The Rattlesnake Guitar. Martin D-18

Diane Kauffmds
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Re: The Rattlesnake Guitar. Martin D-18

Post by Diane Kauffmds »

To deal with the broken heel and cap, John cut them from the donor neck. He carefully matched it to the original, then he glued it in place, placing it in a vise until it was set.

The last photo shows the ebony rod, used to support the neck. This guitar was made during WWII. A shortage of metal forced Martin to rethink the neck support. They chose ebony, which holds the neck relief properly, even 70+ years later.
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Diane Kauffmann
Country Roads Guitars
countryroadsguitars@gmail.com
tippie53
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Re: The Rattlesnake Guitar. Martin D-18

Post by tippie53 »

just got this back and will be posting the end result pictures.
John Hall
Blues Creek Guitars Inc
Authorized CF Martin Repair Center
president of Association of Stringed Instrument Artisans
http://www.bluescreekguitars.com
tippie53
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Re: The Rattlesnake Guitar. Martin D-18

Post by tippie53 »

worked on this over the weekend. Here is the end result before stringing.
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John Hall
Blues Creek Guitars Inc
Authorized CF Martin Repair Center
president of Association of Stringed Instrument Artisans
http://www.bluescreekguitars.com
tippie53
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Re: The Rattlesnake Guitar. Martin D-18

Post by tippie53 »

a few more shots
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John Hall
Blues Creek Guitars Inc
Authorized CF Martin Repair Center
president of Association of Stringed Instrument Artisans
http://www.bluescreekguitars.com
John J
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Re: The Rattlesnake Guitar. Martin D-18

Post by John J »

Looking good. So much character.
Learning every day.
Diane Kauffmds
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Re: The Rattlesnake Guitar. Martin D-18

Post by Diane Kauffmds »

Wow John. I'm glad he decided to fix her, rather than sell her as a project. I sweated this one out. I knew if anyone could get that poor guitar singing again, it would be you.

I think the bones were there, but someone had to have the foresight to imagine how she would sound. She's certainly not pretty, but if her voice is beautiful, who cares.
Diane Kauffmann
Country Roads Guitars
countryroadsguitars@gmail.com
nikos1121
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Joined: Mon Jul 11, 2016 7:21 am

Re: The Rattlesnake Guitar. Martin D-18

Post by nikos1121 »

