Finally found it!

Talk about musical instrument construction, setup and repair.

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willcall
Blackwood
Posts: 191
Joined: Fri Oct 23, 2009 3:21 pm
Location: Gold Coast

Finally found it!

Post by willcall » Tue Jul 16, 2013 11:58 am

Hi all, I have been searching my parents place for this guitar for a while and have finally found it. Yet to find the tuners, nut & pins but they are out there somewhere.
History: This little parlour?? was purchased by my grandmother from a department store in Brisbane in the 50's for my uncle to use. It ended up at my parents house when I started to learn guitar.
I am the one who striped it down with the intention of repairing it. Never happened!
Hoping to do so this Christmas break.
I thought it was a nylon string but looking at the bridge it must have been steel.

What are people's opinions, should I sand it back and refinish it or just keep it looking the same?
The fretboard looks like ebony but it is actually just black paint.

What do you think about the damage? Should I remove the back & top and re-glue or just patch the timber separation & replace the nut & tuners?

Do you think I should replace the bridge as well?

Cheers, Will
Attachments
Old parlour 010.JPG
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Old parlour 008.JPG
Old parlour 007.JPG
Old parlour 006.JPG
Old parlour 005.JPG
Old parlour 004.JPG
Old parlour 003.JPG
Old parlour 002.JPG

Bruce McC
Blackwood
Posts: 395
Joined: Thu Apr 07, 2011 1:29 pm
Location: Canberra ACT Australia

Re: Finally found it!

Post by Bruce McC » Tue Jul 16, 2013 2:51 pm

Will

From your photos the guitar appears to be made of plywood, is it worth the time and trouble?
My opinion is keep it as it is for sentimental value, hang it on the wall. Reassemble and repair
where the top and back are separting, but I wouldn't sand it back because if you do you will loose the
decals and that aged finish.
Bruce Mc.

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ozziebluesman
Blackwood
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Joined: Wed Oct 10, 2007 9:12 am
Location: Townsville
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Re: Finally found it!

Post by ozziebluesman » Tue Jul 16, 2013 3:09 pm

G'day Will,
If the guitar was originally made in the USA it could be Birch but more than likely ply with a black painted fingerboard. I have an old Oahu Lap Steel acoustic and it looks similar and is flat sawn birch and the fingerboard has been painted black. I'm with Bruce, just re-glue where she has separated.
Cheers
Alan
"Play to express, not to impress"

Alan Hamley

http://www.hamleyfineguitars.com/

willcall
Blackwood
Posts: 191
Joined: Fri Oct 23, 2009 3:21 pm
Location: Gold Coast

Re: Finally found it!

Post by willcall » Wed Jul 17, 2013 11:28 am

Thanks for the advice. I'll just glue it up then & find the old tuners & nut.
Cheers, Will

willcall
Blackwood
Posts: 191
Joined: Fri Oct 23, 2009 3:21 pm
Location: Gold Coast

Re: Finally found it!

Post by willcall » Wed Dec 17, 2014 12:11 pm

Bruce McC wrote:Will

From your photos the guitar appears to be made of plywood, is it worth the time and trouble?
My opinion is keep it as it is for sentimental value, hang it on the wall. Reassemble and repair
where the top and back are separting, but I wouldn't sand it back because if you do you will loose the
decals and that aged finish.

I finally got around to having another look at this one.
I sanded back the areas to be glued and noticed that it is NOT plywood but solid flat sawn back and top. Unsure about the sides ATM.

I am going to fix it up a little and re-string it for my daughter (2.5yr old) to play around with.
She quite likes to take the pick off me and strum my Maton when I am trying to play it.

Will

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Philstix
Beefwood
Posts: 29
Joined: Fri Feb 25, 2011 4:18 pm

Re: Finally found it!

Post by Philstix » Fri Dec 26, 2014 4:07 pm

Being in the USA I have seen a lot of guitars like this one. The sides are almost certainly solid and probably thinner than most guitars now. The kind of separation you see on the top and back is nearly universal on guitars which have been stored and not played. They can sound pretty good, especially for fingerstyle blues, but almost always have issues with the neck needing to be reset to get playable action above the 7th fret. I have seen a lot of them used for slide guitar with the only modification being to replace the nut with an oversized one.
Phil Pearson

willcall
Blackwood
Posts: 191
Joined: Fri Oct 23, 2009 3:21 pm
Location: Gold Coast

Re: Finally found it!

Post by willcall » Wed Jan 07, 2015 12:35 pm

Philstix wrote:Being in the USA I have seen a lot of guitars like this one. The sides are almost certainly solid and probably thinner than most guitars now. The kind of separation you see on the top and back is nearly universal on guitars which have been stored and not played. They can sound pretty good, especially for fingerstyle blues, but almost always have issues with the neck needing to be reset to get playable action above the 7th fret. I have seen a lot of them used for slide guitar with the only modification being to replace the nut with an oversized one.
Thanks Phil, yeah the neck needs resetting. The Fb angle almost points into the soundhole rather than the bridge.

Makes me think it would be best as a slide guitar.

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