I used to do these kind of splinter repairs as a high end finish carpenter on expensive cabinets. It will never be perfect but most people will never notice those types of repairs if these repairs are finished well. You do great work!
Mr. Rosa, you do not disappoint! I admire the way you can evaluate an instrument; with damage that would strike fear into most repair guys, and you're like"Ahhh, piece of cake". Nothing ever phases you. Thanks for sharing your expertise, and more importantly... Your time. Until we speak again, my friend....
Stefan Grossman talks about the path through society of Parlor Guitars when teaching Sevastopol. It seems they were the rage after the Civil War, when young women of means in New England would be given guitars and song books of parlor music. Like many things, not everything takes with teenagers and so a lot of parlor guitars made their way into the used market and refuse pile. More than a few made their way into the hands of African Americans playing blues, and many of the licks from sheet music (like Sevastopol) became part of their repertoire to the point where Open-D tuning is call Sevastopol tuning. Robert Johnson played a Gibson L-1. So that little bit of history you just restored is a great physical representation of something that linked women of leisure to men and sharecroppers who had no leisure at all, except after dark with a parlor guitar making music to soothe the mind and soul.
Guitars were given free to tramps by piano teachers in an attempt to associate guitars with the lower orders and get young ladies of quality back to the piano
I thoroughly enjoy watching how you chisel and scrape away the unwanted wood and glue, and bring everything back to beautiful! Impressive for sure. This old Washburn is looking and sounding great. Thanks for posting.
thank you Sir. i love my family roots. i come from hillbilly's and outlaws, music has always been with me. as i stepped away from a troubled past, i thought my connection with the good parts of my family were gone. you give me hope that the respect, not the lies i was told as a child, will return to the ugliness of this world. we all make mistakes and you showed me that we can repair them if we try
That was made the year my granddad was. He'd take a bit more than skillful scraping and a bit of shellac to get him looking and working as well as that instrument. It's a joy to watch this channel.
You exceeded your self there gerry what a lovely old guitar it will last another 100 years thanks to you you are a very talented Luthier and love what you do
I really appreciate the invention of the adjustable truss rod after watching this video. A great job turning this back into a playable instrument that some one can enjoy for many years to come. Bravo!
Beautiful job as always, Jerry! I worked on a similar old Brazilian Rosewood Parlor Guitar. It had a crack in the side with a thin gouge along the crack like that. I filled it with some ebony dust and super glue, and even rubbed some in the crack itself. It came out perfect. Looked like a dark streak in the wood. Twas shellacked, so it was easy to fix the finish. Polished the shellac with some pumice powder.
Great job on a great old guitar. special thanks for the song at the end. my father sang that to my mother a million times and brought back sweet memories. Her name was Rosemary
That neck repair was a good demonstration of how good titebond is. Glued in those small bits of wood and in a few hours they were stuff well enough to be hammering and chiseling them, nice. Also a lovely guitar beautifully repaired.
Don't know why I didn't get a notification for this video, yet I did for the next one (coffin repair) this was most definitely another miracle repair. Looks & sounds great.
THAT WAS A FIVE STAR VIDEO.....THE WORK YOU DID RESTORING THAT BEAUTIFUL OLD INSTRUMENT WAS SECOND TO NONE , AND THE WAY IT SOUNDED AFTERWARDS WAS EVEN BETTER....I HOPE YOU GET MORE INSTRUMENTS LIKE THAT ONE...THAT WAS PURE JOY TO WATCH....
Mr Rosa. Really enjoyed this episode watching you repair this sweet old 1800's period Washburn parlor guitar. It turned out geat! sounds real good too!
This was excellent . Thank you . I met this older guy (about 82 y/o) while installing some air conditioning for him back in the mid 90's . And during breaks marveled at his shop . My take away after that experience and the humble words he spoke was this ; Everything can be clamped down | Nothing has to be moved or carried by brute force | And never reach out farther then where your elbow is to work on something Get closer to it > Or get it closer to you . That was a wise man .
I found this same 1890 Washburn parlor guitar in the family attic in 1964 and played Peter, Paul and Mary songs on it. It was in very good condition. I gave it to a luthier in Buffalo in hopes it would.be preserved.
I'm qualified to do this sort of thing, taught by John Bailey, a British guitar maker. I didn't keep it up though - not enough money in it and none of it easy money. But I can tell you, this is the real deal and I think the cherry on the cake is when he sings a song on it. Hats off. In the time it took to watch this, I changed strings on my acoustic, tuned it and played a few tunes of my own. It's a lot less worry.
Got almost the same Washburn that had the full neck reset with carbon fibre rods and some cracks and binding fixed. It’s the guitar non guitar players like the sound of the best. 1899. I got the Washburn book and it helped date it accurately. If you haven’t got it I’ll gladly help get the exact year on this if the customer wants it. All the best and great work. It’s really inspiring what you do. 👌🏻
this was a very special segment. The workmanship to restore it was amazing. It's amazing that a 125 year old guitar can be brought back to life with a couple clamps and hand chisles. Congrats on a great job. I'll know where to send my Martin is 100 years.
