As The Years Come Flaking Off

serviceguitarrepair — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 02:59:49 +0000

One of my favorite things to do is the cleaning and restoring of vintage guitars. It comes from years of working at Guitar Maniacs with my dear friend: Rick King. This is where my repair business started, in 1993, and grew into what it was, when I took it home in 2000. I am forever grateful for those years of being exposed to so many amazing guitars. I was able to develop techniques that would otherwise be unknown, due to the shear amount of opportunities to develop them. So…when I received a call from another dear brother: Frank, I was elated! He set up the story by saying ” So, this older gentleman comes up to me at church and says…” (This is always a great start to a guitar story.)”I’ve really enjoyed listening to you play guitar and I’ve been thinking about getting back to playing my ol’ guitar” (“my ol’ guitar” can mean a number of things from trash to treasure) but, this time it was pure (neglected) treasure…

This 1957 Gibson ES-350TD had been in this man’s possession since about 1960 and had been sitting in this lonely (but really cool) brown case for the last couple of decades. It was dirty, out of adjustment, very corroded and downright unplayable. Frank told him about my services and soon, it was in my shop for the full treatment.

I offer a complete cleaning that includes dismantling, detailing, reassembly and full set-up package for $150.00. It also provides the owner with a document that authenticates the guitar and provides an “Opinion of Value” This is very helpful for insurance policies too.

We’re still looking for a couple of missing parts that have been misplaced over the years, but this one really came out stunning!

1957 Gibson ES-350TD

This is the first year for the famous Gibson “PATENT APPLIED FOR” or “PAF” humbucking pickups. Who can tell me what’s unique about the one’s in this model?

Unique PAF Pickups

These frets were a both green and gray from years of corrosion. They came out like new!

Shiny!

This is one beautiful guitar:

logo tailpiece

early "non-retainer" ABR-1 Tune-O-Matic bridge

Classic Gibson headstock styling

If you have any of these old amber switch tips, don’t throw ‘em out. They’re quite valuable.

original amber switch tip circa 1950's

These are the same knobs you would find on a Les Paul Standard “Burst”

late 50's style "bonnet" knobs

worn gold plating

hand written orange label

Needless to say, this guitar now sounds and plays amazingly well. Frank has been able to test drive it a few times, for his new friend, and has become quite attached. Can you blame him?!

Roll Over Beethoven!

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As The Years Come Flaking Off