symmetrical flame is out of this world!

A wonderful video. Very relaxing and enlightening!

Now this is a resto video! No jabbering and no music. Edit: I would've replaced the frets and in the process cleaned the entire fingerboard of paint. But, nice job with this; way better than most could do.

Wow this hurt at first until I got used to seeing this. Reminds me of when I took EMT training and had to see people all tore up in the emergency room.

honestly i was expecting him to turn it into a sofa or a chair by the title

Привет из Лос-Анджелеса, Южной Калифорнии, США. Вы отлично работаете и играете на гитаре! Privet iz Los-Andzhelesa, Yuzhnoy Kalifornii, SSHA. Vy otlichno rabotayete i igrayete na gitare!

Wonderful to watch, as a classical guitar player and knowing a bit about guitars, I wonder if the types of wood were matching the original guitar or were just any wood, The sound of a guitar has many very subtle points. But if you like how it sounds that's what it is important!