The Hub

Guitar fell straight down on the headstock when it was hanging up at the refinishers. Shit really does happen! Grain is pretty much shattered around the adjustment nut. Thinking I’ll replace the entire broken area with a completely new piece of mahogany. Scarf it in between the volute and 3rd fret. Probably even a 3 piece lamination to mimic the neck. This one was not the clients fault so the expectations for looking close to original a…

Hi friends, I just stumbled upon a 1966 P-Bass, nearly completely original. The owner bought it in 1971 and it had already been stripped of its original finish. That was a thing back then. You can guess that 55 years of gigging had the wood absorb much of the owner’s DNA and sweat. Maybe a few beers as well. Surface was quite tacky as you can expect. I cleaned it with naphta and StewMac’c brand-new cleaner (quite a great product I'd say…

Hello again folks, how is everyone! So I'm curious about what people here think about re-tops, who's done them, and what sorta ballpark rates you've charged for past completed jobs. I've got a bit of a wild one here, so strap in if you've got a couple minutes for story time! Back in 2012, I traded an HD28V of mine for a cool 1966 D-35 that needed some work. Basically, the body and neck of the guitar were fine apart from…

I am restoring an old Supertone with a thickened and heavily alligatored finish. The finish softens quickly with acetone, and it looks like it has had an overspray. I would like to keep the staining on the oak back and sides, and to preserve the decal on the headstock. The top I would like to strip and sand. The questions are: 1. What more do I need to know about the finish? 2. How should I remove the finish or at least thin/smooth…

I have repaired numerous top crack on this instrument built by a customer at a guitar building camp. The bridge was off and warped. That has been addressed. After gluing with hide glue and splining the crack these top two did not closed as much as I would have liked. The bigger is about 1/32 at the widest and the other about 1/64. The crack is tight at the bottom. If I can help it I would like to fill it rather than spline it as I have…

Hey guys, Up until now I've always tried to blend any repairs into the surrounding area when it comes to finishing and avoid refinishing as much as possible. However, im yet to be fully satisfied with the results or hit the elusive "invisible repair" So my question is, for this headstock fix in the image, would you simplly refinish over the splines or consider refinishing the whole neck to avoid the blending battle? For what its worth, its…