Restoring old Polish DEfil Jazz guitar

[Zen]

I am about to undertake a restoration project on this old Polish DEfil Jazz guitar and would appreciate any input from you guys as its a first for me. The owner is a Polish friend and he asked me to get the guitar looking like a new guitar but I tried to talk him out of that and explained that firstly its probably impossible to achieve a factory finish on such an old instrument, and secondly he would be losing the authentic old look of the guitar. It belonged to his brother many years ago and appears to hold a lot of sentimental value for him and I want to get it right if at all possible. I'm leaning towards a french polish finish or even tru oil as i dont have a full spray facility apart from some aerosol spray cans of guitar laquer, but I was thinking that french polishing would be easier ? Just wondering how much of the finish I would have to sand away before applying french polish as it has a nice old mature look as it stands and I dont want to lose that if possible. I will post some more pics later. He had tried filling a crack on the side with what he describes as wood dough and although it looks reasonable I think it may also have to be removed and filled again as its not exactly a level finish. I'm looking forward to doing the job but a little nervous as well considering its someone's guitar. Any advise would be really helpful and my question would be --What would you do ?
Thanks Guys
Rusty

[Zen]

Some more pics of the instrument.

[B. Howard]

First you need to address any structural issues or else the finish work will be meaningless. Those cracks in the sides that have been filled with bondo...they are cracks that will need repaired. They will likely need splints and cleats. as far as finish. the top I would just clean and buff out. The sides and back I would likely clean up and touch up with an airbrush and some shading lacquers. A bit of retarder may be needed first to try and keep more of the finish from flaking off. Not the type of thing I would FP over. Of course I am guessing the guitar is finished in lacquer .....that should be verified with a test.

[Zen]

Thanks Brian, What would you use to fill the cracks in the event that they dont need cleats or even if they do there will still be gaps so what would you recommend ?
I live in Europe so dont get some of the great products you guys have over there.
Thanks again
Rusty

[B. Howard]

The top of my list is always new wood. Depending on what you have once it is cleaned up and repaired a burn in fill may be the way to go. Another product I like is Famowood, but only the solvent borne version not the water based, which you may not be able to get. Lighter woods are harder to fill in and have it not be noticed than darker ones.