Gibson LG-0 - Beyond Repair?

[tomwbro]

I have a guitar that was found in a car. It must have been in the car for a long time as it appears to have been baked in an oven. The wood is extremely dry and the finish flakes off if you breathe on it. There is only one crack and the top is surprisingly flat, all things considered. The neck is bowed but I haven't checked the truss rod yet to see if can be adjusted. I'm guessing it will need a neck reset and a refinish at the very least. The only thing I have done to it is release the string tension and slowly introduce it to humidity. What do you think? Is it worth fixing? Firewood? I've added some photos.

 

[L5Larry]

Bringing a guitar of this nature "back to life" can be a very rewarding, satisfying, and educational process/project.

 

I put a couple of weeks worth of time (and a couple hundred bucks in parts) into an old Silvertone archtop that originally cost $36 new. From a value and quality standpoint it was an massive waste of time and money. From an "accomplishment" standpoint it was a really fun project. It turned out better than I could have ever imagined, and is now a great playing and sounding little acoustic archtop, but still only has a "market value" of around $100.

 

If you can do the work yourself with only cash outlay for misc parts/supplies, you might end up with a very nice player at reasonable expense. If you would have to pay someone else to restore this guitar for you, you would NEVER recover your costs.

[jedzep]

I'd have to begin by saying that this Gibson model, at it's best, might go for $600-700 in good shape. The LG0 with plastic bridge is a student model and doesn't have the chops nor value of better built Gibsons. If you have a son or daughter who'd like to try lessons, might be a good starter, that is if the strings aren't a foot and a half above the frets. Cosmetics matter little so playability and your personal interest in it are the only factors to consider. Still, it's always nice to 'find' a guitar, but that one looks to exceed it's value in the cost of repair.

[ksdaddy]

Sell it to me cheap.

[RusRob]

tomwbro,

 

The most important factors determining if it can be fixed are:

 

#1. Is the neck straight.

 

#2. Do you have the skills to completely rebuild a guitar?

 

 

 

If the answer to either one of these is no then I would say you would be better off finding something in better condition.

 

This project will take a lot of knowledge and skill to bring it back to playable condition. Because it was baked and dried you can be sure that all the braces need to come out and be replaced or glued back in. Chances are the braces are warped so replacement will probably be necessary. If they are not warped then they will still need to be removed and re-glued.

That goes for every joint in the guitar.

 

The LG-0 was put together with hot hyde glue which has a melting point of 140 degrees. Even below 140 it will soften up and the joints will start pulling apart. When hot hyde glue is stressed under heat it will get air in it and become brittle. That is why you will need to pretty much take it completely apart and re-glue all the joints.

 

I know because I just recently rebuilt a 1964 LG-0. Mine wasn't in nearly as bad of shape as yours but I still removed all the braces and replaced them. I changed mine over to X-bracing with custom scalloped braces and completely refinished it. Mine had a perfect neck so it was worth doing, plus I have been repairing guitars for quite some time.

 

 

jedzep is correct in saying the guitar was a student model and not very expensive but there are a lot of people that love these guitars (I am one of them). By updating mine to X-bracing it really give these little guitars a new voice.

 

 

So the first 2 points are the main ones to consider before trying to take on a job of this size.

 

This is my LG-0 (which I renamed LG-X)

 

http://forum.gibson.com/index.php?/topic/99338-1964-lg-x/page__p__1344788__fromsearch__1&do=findComment&comment=1344788

 

 

Cheers,

Bob

[tomwbro]

Thanks for the feedback everyone. Very helpful.

[ksdaddy]

Not interested in selling?

