Repair / Restoration Gallery
Below are some examples of the type of repair / restoration work I’ve done.
Each one is a slideshow showing the process and results from beginning to end.
Gibson ES125 Headstock Rebuild
This poor 1965 Gibson ES125 suffered a bad headpiece break, followed by an even worse repair. The back of the neck was covered with Bondo putty, and the front had a maple “reinforcement” glued on…right over the truss rod adjuster!
The guitar also needed a full refret - the old ones were installed with the ends sticking out WAY beyond the neck edge.
I carefully removed the original “repair”, disassembled and reglued the original break, and added an ebony peghead veneer and a mahogany backstrap veneer to make it strong again. The fretboard was cleaned up, repaired where necessary, and refretted with period-correct wire.
After a new decal and refinish, the guitar is back to looking like it should!
Guild B301 Bass - Headpiece rebuild
Another poor instrument that suffered repeated headstock breaks, and repeated repair attempts.
This instrument came in with evidence of every kind of glue that repairpeople dread: epoxy, Gorilla Glue, and superglue. Over the course of its life, it had splines routed in, screws drilled through the headpiece (holes backfilled with epoxy in a later repair) and plenty of trauma.
The final choice was to fully rebuild the headpiece from the back, without disturbing the original face veneer.
New side rails replaced the damaged wood and covered up the old cracks, and a backstrap veneer (with matching maple pinstripe) bridged new, strong wood fibers over the old damage.
The final result is clean, comfortable, and stronger than the original.
Custom F-Hole Covers for Gibson
This lovely Gibson had a tendency to feed back at stage volume. The solution was this pair of custom-made F-hole plugs. Handmade from ebony, these feature a 3D-carved bottom surface which matches the contour of the arched top. Foam suspensions allow quick and easy removal and a good air seal.
(Note: I have received many inquiries about these covers. Due to how I built them, I need to have the guitar on the workbench in order to do the custom fitting and 3D contouring that makes for a good fit. As a result, I am not currently accepting long-distance orders for these . Thanks!)