For your amusement

[charangohabsburg]

[lauburu]

A true craftsman would have aligned all the slots in the same direction.

[liam_fnq]

They've alined the screws, what more do you want?

[slowlearner]

ouch. can you show us some more pics of the whole guitar. looks interesting.

[charangohabsburg]

Thanks for you interest Pete.

Of course, the rest of the guitar is not very funny.
Here some of the nice pictures:







For the moment just this: the bridge is not the main issue with this old lady.
I'll post the ugly pictures later.

[kiwigeo]

I'm in love with this guitar......please tell us some more about her.

[Bob Connor]

I'm in love with this guitar......please tell us some more about her.

Me too. I'd like to know more about this buxom wench as well.

[charangohabsburg]

I know very few about this guitar which I acquired a couple of days ago. I had not yet the time to inspect it thoroughly, so at the moment I can't even tell which parts are original and which are not (the three big screws are obviously not original, of course).

If most of this guitar is original then it certainly was one of those inexpensive (but not cheapest of the cheap) German "mass production" guitars (most probably from Saxony), made between mid 19th century and pre-WW1 or shortly after WW1. In this period (and until about 1950) it was normal that a German luthier had to crank out 6 (six) guitars per week to make a living! Those guitars were picked up each week by the merchants, which until WW1 often were the wood suppliers as well!

The sides seem to be about 1mm thin, and the soundboard about 5 (five!) millimetres thick. The side dots of the bridge are still in place because they are screwed in. Although I could not yet see any evidence of an earlier bridge on this guitar I am not 100% sure if the bridge is original.

Both the soundhole position at the height of the waist and the overly long fretboard (without frets beyond the usual soundhole position!) are pretty odd and maybe will help me to narrow down region and period of production.

[charangohabsburg]

Now to the ugly part of the photo album.

To start gently, one more picture of the bridge:



It will depend on how brittle the bridge wood is and in how many pieces it will come off the top if I will restore it or make a copy.

This joint was virtually unknown in Germany until the late 19th century (common practice was a V-joint). The scarf joint was only adopted very slowly by German luthiers during and after the Spanish guitar got popular in Germany by the end 19th century until WW2. If the head is original it is one more indication that this was a cheaply made, mass produced guitar, maybe (due to the beautifully flamed maple) sold overpriced to the end customer.





It seems that at the time the neck was repaired glue (and / or achieving skills) was not readily available!



This still looks like not a really big deal:






But as you see here I'll have to dismantle the guitar completely in order to do a decent restoration of the sides (note the flattened bottom part of the sides):



As I see it now I'll try to find some grain and flame matching parts in the back and do some transplantation work. This would be easier if I could take it from the sides themselves. But they are only about 1mm thin, so this would be very delicate or even impossible. I'll have a close look at the sides close to the missing parts though, it would be nice if I could get the transplantation material from there instead of from the back.

For reassembling I'll have to make a mould.

The back features 4 beefy braces while the ca. 5mm thick top has 3 generously dimensioned braces, one below the soundhole and two in the upper bout.

It most probably will not be before 2013 starting with this restoration.
Normally this kind of guitar does not get restored at all. Most commonly the get hung at a wall or have to endure an even more disastrous, mutilating repair job. Or they also find their final home in a dumpster. At least today, no one would pay for such a guitar (in good condition) what its restoration costs.

[auscab]

it was normal that a German luthier had to crank out 6 (six) guitars per week to make a living! Those guitars were picked up each week by the merchants, which until WW1 often were the wood suppliers as well!

.

Thanks Markus.
What a sweet thing.
6 per week to make a living, and at 1mm. Is it that the wood merchants supplying the wood were giving them veneer , same as the furniture trade?
Is it Beech in the neck ?

[charangohabsburg]

Yes, I believe the neck is beech. But although yesterday I even looked with a loupe at it I cant say it with 100% certainity (only almost 100%) because of all the dirt and stain that not only filled the pores but obscures almost every detail. Looking from a distance at the neck it is clearly beech, but having a close look it doesn't resemble it much anymore! This is why I didn't mention it.

And yes, I assume the luthiers were provided with almost ready-to-use veneers for back and sides, and also tops, of course.

It is well documented that in the German violin making industry of the 19th century it was the norm that there were pegmakers, top- and back carvers, side benders, veneer cutters, sound post makers, bridge makers, scroll carvers... and the luthiers who assembled these parts! Even the bow makers had their frog makers! So there is no good reason why it should have been different with "mass produced" guitars. Of course, those individual luthiers who glued a label with their own good name in their instruments (or often also only wrote their name with a pencil on the bare wood of the back inside) used to use fewer prefabricated parts - just about the same as today, think of instrument building kits vs. instruments build from pieces of wood. Even today you will find more professional luthiers (not only German) than you might believe, who sell their "handmade" violins which they made from Chinese violin building sets!