Restoring a Gibson Alrite

[CES]

Wow, Tony, that's really looking awesome! Nice work, man!!

[tonydxn]

The nut originally fitted to these was ebony, which I don't like as a nut material because bits chip off too easily. I didn't want to use bone because it's the wrong colour. I used water buffalo horn, which is a good nut material and the right colour.


After staining and polishing, the spline I put in the head doesn't show up too much

[Tavy]

Looks darn good to me - great work!

[tonydxn]

I wasn't expecting to be still asking questions at this stage of the game, but something has come up. Here is a photo of the pickguard clamp


That little internal clip looks different from others I have seen on the internet here (thank you Paul Hostetter). It looks as if mine is bent. Certainly, it stops the clamp from sitting flat against the side of the mandolin and causes the pickguard to be misaligned.

I think that clip needs to be straightened out, but I thought I'd check here before I do something stupid.

[Mark Gunter]

Tony I'm no expert, but looking at Paul's page and comparing it to yours, it appears to me to be a big possibility that the hook end broke off yours in its past, and the owner bent it like this in an attempt to secure the cam action. If that's the case, it should be straitened like Paul's photo of an original shows, and a small hook shaped and bent into the end only.

I assume you've read Paul's paragraph that accompanies the photo below:

As long as the hook engages a hole well, the cam action will be effective. Sometimes this hook breaks off, in which case you have to make a new hook. This is tricky, since removing the tab with that hook isn't practical. It takes jewelers files and some deft clamping to accomplish the reshaping in place, then another good trick in bending the new hook, but the shorter tab just means you use a different hole, and the repair is usually good for at least another 80-100 years.

[sunburst]

...looking at Paul's page and comparing it to yours, it appears to me to be a big possibility that the hook end broke off yours in its past, and the owner bent it like this in an attempt to secure the cam action.

In fact, it looks to me like someone might have removed the original piece, made a new one, and replaced the rivet.
Look closely at the difference between the two rivets and at the thickness of the stock.

[tonydxn]

Thanks Mark and John for your observations. The rivet on mine certainly looks as if it was burred over by hand, compared with the very neat appearance of Paul's. It may well have been taken off and modified or replaced (a much more delicate job than the one done on the damaged head!) I now feel confident about making mine look more like Paul's. I didn't want to do it without getting better-informed opinions.

[tonydxn]

Sorted. It had definitely been re-hooked.

[tonydxn]

There - finished! All ready for someone to celebrate its 100th birthday.



Thanks to everybody for your company on the journey.
Extra thanks to all those who shared their wisdom, knowledge and experience to help me do the best for this poor battered old mando.

[sprucetop1]

I really like the look of that.....great job!!

[tonydxn]

Here is a video of me trying to play a tune on it (Hope the Hermit)

[MikeEdgerton]

It looks a whole lot better than it did in the first pictures, nice job.

[soliver]

I've really enjoyed following your process, thank you so much for sharing your process. I've been wanting a pancake, so its been fun to watch you healing this one of its woes!

[Ginridge]

Great post! I have a really battered one of these I plan to work on some day and this was a great help!