Sentimental/difficult acoustic restoration.

DiscoStu

Ok, quick bit of back story.

A very good friend of mine lost her dad earlier this year. He was a lovely man and a well known local folk musician, and had welcomed me in to his home many a time where songs were sung and whisky was drank. He encouraged me to play at a local festival last year and just had a warmth and joy that infected all who shared his company.

She was sorting out his house this weekend and came across an acoustic that her dad had decided to try to strip. She's not sure why exactly but he'd sanded the finish off the top, and not very well.

She asked if I would like it as "I don't know anyone else who could do anything with it" and "it would be a shame just to chuck it out".

I could hardly say no to that. Thing is, I don't know what I can do with it! I think a lot of the sanding was done by hand as there are some big dips in the top now, especially above the fretboard and around the rosette. What could I do with it? It's only a sub £200 Freshman so is it even worth it? I feel I should do something with it as it has a sentimental value now but what? It started out black. Which he sanded off. Do I go back to black? The sides, back and neck are black. There are a couple of chips in the lacquer on the neck so I could maybe sand that back to natural. It needs a bridge, pins and machine heads.

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Rox

As he sounded like quite a character - what would have made him laugh?  What did he like?  What would make this remind you of him? 

DiscoStu

He was just a very very nice man, rather than a 'character'. He loved everyone and everyone loved him. He was a humble man and adored his kids and grandkids.
Musicwise he will always be remembered for The Mighty Quinn and Wild Thing. Those were his party songs. His favourite band was Free.

I would be lying if I said I knew him well but I did know him and I really liked the man. He reminded me of my own dad in many ways.

ICBM

Jooky-fy it .

ie cover the top in some sort of stuck-on cloth/wallpaper/art print etc. It will probably affect the tone but I doubt that's a serious issue now.

DiscoStu

Hmmm. Jookyfy it...

I wondered about filling/painting it then drawing something on it or putting words/lyrics on it, but I wonder if this would work with paisley or similar? A fairly square edge to trim the fabric to at least.

I had a hark back to the Tickled Pink One earlier and it occurred that I could do something similar as a tribute to Garry and then start a TPO-style pass-it-on around his pals and the local folk musicians, maybe culminating in a jam session or tribute gig down the line.

I will need to discuss it with my mate to see if she's comfortable with that.

JayGee

Pass it around his mates for them to put their own messages/doodles/whatever on it, put a coat of something see-through over the top to preserve it for posterity and then hang it on the wall behind the bar at his favorite pub/club/venue for use as a "house" guitar when someone turns up on open-mic night without an instrument and feels inspired?