Submarine archtop

bea

bea

AmBASSador of the F Clef
Country flag
This old lady stood in the water for too long.

BTW: this is an old Isana archtop, the type of guitar Elvis played in his time in Germany. I payed about 200 € for the body. The dealer must have noticed that this guitar was actually a piece of scrap, given the sunken top. That could not be seen on the photos, but i saw it immediately when i held the guitar in my hands. Given that problem in addition to what could be seen in the online shop, i had been betrayed... the price was several times above the real value of the guitar.

Ok, it was easy to replace the old tuners by chinese cheapos, egalize the frets a bit adapt an old bridge i had left over and string it. And it sounded usable, well balanced. Over the time the problem with the top increased :-(

Symtoms visible from the outside: defect finish, sunken top.

file.php


In addition a broken heel, and a lousy refretting job leavin the neck in a very uneven state.

file.php



There must have been some repair attempt - the picture shows the crack under the heavy load of .013 - .056 flatwounds.

Opening the box showed a loose brace - the innermost tore off the rest of the (plywood) top.

file.php


The bottom plate had ter-offs. These looked less dramatic than those of my problem child, but actually they were hard to do because the glueing joints of the plies were almost defect. There were also many tiny cracks in the inner ply over the whole surface.

It turned out that the heel had ben repaired by a strong screw. According to the type of the screw, this must have been long ago. It looks as if this was independent on the submarine event.
 
First the bottom plate: repair the crack and try to relaminate the plate by heat, humidity and tension. Let's be a bit creative...

file.php


file.php


file.php


The halogen lamps provide sufficient heat to soften the glue. After curing, tapping revealed some kind of "tone" instead of the former "plopp".
The plate looks like this:

file.php
 
Now the top plate / brace issue. Of course i could have tried to just reglue it. BUT: the plywood was partially relaminated. So it is unsure wether the glue will hold - and i did not know what had been used to glue the plies and what was compatible with that glue.

So the task consists of
  • bring the top back into its original shape. At least roughly
  • fix the loose bar
  • add additional support
Just a sequence of pictures. Feel free to ask what i have done resp. am doing:

ribs:

file.php




shape of top

file.php



brace after glueing:

file.php


heel (a small layer of veneer must be inserted)

file.php


additional braces - i'll turn her into something very unique - a fan braced archtop

file.php


file.php



file.php



file.php



After checking the distribution of the tap tones i decided to add two additional braces:

file.php



And i painted the whole interior with thinned fish glue, mainly in order to glue all thos tiny cracks.
 
Last edited:
@eSGEe: i am looking forward that she'll play again, and i try to improve her as much as i can do. If everything goes well, she'll play better than ever.

what i cannot do: making her pretty again. refinishing is beyond my skills and my possibilities.
 
Looks like a great project you've got going on there.
Wish I had some of those clamps.
Hope it turns out well for you...
 
  • Like
Reactions: RVA
Very cool. Thank you for posting this. It is way beyond my capabilities. I look forward to seeing it once you are finished.
 
Alright, class...

Today, we will once again witness renowned Doctor Bea perform major, kitchen table guitar surgery!

Please, observe carefully. This session will be on a test.
 
I don't know what impresses me more, Bea: the repairs you make, or the fact that you can actually take these guitars apart in such a way as to get them back together.

I'd be afraid I'd cause irreparable damage just disassembling it.

And, it's all done on your kitchen table with hand tools!
 
This is a delight to see. Thank you for posting the project. I don't know what
impresses me more, your woodworking skills and equipment or your photography.

To me, this is outside of the definition of "craft" and closer to what I would describe
as "Art." Like a sculpture... Because in the end, you can play music with this old lady.

I would like to know how you established the curve for the braces, such that you could
re-form the sunken top. The inside looks beautiful. Or should we say "Bea-Tiful..."

I would also nominate you for:
Der Kapitän Nemo unter dem Meer Award für die Wiederherstellung von versunkenen Schatz und Musik.
nautilus quarter.jpg

Since I lack the woodworking skill to repair this instrument, if I had paid 200 E for it and
found it beyond my capabilities, I would have to consider the Viking Funeral option. I could
not afford to pay a skilled person to do this such excellent work. Up Helly A!
burning-boat-whole_1566933i.jpg
I believe that you are correct not to try to refinish this instrument. I tried it once on an
old Vox bass from the sixties, made in Italy. I didn't realize that the instrument was made of
plywood until I sanded through the veneer. The Vox bass was finished in Polyurethane or some such thick plastic coating. I could not dissolve it, and I could not sand it off without harming the wood. I didn't know what I was doing, of course. But at least I was smart enough to make my attempt on the back, not the front. After a lot of careful labor, I was
able to remove the old finish (from the back) and stain it dark to cover my clumsy work, and give it an oil finish which doesn't look too terrible until you look close... I gave it away, embarrassed.
 
Last edited:
Thanks. Actually the shape of the bars was much controlled by the plane i was using. The position of the maximum height is determined by the bridge position - obviously. And then it must be narrowed down to the thickness ad the edges. Carefully, with several tests of the tap tone.

Now the other major problem needs to be attacked. You remember the crack in the heel i showed further up?

Upon closer inspection this looks more like a cut with a saw filled with some strange dark matter:

file.php


Carefully widening the slot with a saw until there is (almost) only wood:

file.php



Mhmm, i must admit i have no idea how to fill this reliably. I would prefer using wood, ideally birch because that seems to be the wood used for the neck. But the uneven cut makes it really difficult. Well, time will tell...
 
I can take all kinda stuff apart----- bikes--motorcycles--guitars--amps---vending machines---cars--marriages--- cases of rum----prostitutes----

its getting em back together that never works out
 
Very impressive wood working craftsmanship and finesse.
And patience.
Good luck with that neck joint; is that deep enough to affect neck relief?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top