1965 Martin arrives to my shop from Shreveport, LA after very poor attempt to repair.

Guitar needs New Top, New Bridge, and Neck Reset.

Just can't believe anyone would do this in a retail repair shop!

Headstock view of this Martin Acoustic

View of neck removed from body to begin top replacement

Notice the Classic French Dovetail neck construction

Now comes the fun part--Cut away the old top to measure bracing

for the new top.


We cut around the top with a jig saw being very careful

not to damage the heel block, tail block, or lining that secures

the top to the rims.

Another view of top being removed

After taking careful measurements of the original top, we use our

go bar deck to glue all of the bracing to the top. All braces can be glued

at the same time with this type of fixture

Another view ot top bracing.

Now the top is being clamped in position after many steps in carving braces

and matching the location of X brace and shoulder brace thru the lining . This is very

important when viewing the guitar inside. All of the notches on the rim must align with new top.

Another look at top being clamped into position. When we removed the old top I saved the original

top binding to reuse on this new top. This extra step really is worth the effort to keep this guitar looking very vintage

and original. Many shops will router off the binding and use what ever is currently available. I was lucky this time.

This view shows only a slight lacquer touchup needed on the side when

spraying lacquer finish on the new top.

Top view of original outer binding of guitar top with new rosette around the soundhole

We spray nitrocelluose lacquer on the top with aging toner to restore the look of this

guitar. The toner is important to make the top look like it is 40 plus years old.

This photo is without a flash in more dim lighting

This is a much better pic of the top since my camera used the flash.

This little guitar now plays great with the new top and neck set.

Electric Fender Stratocaster Restoration

BEFORE
These Carvings are very deep into the soft Alder body. This eliminates the option of spraying original sunburst colors!

AFTER

BEFORE
We obviously chose olympic white! One of the many solid color options in the early 60's.

AFTER

BEFORE
After sanding carefully and removing all cross grain scratches, we filled in carvings with epoxy/wood mix to level.

AFTER

BEFORE
After a complete sanding and reworking the neck, a fret hone and dress was all that it needed to play ---real Niiiiiiiice!

AFTER

AFTER
This was a complicated project that was a pleasure to restore. Many thanks to Mr. Bowman for his endless patience and confidence with my shop. Some more cool things that cant be seen in the photos is the fine "Relic" type aging of the toner with very cool weather "checking/cracking" of the Nitrocellulose lacquer finish coats. With a little time and some real play wear this instrument will age gracefully like a fine bottle of wine!

This unfortunate headstock break often happens on angled headstock guitar necks!

First Step

Step Two
We clean away about 1 1/2 inches of end of finger board to create a interlocking joint for new headstock splice.

Step Three

Step Four
We now create a blank from Honduras Mahogany. Mill for truss rod channel and fit perfectly to original neck.

Final Check

Step Five
We now trim excess wood and shape outline of old headstock.

New Headstock

Rear View
We now let epoxy cure and get ready for Pearl inlays, Decals, Custom Inlays, etc.

Begin Finish

Wood Filler
We Seal the Mahogany, apply wood filler, then apply Nitrocellulose Lacquers and Top coats

Complete Finish

Rear View
We buff out, install parts and now the guitar plays exactly like it did originally!

Front View- decals applied.

This repair is strong and exact and will last longer than the wood itself. We especially recommend this repair instead of Neck Replacement whenever possible since only 2 inches of the neck is reshaped! You wont need to learn the feel of a different neck contour.

Final Rear View

Final Front View