So way back in1978 I commissioned a guitar - and in those days tastes were a bit different. The guitar is pictured below, it has an ebony fretboard, boxwood edgings on body and fretboard, carved bookmatched flame maple top, a somewhat unusual neck join, and basically has lain unused for years. The guy who built it is a well known luthier and he's offered to tweak it for a good price as he's got some attachment to it (one of his earlier builds etc). It's fairly heavy. Proposed mods are reduce body thickness substantially, enlarge control cavities fairly significantly (which should make it both lighter and more resonant), fill in the 3 little holes and refin, most likely in nitro tobacco sunburst.
But .. am I just wasting the money? Is it going to be more appealing - have to say for me, the jury's out. Anyway, thought i'd get a few other opinions!
Now follows several attempts with the old picture links:
Comments
Why has it remained unused for so long?
Will the proposed mods address the reason for the above?
Do you want to spend the money?
Do you have any real attachment to the guitar?
Good luck!
Those mods are unlikely to transform it into something much better.
I wouldn't refinish it either, it looks nice enough as it is. I wouldn't try to re-write history, it is what it is. You could fill the holes fairly neatly with small pieces of maple if you just want to make them less visible. I certainly don't think I would spend a lot on it, as Sassafras says it's unlikely to totally transform it.
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
With the mods, it would still be worth little tomorrow, but you'd have sunk more cash into it, and probably enough cash to buy something fairly decent that you'd have chosen and will probably play.
I quite like the look of it (but then I like DCs). If you're really not going to play it, then hang* it on a wall as a piece of artwork to remind you of that era of your life.
"Hang" as in mounted like a picture rather than on a traditional guitar hanger!
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My trading feedback thread
I'd refinish it if it was me, but that's just because I'm not a fan of any 'natural' guitars. It's a nice Hamer-esque looker though and I'd be playing it along to Rocksmith or something if it's too heavy.