Good Morning. My first posting. It'll probably be a long one. Glad to be on this forum. I'm the lucky parent of the Rattlesnake. A small correction. Let me begin by pointing out that, from the top photos #1 and #4 are actually of a '48 D18 that had a putty plug on the front, and messed up side finishing from a poor repair. Dave Doll at Martin refinished it for me. The other photos are of the '44 rattlesnake. Why rattlesnake? Here's the salient facts of her story. I found the guitar online listed by a Florida Pawn Shop late last year. I love buying guitars from Pawn shops, because you know within five minutes what the owner's low is, plus they love to sell. My rule of thumb is to ask what their absolute low is, then offer 50% to 60% off that. Problem is, with this guitar, that's exactly what I did, and the guy said, "sold!" I said... "whoa... wait a minute! Let me think about it for a second." That was his price, I hit on it, and he wasn't going to go down another nickel. We agreed, that I could look at the guitar for 36hrs. When it arrived it was much worse than pictured. It was a hot mess to say the least. It had two rattlesnake tails glued to the top of the guitar, and two more inside to the side of the block. I think, the owner wanted it to sizzle when he strummed it. Kinda like a poor man's dobro. There was a multi colored string of yarn going from the headstock to the end plug, for a strap. The top had several, like more than 18, dowel plugs of various sizes, that from the inside some hung down like stalagtites. Then here's this huge crack in the heel which he said nothing about or showed photos of. It had an original Haptone Case, much was in pretty rough condition, although all the hardware was there, but the outside was beat up. I told him that I couldn't accept the guitar with the heel as it was. In the end he knocked off another $200. The case was not usable and way above my ability to restore it. I have a cobbler friend who has worked on a few of my old cases, but this one needed a specialist. I ended up sending it to Steve Kirtley, who probably has forgotton more than most of us will ever know about guitar cases. He's a walking textbook on guitars and cases. Amazing. What's more he's the nicest guy. Anyway, I digress. The guitar was a hot mess, but it had some character. I remember taking the strings off and holding it while talking to a friend of mine on the phone. Just from me talking I could feel it vibrating in my hand! At the time I really didn't know any private luthier's and had pretty good luck with Dave Doll at Martin, ie doing simple things that I wanted done and photographed. Like the '48 pictured here. Dave has always been reasonable. This time however, he said. "This guitar's a disaster." It's going to need a new neck, probably new sides. Back is going to come off, new bridge... refinishing....etc etc. He quotes me almost $5000, but in the end you'd have this pristine '44 that looks like it's out of the show room. Then he says, "Nick, you can feel the guitar vibrate while you're holding it and talking." I said, "yeah I know'. Sometimes you have no choice and you need to refinish an old guitar, but I hate it when someone will take a wartime Martin, strip it down and refinish it, so it looks like new, when you really don't need to do that. I was depressed, thinking, I'm going to have to sell it as a project guitar for someone. About that time, I had met Diane Kauffmann. The guitar needed a guardian angel, and that was her. She suggested I send it to John Hall. I soon learned that John is one of the most unique people you'll ever meet. Honest as the day is long, enthusiasm about guitar restoration, that bubbles over the phone. He told me he loves restoring old guitars in the condition this one was in. John said, we don't need a new neck...putting new sides on guitar is extremely difficult... and in this case unnecessary. In short, John was going to take this orphan in and restore it. He did, and I sensed it was a labor of love for him. I can't say enough about John. He's like a plastic and orthopedic surgeon for guitars, maybe throw in a dermatologist too. And in this case he probably provided some counseling to the guitar, since she'd been like an abused pup all these years. By the way, I know very little about the owner. Sadly, the pawn shop owner told me that a retired WWII Sailor had brought it in, then failed to ever come back to get it. Eventually, he called the house and talked to the wife and learned that he had died. She never came in to reclaim the guitar. Oh, and two more things...Diane named the guitar Ariel, after the Little Mermaid, and yes, I'm putting one of the rattlers back into the guitar somewhere so she'll sizzle when she's strummed.
Diane Kauffmds
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Re: The Rattlesnake Guitar. Martin D-18

Post by Diane Kauffmds »

When I first held Ariel, my gut instinct was that she had a magnificent voice, if only someone took the time to save all of the original wood. When I saw the sides, I thought of various ways to save them, but I was unsure since I'd never touched an old Martin. I knew the back was fine to be salvaged, and although not pretty, the top could be saved. I thought the neck could be saved, but I wasn't sure.

But, I knew this poor guitar needed to be restored, rather than replacing the wood. She was held together with shellac...a lot of shellac!

I sent the photos to John, who became very excited. He couldn't wait to get his hands on Ariel.

My contribution to her restoration is minimal. I removed as much of the shellac as possible, without touching the top.

John did the restoration. However, I'm proud to say that I was the one who pestered Nikos1121 into restoring her. John got her up and singing and has verified that her voice is indeed great.

John said that she ranks #4 in all of the guitars he's heard. I hope to hear her and play her some day.
Diane Kauffmann
Country Roads Guitars
countryroadsguitars@gmail.com
tippie53
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Re: The Rattlesnake Guitar. Martin D-18

Post by tippie53 »

planning to record the guitar tomorrow
John Hall
Blues Creek Guitars Inc
Authorized CF Martin Repair Center
president of Association of Stringed Instrument Artisans
http://www.bluescreekguitars.com
tippie53
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Joined: Fri Mar 03, 2006 7:09 pm
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Re: The Rattlesnake Guitar. Martin D-18

Post by tippie53 »

John Hall
Blues Creek Guitars Inc
Authorized CF Martin Repair Center
president of Association of Stringed Instrument Artisans
http://www.bluescreekguitars.com
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