Personal Restoration Challenge

**jim simpson** · Oct-25-2009, 10:18pm

The Mandolin Cafe Restoration Challenge and the shorter days of the season have both inspired me to take on this project. I picked up an A3 Gibson that had a repaired broken headstock plus the top had been stripped and re-stained. Since it already had issues, I decided this might be fun to experiment with. I like the way the A3's white top looks but I didn't want to just do a faithful restoration. The first step was sanding and preparing the top for a blackface treatment. I use leather dye for this. I received a spare Gibson neck with this purchase but since the repair seems intact, I will work on making the repair less obvious. I thought this had a one-piece top till I sanded it and discovered a three-piece top! Here are some shots from todays efforts. I like the blue masking tape rosette! I have included a photo of an A3 as it should look.

**Fretbear** · Oct-25-2009, 11:06pm

Jim I don't know what your plans for that top are, but a black spray lacquer (matte or glossy) will give you a nice result for a black face, leaving no trace of the wood grain after. It works best over a primer coat on bare wood, but your leather dye should have that covered if they are not incompatible.

**jim simpson** · Oct-26-2009, 7:08am

That sounds like a good method. I've read a few accounts of ways to do a black face and thought I would try to do it without spraying. The next step will be trying the Tru-Oil finish method.
Thanks

**Tom C** · Oct-26-2009, 9:07am

Not all A-3 were white. Some are pumpkin. Do you know what this was prior to original refinish?

**Darryl Wolfe** · Oct-26-2009, 9:56am

This would have been a white face as it sports the telltale double binding on the body and a BLACK binding for the sound hole. With that in mind I would replace the soundhole binding if you are going blackface with the instrument before proceeding much further. Otherwise it might look like and Ajr

**Darryl Wolfe** · Oct-26-2009, 10:02am

Of course that is simply my opinion

**Walt** · Oct-26-2009, 11:49am

Originally Posted by Tom C

Not all A-3 were white. Some are pumpkin. Do you know what this was prior to original refinish?

I remember seeing that one on ebay, and if I remember correctly it had the original white pickguard that went with it.

**jim simpson** · Oct-26-2009, 1:14pm

Walt,
Yes, this is the one that was on Ebay.
Darryl - good point about the black sound hole binding. I hadn't thought about that. Thanks,
Jim

**jim simpson** · Oct-26-2009, 11:16pm

Thanks again to Darryl for pointing out the black binding of the soundhole. Tonight I glued in my white binding. Will have to try to age it's color to more closely match the rest of the yellowed binding. I used Duco cement and precut most of the binding then did the razor blade scraping. I also did some work on the headstock but won't post photos till I'm a little further along.

I picked up my Tru-Oil from my local Cabela's superstore. I called and spoke to someone in the gun dept. to make sure they had it in stock - they did.

At this point, I'll be done before Christmas!

**jim simpson** · Oct-27-2009, 11:12pm

I may take Fretbear's suggestion to use spray laquer for the blacktop. I wetted the top to try to get an idea of how the grained wood would look with just the black stain. I think I prefer not to see the grain with black.

I shifted focus to the headstock. As this is turning out to be great fun for me, I decided to have fun with the headstock shape. I know this must be sacriligious to some but not me. I plugged the existing tuning peg holes and cut the new shape. I then glued on ears at the lower portion of the headstock as it wasn't quite wide enough. I also needed to have enough room for the tuners as the top peg will be so close to the Gibson inlay.

I looked up at the "Artistry of Pegheads" poster in my shop and noticed both headstock styles.

**jim simpson** · Oct-30-2009, 9:07pm

Found a little time to get back to this project. I discovered that the headstock needed some more width added as the tuning peg hole location would not work with the Gibson inlay. I glued up the additional material then shaped and finally drilled for the gears. I did a dry fit and they look pretty good. The rear photo reveals the repair to the previous cracked neck. I sanded some of the supplement patch wood away. It seems like a pretty solid repair. I've re-taped the body and next plan to do some painting.

