Replace fretboard on a Alrite?

[Tukanu]

I am looking at purchasing a Gibson Alrite. The last few frets have been removed and the board has been filed down below the fret slots. I'm thinking of replacing the entire fretboard, unless there is a better solution out there?
Also, it appears to have been hastily refinished with a brushed on varnish. I'm thinking of sanding it all down (except the peghead) and starting over with a French polish.
How much is this going to hurt the value? Thanks for any and all input.

[tonydxn]

On the whole, they do not have a high value anyway. If you did the work you suggested it would probably make it worth a bit more, but not enough to financially justify the time it would take. It might be worth it to you though, to have a nicer-looking instrument.

Check whether the soundboard has sunk (common on these). The frets were probably removed to compensate for sinkage. If it has sunk, there will be work to do inside too.

FYI, the fretboard is not ebony - it's some dyed wood that will be quite crumbly. An ebony fretboard would be a step up. The scratchguard is not original either.

[Tukanu]

Thanks Tony,
I enjoyed your series on restoring an Alrite, so I thought I would have a go at it. The back is completely split, so I plan on removing it as well. It will give me an opportunity to check out the bracing. The peghead says "The Gibson" and I was wondering if that indicates an newer or a later instrument?.

[rcc56]

Unless enough of the ground-off slots still exists on the board for a bit or a blade to follow, it is risky and impractical to recut the missing slots while the board is on the instrument. It might be possible to saw through the last good fret slot, remove only the butchered section of the board, and slot it on the bench. But it is not much more trouble to pull the whole board and simply replace it with a new one. The fret placement on old Gibson boards is at best only moderately accurate and sometimes awful anyway. Chances are that if you replace the board, the instrument will have better intonation.

A correctly finished and serviced Gibson Alrite certainly won't be worth any less than a butchered one. But if you're hoping to make a profit, there probably wouldn't be one in this project.

[tonydxn]

My knowledge of these doesn't go very far beyond the single example I worked on, but I've never heard of an Alrite with 'The Gibson' inlay. Could be unique. They only made this model for one year (1917). Maybe they ran out of plain head veneers one day and used an inlaid one to make up the quantity. Who knows? Gibson were a law unto themselves and they didn't stick slavishly to specifications.

So the back is split as well. I'm starting to wonder how much the seller is asking for it. I paid $285 for the one I bought (on eBay in 2009. Shipping and customs charges on top of that).

[SGraham]

Hi Tukanu, I saw that one too, and I think the asking price is pretty reasonable. I'd pull the whole fretboard if I were doing the project. I hope if you end up buying it you'll post the restoration process here.

[G7MOF]

Is this a recent purchase as I believe I've seen it before. The pick guard is not original and could you tell me if it has a different Tail piece cover with a refinished back. The back should be cherry red birch but I think if its the one I've seen the back is a natural refinish, am I correct?
Getting this back to any where near original would be a costly time consuming job.

[Tukanu]

I don't think it would be worth a true restoration. The original pick guard, tail piece and bridge are all missing. The fret board is in rough shape. The top looks to have some screw holes and deep chips. The back, as you say, is blond from a refinish. A dark stain and varnish has been slopped on the neck, and the tuners are all rusty.
But what I really want to do is to dissect it and see study the construction details. I am building a series of A-N flattops, and I want to learn all I can about the classics.