1954 Martin D-28
Posted: Tue May 30, 2017 1:13 am
This came directly to me for inspection, after the owner bought it. It needed a neck reset and some crack work. It will also get a new nut, saddle, and pins.
As you can see, the reset was quick and easy. You can easily read the model and serial number, written in pencil, on the bottom of the dovetail, written when the guitar was built.
There is a crack along the right side of the top, starting at the waist, and traveling up toward the pickguard. Inspecting in the box, I found questionable repairs.
The crack that concerns me appears to have been addressed by gluing a piece of wood, roughly the size of wood binding, approx. 1 1/4" long. I call that overkill. I also found a curious repair, to say the least. Someone glued a piece of wood, which stretches from the right upper waist side of the guitar, along the x-brace, to the center of the guitar. It's about 3/4" wide and 1/8" tall. I have no idea what in the world the thought was behind this "repair". Perhaps reinforcement for the pickguard, or crack prevention? Who knows.
I'll see if I can pop off some of the smaller piece, and sand it down. The other long chunk is a different kettle of fish. I can't get it out without heat and/or moisture, and that's assuming they used proper glue and not something else. This thing sits within 1/8" of the x-brace. So, I've decided to leave it in, otherwise I take a chance of ungluing braces that I don't want to touch.
So, I will be sanding my heart out. I want to make this thing very thin. I also found some yellow stuff that looks like some sort of over spray, on the corner of the left upper bout. I'll clean up the finish the best that I can. Someone put a different finish over the original nitro on the top. So far, using 1200g sandpaper and wet sanding, I've exposed most of the original finish. I'm cleaning up the build-up from around the bridge, fretboard, and pickguard. I'll polish the pickguard with Novus.
As you can see, the reset was quick and easy. You can easily read the model and serial number, written in pencil, on the bottom of the dovetail, written when the guitar was built.
There is a crack along the right side of the top, starting at the waist, and traveling up toward the pickguard. Inspecting in the box, I found questionable repairs.
The crack that concerns me appears to have been addressed by gluing a piece of wood, roughly the size of wood binding, approx. 1 1/4" long. I call that overkill. I also found a curious repair, to say the least. Someone glued a piece of wood, which stretches from the right upper waist side of the guitar, along the x-brace, to the center of the guitar. It's about 3/4" wide and 1/8" tall. I have no idea what in the world the thought was behind this "repair". Perhaps reinforcement for the pickguard, or crack prevention? Who knows.
I'll see if I can pop off some of the smaller piece, and sand it down. The other long chunk is a different kettle of fish. I can't get it out without heat and/or moisture, and that's assuming they used proper glue and not something else. This thing sits within 1/8" of the x-brace. So, I've decided to leave it in, otherwise I take a chance of ungluing braces that I don't want to touch.
So, I will be sanding my heart out. I want to make this thing very thin. I also found some yellow stuff that looks like some sort of over spray, on the corner of the left upper bout. I'll clean up the finish the best that I can. Someone put a different finish over the original nitro on the top. So far, using 1200g sandpaper and wet sanding, I've exposed most of the original finish. I'm cleaning up the build-up from around the bridge, fretboard, and pickguard. I'll polish the pickguard with Novus.