What should I look for as a first repair?

[tippie53]

repair and building are 2 different skill sets . One will tie into the other but they are different.
To get into repair you will need some different tooling. A heat blanket to loosen finger board extensions and fretboards. A good set of pamperd chef icing knives , I like them for working into glue joints, Some straight edges and a good machinist scale to take accurate measurements. Nut and fret files etc.
Look for old project guitars Martin , Gibson , Harmony , those are the better ones to start on. Learning to take a guitar apart without causing more damage is indeed a good skill to have.

[tippie53]

looking for cracks and loose bridges are easy and confidence builders

[ruby@magpage.com]

I have some woodworking experience, and I built 4 guitars before I repaired anything. They are two different sets of skills with some woodworking background as common. May I suggest you pick up an inexpensive kit without any bling and learn the basics - rim, lining, gluing top and back, frets and fretboard, and the big sticking point for me - building in the correct neck angle which you don't have to do with a repair.

Repair is fun and (can be) inexpensive, but is different than building.

Ed

[Diane Kauffmds]

Hi there,

Everything posted is exactly right. The skillset is different for repairs. But, I was given the advice to find an old guitar, dismantle it, and see how things are put together. I'm forever grateful that I did it.
I found an old Silvertone on Ebay, that had seen the ravages of an attic. The top had come loose and had 3 cracks, the bottom had come loose, with a crack. The fretboard was horribly worn with use.
I bought the guitar for $9+$15 shipping. I did not really repair it. I took off the old fretboard, and top, both of which were trashed. I bought a new, inexpensive, rosewood fretboard blank from Ebay for $6, and "special deal" type top wood, (engelmann spruce). I did repair the crack in the back. I also decided to bind the guitar (it had no binding), so I got the invaluable experience of routing the binding channel and binding a guitar.
Since the guitar had lattice bracing, I drafted a pattern of x-bracing, by looking at information on the internet and hoping for the best; I replaced the top, fretboard, and tuners, totally, as well as binding the top. This allowed me to make mistakes, which I did big time. I threw out my first attempt at the top, and spent another $18 for another matched set of engelmann. This top is currently on the guitar, and now it's one of my favorite guitars.
I replaced the fretboard; I learned how to inlay the fretboard (I chose to put Martin style diamond inlaid fret markers), as well as the precise layout of the frets, sawing the frets, then inlaying the fretwire. I bought inexpensive bone blanks, and I made a new nut and saddle, and I replaced the bridge. When I did the top, I had to inlay a rosette.
I also learned how to finish the guitar; I stripped the old nasty finish off of it and shellaced it.
The experience allowed me to learn a little and gain some confidence, before starting my OM. IMO, this was the best learning experience that I could possibly have, short of building a guitar.
Make sure you check dumpsters, and the curbside of your neighborhood, for throw aways. Tell everyone you know that you're looking for a guitar to learn from, you may be surprised that someone has one sitting somewhere.
My criteria was:
6 string acoustic, that was cheap
damaged top, that was cheaper
damaged back, but repairable, cheapest
However, I looked for what I hoped, was a guitar with a solid neck, repairable sides and back.

Here is a link to photos that I took of the 1959 Silvertone; it plays really great. Just click on the photos to see them full screen: http://s141.photobucket.com/user/kauffm ... t=2&page=1

[JLT]

I found an old Silvertone on Ebay, that had seen the ravages of an attic. The top had come loose and had 3 cracks, the bottom had come loose, with a crack. The fretboard was horribly worn with use.
I bought the guitar for $9+$15 shipping.

I saw a guitar just like that yesterday in a thrift store. They wanted $10 for it. I was really tempted, but I really don't need another project at this point...

[Diane Kauffmds]

I found an old Silvertone on Ebay, that had seen the ravages of an attic. The top had come loose and had 3 cracks, the bottom had come loose, with a crack. The fretboard was horribly worn with use.
I bought the guitar for $9+$15 shipping.

I saw a guitar just like that yesterday in a thrift store. They wanted $10 for it. I was really tempted, but I really don't need another project at this point...

A thrift store is a great place to find a project guitar. In fact, my old Silvertone came from Goodwill Industries on EBay. I'd forgotten who I bought it from; thank you for reminding me.

[leon2982]

I bought an old Harmony Stella on Goodwill.com and started my guitar repair/build hobby with the Harmony. I removed the neck and then chemically removed what was left of the body finish. The body was left with a kind of nice rose color which I'll keep. I repaired some cracks and some loose braces. Next up is routing some binding channels.

[leon2982]

ok, i'm looking for a junk guitar to dismantle. any basic order to proceed with a dismantle?