**Christopher Standridge** · Oct-31-2009, 11:30am

Good job of persistence Jim. However, you might want to check how the tuners turn arter installing them into those holes, if they fit at all. They look a little squirelly and you might want to plug and recut before going much further.
Just constructive criticisim, you are doing great so far!

**jim simpson** · Oct-31-2009, 11:31am

It was warm enough this morning to paint outside. Did a dry fit with the gears after removing the masking tape.

**jim simpson** · Oct-31-2009, 11:42am

rovinmando,
Thanks for the input - they do look funny but they line up pretty well. I had one of the tuner plates apart and used the plate as a guide to line up the holes. I then used the drill press to finish the job.

**Charley wild** · Oct-31-2009, 1:52pm

Hi Jim,
Just a note to tell you how much I enjoy your project. Any restoration project is amazing to me being completely inept! Also to see an old mandolin come back to life is great! I wonder how many of these old manolins have ended up in somebody's trash can?

Is this project going to be for sale or is it a keeper?

**jim simpson** · Oct-31-2009, 3:22pm

Thanks Charley,

You probably have more talent than you realize. I liked taking this one on for my own enjoyment as it is a low pressure/low risk project. I don't think I would feel the same as the folks who repair/restore for others.
I previously re-topped an F-5 style mandolin and cut out an oval hole to making it more of an F-4 style. I x-braced the top. The hardest part of the project was doing the rosette plus carving the scroll and binding. I regret not photo-documenting the project failing even to photo the finished project.

I think this one will be a keeper.

**jim simpson** · Nov-11-2009, 10:46pm

Finally getting back to this project after waiting for the last coat of Tru-oil to cure. This instrument is definately in the "player grade" category or at least I hope it will be once I have strings on it! I am awaiting my bridge so in the meantime this is where I'm at. I re-sprayed the headstock and used a birthday candle to apply wax to the inlay. It was easy to scrape off the wax and blend the paint before final finish. This has been a real fun project and has inspired me to get back to some unfinished projects. I am now in the process of converting a six string acoustic guitar to a tenor. Thanks to all who offered input and instructions.

**Bill Snyder** · Nov-12-2009, 7:50am

You do realize that someday that instrument is going to drive some people crazy when it comes up for sale somewhere like ebay. It will have them scratching their heads trying to figure out exactly what is going on with it.

**JEStanek** · Nov-12-2009, 7:52am

C'mon, in 6 months it will be a hot thread on the Café in the Vintage section!

Jamie

**Fretbear** · Nov-12-2009, 8:02am

Nicely done...got you a cool black snakehead......

**jim simpson** · Nov-12-2009, 9:20am

Fretbear,
Thanks - I'm anxious to get it strung up to see what it sounds like.
Bill and Jamie - this will require a lot of disclaiming if I let her go. I guess if it makes it to my estate when I'm gone, it will be up the the better informed to know what it is. I did leave the inlay on the headstock that is unique to the original model.

**jim simpson** · Nov-12-2009, 10:42pm

How exciting! - a package containing my bridge was awaiting me when I got home from work. I promptly set out to fit it to the mandolin top. I slotted the bridge and strung it up. I played Over The Waterfall as it seemed to need that type of tune played on it. It sounded good initially, I expect it will settle in after a while after I play a bit more on it. I will have to get used to the chunkier neck. Here are a few photos with the added bridge and strings:

**megamafro** · Nov-13-2009, 7:29am

Lovely, thats a beautiful mandolin.

Good work on the restoration

**Charley wild** · Nov-13-2009, 7:40am

Looks great!

**jim simpson** · Nov-14-2009, 7:48am

I had a chance to put in some playing time on it last night. It didn't take too long to adjust to the neck profile. I noticed some fret buzz from a couple of frets. The small size of the frets plus some wear leaves little left to work with. I have to play cleanly to minimize the buzz. I am pleased with the sound of the mandolin, it sounds less tubby than others I've played.