[Hotfoot]

My 1954 LG2 (converted from an LG1 with full bracing re-do) was a New Mexico or Texas (my friend couldn't recall) barn find, cooked for years in the dry heat. All Braces had fallen out, and were lying in the guitar, 9 dirt dauber nests inside. It was in marginally batter shape than yours. I was going to do my usual "Cub Scout Level" repair/restoration, but a friend referred me to a luthier. When I met with the woman luthier, I explained how I planned to go about making it a "player, just for blues-mostly slide"...and-out of pity, for the guitar, I suppose- offered to bring it back to life for an astonishingly low rate (which I will not divulge), but only if I was willing to leave it with her for an extended period of time, which I did. I have found receipts for work that others have had done, and it appears that a proper job will set you back about $1,400.00.

 

That neck has to be removed, heat straightened (probably), top removed, and braces re-glued. When removing the top, the luthier will have to make a form to keep the sides from moving out of shape. You will most likely need new tuners and anew bridge, and Bridge plate. NO one task is hyper-tech, but a person does need to know what they are doing. After all that, you have a $500.00 guitar, maybe up to $650.00 with a refinish (that one is really ugly looking), so it would have to be an act of love. I advise you to sell it to another forum member to do the restoration. there are some patient amateur luthiers here, and you would do their wives a huge favor by locking them in the shop for months on end as they work away on this. Its too nice to trash, but not worth fixing in cold hard daylight.

 

I elected to keep the alligatored finish on my sunburst LG2, and saw somewhere that an individual had one that had been over-coated with shellac , which maintained the alligatoring, but 'froze' its progression.

 

Mine sounds wonderful,I bought it a comfy new case (but am interested in finding a vintage Gibson...but they cost as much as the guitars! and I've had a couple offers from folks when I've been playing it, the highest being $1,200.00 (and he is serious and solvent). I am about to install a removable pickup in it,and am wrestling with the 'should I bore out the tail pin hole' dilemma.

 

I love mine, but please d not mess up what you now have. Sell it cheap to someone to labor over, and know that you found it a good home.

 

That's my Two Centavos worth.

[Hotfoot]

My 1954 LG2 (converted from an LG1 with full bracing re-do) was a New Mexico or Texas (my friend couldn't recall) barn find, cooked for years in the dry heat. All Braces had fallen out, and were lying in the guitar, 9 dirt dauber nests inside. It was in marginally batter shape than yours. I was going to do my usual "Cub Scout Level" repair/restoration, but a friend referred me to a luthier. When I met with the woman luthier, I explained how I planned to go about making it a "player, just for blues-mostly slide"...and-out of pity, for the guitar, I suppose- offered to bring it back to life for an astonishingly low rate (which I will not divulge), but only if I was willing to leave it with her for an extended period of time, which I did. I have found receipts for work that others have had done, and it appears that a proper job will set you back about $1,400.00.

 

That neck has to be removed, heat straightened (probably), top removed, and braces re-glued. When removing the top, the luthier will have to make a form to keep the sides from moving out of shape. You will most likely need new tuners and anew bridge, and Bridge plate. NO one task is hyper-tech, but a person does need to know what they are doing. After all that, you have a $500.00 guitar, maybe up to $650.00 with a refinish (that one is really ugly looking), so it would have to be an act of love. I advise you to sell it to another forum member to do the restoration. there are some patient amateur luthiers here, and you would do their wives a huge favor by locking them in the shop for months on end as they work away on this. Its too nice to trash, but not worth fixing in cold hard daylight.

 

I elected to keep the alligatored finish on my sunburst LG2, and saw somewhere that an individual had one that had been over-coated with shellac , which maintained the alligatoring, but 'froze' its progression.

 

Mine sounds wonderful,I bought it a comfy new case (but am interested in finding a vintage Gibson...but they cost as much as the guitars! and I've had a couple offers from folks when I've been playing it, the highest being $1,200.00 (and he is serious and solvent). I am about to install a removable pickup in it,and am wrestling with the 'should I bore out the tail pin hole' dilemma.

 

I love mine, but please d not mess up what you now have. Sell it cheap to someone to labor over, and know that you found it a good home.

 

That's my Two Centavos worth.