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Base theme by DesignModo & ported to Powered by Vanilla by Chris Ireland, modified by the "theFB" team.
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So first job is to assess what is required.
I took the strings off, and the bridge fell right off with them
this was an area of concern from the original pics, so it was a nice surprise to see minimal damage and almost clean wood. I fully expected to be doing major repairs under the bridge, but I don't think that will be needed.
The bridge pins look original , but also falling apart so will need replacing, but it is getting a new bridge anyway
The saddle is literally just a piece of wire
I expected it to be fret wire on this. It does pose a dilemma for the new bridge though. I'm not sure whether to go with a proper bone saddle, or stick with fretwire
Tuners have hollow brass posts, 1 is split and wobbly. The spacing is obviously non-standard. 4 buttons are gone, one fell of in transit. 2 posts are bent. Despite this they all turn really well and the moving parts seem to be in good shape.
i've put them in an ultrasonic cleaner to get the worst of it off
I may need to replace them, but am going to have a good go at trying to save them first
And that fretboard is rosewood, so almost certainly brazilian. Nicely straight grained and very close to quartersawn too. I've given it a quick clean with isopropyl and wire wool
The frets are in pretty good shape other than the first 2. I'm on the fence about refretting. The board is flat, it may even be slightly concave from shrinkage, but it's in better shape than expected
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- Close/fill top splits and add internal cleats for reinforcement
- Make a new bridge
- fix back split and reattach
- sort tuners
- level and dress frets, possibly with partial refret
- figure out the best low tension strings for it.
i will be doing more than that, but those are the things that will get it playing againInstagram
Or depending on the scale length, Savarez Argentine 10s?
Based on my youtube diet of repair vids I'd reckon on reinforcing the "folding" part of the soundboard just past the fingerboard with two small bars.
Neck reset and a proper bone saddle with more clearance should improve the tone too.
Are you planning to take the back off?
I'm undecided on strings, or if the original wire style saddle should be considered part of the sound
The back is halfway off already, so it makes sense to take it off completely
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It may put this closer to 1920-1930 than the turn of the century. Or it is has been converted from bar to normal frets at some point in its life, but I would expect to see more evidence on the sides of the neck. It does seem a lot of German parlours sold as 1850 onwards don't all have their bar frets, but standard lore for American guitars says tanged fretwire didn't appear till the 20's and wasn't consistently used till the mid 30's
As a side note, mine has a scarfed headstock and more modern heel shape, rather than the traditional fingerjoin and ice cream cone heel seen on earlier guitars. This may also point to a later build for this style
I'm still hoping I find more info inside, but there is a good chance I will not
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I'd heard of stick-on frets on Parker guitars, and frets made of wire tied all the way round the neck on some ancient and/or oriental instruments, but didn't realise tangless frets were normal in Europe as recently as 1920. Would they be just stuck on the surface of the board or is there still a fret slot, just the full width of the fret?
The T shaped fret was patented in America in 1929. Martin started using it in 1934.
I guess none of this means it hadn't been used by others for many years before
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I'm happily surprised to see it actually has a bridge plate.
the back is in more of a state
I think those braces will need to come off
this is the only marking inside
and i found a split in the side that cant be seen from outside
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I've got the urge to read up on the history of frets now...