Gibson Southern Jumbo complete

Last night I got the last 2 braces in.  I had initially been worried that I would need to do some touch up work because it was really hard to set them in line with the old glue lines, but they're solid as a rock.  I took off the clamps and jacks this morning, and polished and strung it up, and fuck does she sound pretty.  I didn't have any acoustic strings in stock, so I put some 12 gauge steels on there and it has some amazing sustain.  Played a couple songs to make sure she'd stay in tune, and I think its ready to go.  The crack on top is still noticeable, but its solid.  I don't want to risk touching up the finish and potentially ruin it, so I left it as is.  Hoping the owner is happy when he picks it up.

Gibson Southern Jumbo Update

I apologize for the lack of updates this week.  The saddle blank I had ordered arrived earlier in the week, but had a crack in it, so I had to order another one.  The seller I bought the original from was in China (yeah, i know, big mistake, but the color matched the camel bone nut, so i grabbed it), and I wasn't about to pay to send it back and wait for a new one, which could take up to a month, so I ordered one semi-locally and it got here in 2 days.  Spent a few hours shaping it both to the correct height/radius, and also to the contour of the bridge.  It still needs some minor tweaking, but i think it came out pretty well.

I also finished the internal back bracing, and the strip down the middle to add support where there was a minor crack forming from the old stuff falling out, and tonight I tackled the top crack.  I massaged some titebond into the crack, then levelled it out, and wiped it clean.  After that, I added another strip underneath to support the crack so it won't split again, and will be notching the top braces to accomodate it when I put them in on monday.  Snapped a few pics, and attempted to get a usable one from the inside.  It'll be better when I get an inspection cam.

Used my magnets once again, the brace in back is new.  The original had a nasty split in it, so I whipped up a new one out of a blank I had sitting around.  More to come Monday.

Braces part 1

So I decided to go with hide glue for doing the braces instead of my usual Titebond.  Instead of buying an expensive gluepot, I just got a hotplate and used a soup pan and a pyrex measuring cup.  One thing I learned, is that this stuff smells awful.  I also learned that i need an inspection camera.  These mirrors are a pain to work with.  Plus my pictures this time around suck.  Anyways, I glued up 1 brace, using thumbscrew jacks and my magnet clamps to hold em down.  It worked pretty well, I just need to add a couple drops under one end to secure it down.  Hoping to get the 2nd bottom brace done later today.

1952 Gibson Southern Jumbo - Progress

So I got a little sleep after making my magnetic clamping cauls, and after cutting a license plate off of my sister's car and putting the new one on, I got back to work.  I had shown in a previous update the mahogany strips I had cut to replace the brittle balsa strips that fell out, and glued 3/5 of them in place using my new clamps.  They ended up working pretty damn well, and even better, the color and grain of my new strips matched up really well with the mahogany back of the guitar.  Waiting until I feel comfortable taking the last clamp off, and then I'll reglue the 2 back braces, and add the last 2 strips.

Stay tuned...

1952 Gibson Southern Jumbo - Assessment and start

So I finally got off my ass during the Cubs rain delay and took the strings off and got started figuring out everything I need to do.  The first thing I did was take the fallen braces out of the body, at which point, some Balsa strips running up the back all fell out. 

I had some scrap mahogany laying around, so I used my hobby/framing table saw to cut some new strips and cut em down to size.

For some reason that pic won't post in landscape format, but I numbered the strips so I won't have to fumble around figuring out which one is which when I glue them down.

At some point, the original saddle was replaced with what appears to be some random piece of plastic, and it was glued down, so I may have to cut it out since it won't budge.

Aside from that, there's a loose piece of binding at the heel end of the fretboard.  Shouldn't be too difficult, just slow and tedious work making sure I place everything correctly.

I need to go pick up a couple things in the morning so I can mix up some hide glue for the braces, as well as some stuff to use as brace jacks, and I'll be off to the races.

1952 Gibson Southern Jumbo

Just picked this one up today.  My mom works at a dentist office and last week overheard a patient complaining about a shop wanting to charge him 3 grand for a repair, so she yelled out that I do repairs.  She had him give me a call and arranged for me to come look at it when he picked up his teeth today.  I took a look at it while he was being examined by the dentist.  3 of the braces are loose or fallen, there's a split in the top, and it could use a new saddle.  I quoted him a fair price, told him I'd need a few weeks to order a couple things and work carefully, and he excitedly handed it over.  Checked it out on ebay, and there's one in similar condition selling for twice what the shop told him its worth, so that'll probably make him even happier.  Can't wait to get started.