w666
Senior Member
- Joined
- Nov 24, 2009
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A friend sent me this Harmony Stella guitar (circa 196x). Granted, it wasn't a great instrument when it was new...but the next ~50 years of it's life didn't improve it much.
It's hard to see in this picture, but the original top is solid slab cut birch (as is the rest of the body), and it must have been wet at some time because the top warped and twisted like the surf. So I decided to replace the top (I need the practice).
First I removed the fingerboard. I was able to get this far just with a spatula:
And then I used an iron to heat up the remainder:
It only took a minute, and then it just popped off:
Like I said, this guitar must have gotten wet before, because the top just popped off with just the spatula....no moisture or heat required:
Check out the ladder bracing. Note how the glue failed so dramatically that the bracing remained on the body and not on the top after I lifted it off!
The neck came off with just a hammer tap:
I selected some spruce for the replacement top:
And I decided on a fan bracing scheme instead of the ladder:
Gluing the new top:
I like flat tops because it's so easy to route the binding channel:
I installed the binding using acetone and a paint brush:
And then I cleaned it all up and scraped it very carefully:
I should add a this point that I wanted to preserve as much of the original guitar as possible, and that included its original finish.
Now to the finger board....I really wanted to save it (both for the look as well as the sound) but it was a lost cause. It was twisted beyond repair, and made from some Luan like mystery wood that I couldn't (and wouldn't) try to recreate. So I selected a nice piece of Macassar from my stash:
Fabricated a basic fingerboard (BTW...no radius...easy!):
Ooops....I finished the top after I glued it to the body, but I forgot to mask the top where the fingerboard would bond. I used tape to protect the adjacent finish, and carefully scraped it back to bare wood.
Glued it up...
And then put it all back together. Voila!
Now it's solid and playable. Sounds great, actually. Although not exactly a restoration, I've brought this relic back from the dead, preserving as much of its original "mojo" as practical. I later reinstalled the original pick guard.
I gave it back to my friend. He's happy. I wonder what he'll give me next?
It's hard to see in this picture, but the original top is solid slab cut birch (as is the rest of the body), and it must have been wet at some time because the top warped and twisted like the surf. So I decided to replace the top (I need the practice).
First I removed the fingerboard. I was able to get this far just with a spatula:
And then I used an iron to heat up the remainder:
It only took a minute, and then it just popped off:
Like I said, this guitar must have gotten wet before, because the top just popped off with just the spatula....no moisture or heat required:
Check out the ladder bracing. Note how the glue failed so dramatically that the bracing remained on the body and not on the top after I lifted it off!
The neck came off with just a hammer tap:
I selected some spruce for the replacement top:
And I decided on a fan bracing scheme instead of the ladder:
Gluing the new top:
I like flat tops because it's so easy to route the binding channel:
I installed the binding using acetone and a paint brush:
And then I cleaned it all up and scraped it very carefully:
I should add a this point that I wanted to preserve as much of the original guitar as possible, and that included its original finish.
Now to the finger board....I really wanted to save it (both for the look as well as the sound) but it was a lost cause. It was twisted beyond repair, and made from some Luan like mystery wood that I couldn't (and wouldn't) try to recreate. So I selected a nice piece of Macassar from my stash:
Fabricated a basic fingerboard (BTW...no radius...easy!):
Ooops....I finished the top after I glued it to the body, but I forgot to mask the top where the fingerboard would bond. I used tape to protect the adjacent finish, and carefully scraped it back to bare wood.
Glued it up...
And then put it all back together. Voila!
Now it's solid and playable. Sounds great, actually. Although not exactly a restoration, I've brought this relic back from the dead, preserving as much of its original "mojo" as practical. I later reinstalled the original pick guard.
I gave it back to my friend. He's happy. I wonder what he'll give me next?