By what seems to be overwhelming coincidence, I have almost the exact guitar and I have it in pieces so that I can repair it. Branded inside is "1897 Style". It has 4 abalone position markers, each different, the identical binding to the one you repaired and an abalone rosette at each end of the bridge. The fretboard was (And remains) cracked, as on yours, from the sound hole to the 12th fret. Little tiny crack. Couple small cracks in the body, nothing too bad. Had to pull the fretboard off. The neck/body joint is solid but the action had gotten too high to be playable. The neck itself had warped over the years and I had to plane it to get it flat again and I'm still working on it. Fretboard might go back on tomorrow. I'm told by experts online that obtaining the correct date is almost impossible. They said mine was built between 1898 and 1902 and I wouldn't be at all surprised if yours is the same style and age. They tell me that there were three levels (Prices). The price apparently was dependent upon trim with all having the same basic wooden components. The one in the video looks like the lower end, mine is the middle and the top level had abalone binding a la Martin D45. I own half a dozen acoustic guitars, including a 43 year old Martin but the Washburn is my daily player, or will be once she's back in one piece. The wide fretboard is essential (I have fingers that look like bratwursts) and she plays like a dream when in top condition. Makes a LOT of noise for a tiny body. It's both a pleasure and an honor to watch you work. I never miss an episode of Rosa's School for Aspiring Luthiers. You, Sir, ROCK. And also bluegrass, if that can be a verb. Cheers!
I have a martin from that era that looks so similar. Despite missing a few inches of a side panel it is incredibly sweet sounding and resonant. Great little instruments.
I am so thrilled by the sliver fix. I have engaged exactly the same fix using Krazy Glue and it works fine. If the digout is really small I layer in very fine matching wood dust (different colors of different woods - powder is stored in Krazy Glue vials with the shade marked outside) and noozle a little CA glue in there and rub in wood powder with my finger whilst catching the falling powder on a piece of paper cuz it's precious and I keep layering till I match the level of repaired wood then I scrape and sand very carefully - the mix of Krazy Glue and fine wood powder is actually flexible enough to match expansion and contraction of the wood being filled - the wood powder/CA glue layering is miraculous and a lot easier than sculpting slivers which I really don't mind. I have lived to see somebody do a few things that I and 13 other people on earth do. Thank you and Mahalo.
Well done! You really brought that one back from the graveyard. I’d love to just try a guitar of that vintage. My wife used an iron on a pretty new hardwood dining table but did not use a thick enough protective pad, and she spoiled the finish with that milky white discolouration. One weekend she was away, I set to it with 0000 steel wool and vegetable oil. I did a pretty good job. I can still see where I worked on it, but my wife can’t tell, so that’s good enough. I tricked her a bit by turning the table 180°. I earned some husband points that weekend!
Our old dining table used to do the same thing. I always blamed the furniture polish (in the spray can). I don’t have any evidence to back that up but I believe it softens the finish somehow and opens the pores in some types of finishes. If wood finishes seem sticky at all after using spray polish, I’d try something different.
We had same when at some point people left hot drinks or food in trays on top of coffee table. We put up with the bloom for a year and the I took dry tea towel to protect surface and a hot iron (definitely no steam). Worked on gently and progressively. All gone I would appear it moisture stuck in the finish and the heat drove it out. Whatever you do go careful. Wife was out and I was sweating😃
Jerry your are truly a craftsman. You know, you really do make it look easy but you're not fooling me. Thank you for sharing such great content and hats off to the owner of the guitar to be inspired with confidence that the parlor guitar was worth of restoring...after all if he didn't think you could do it likely wouldn't have done it.
"i can rock it"...you certainly can,what a beautiful job on a sweet piece of history!..thank you for sharing!.....and just started the case video.....thank you to Sue as well!
I absolutely love your videos of restoring such beautiful instruments and making them playable for (hopefully) another 100 years. I have been binge watching your videos and learning so much from them. Thank you for sharing your craft.
Yeah, as much as I love those old guitars, the necks are TERRIBLE. Huge, chunky, overweight, really. But the sound of them almost makes it worth trying to get around on them. Plus, the age thing, and wondering how many hands played this guitar first. Love those old parlor guitars, my favorite in terms of size and projection.
That material is from a old bed sheet my great grandmother had that pattern in her spare bedroom from the 20's-30's . Now saying that I can't say it always was a bed sheet because everything was repurposed back in the day . We still have a quilt that's gotta be close to 200 years old .its made of old bed sheet flour sacks and button up shirts .
Im impressed with the quality of work you put into every job no matter how large or small . I do hope your customers appreciate your work .
I didn't knew that Washburn was existing that long already. Thank you.
I used to do these kind of splinter repairs as a high end finish carpenter on expensive cabinets. It will never be perfect but most people will never notice those types of repairs if these repairs are finished well. You do great work!
I'm not a guitar repairman, so this "easy" job looked like a terrifying nightmare to me! What amazing results!!!
Same here 👍
Mr. Rosa, you do not disappoint! I admire the way you can evaluate an instrument; with damage that would strike fear into most repair guys, and you're like"Ahhh, piece of cake". Nothing ever phases you. Thanks for sharing your expertise, and more importantly... Your time. Until we speak again, my friend....
Stefan Grossman talks about the path through society of Parlor Guitars when teaching Sevastopol. It seems they were the rage after the Civil War, when young women of means in New England would be given guitars and song books of parlor music. Like many things, not everything takes with teenagers and so a lot of parlor guitars made their way into the used market and refuse pile. More than a few made their way into the hands of African Americans playing blues, and many of the licks from sheet music (like Sevastopol) became part of their repertoire to the point where Open-D tuning is call Sevastopol tuning. Robert Johnson played a Gibson L-1. So that little bit of history you just restored is a great physical representation of something that linked women of leisure to men and sharecroppers who had no leisure at all, except after dark with a parlor guitar making music to soothe the mind and soul.
This is a lovely commentary on the love and history of music and guitars.
I've always heard it called vestopol tuning.... now I know why..... thanks....
Pièce de resistance means chief piece of the meal, the most exciting part. Great Job, great moments , hi from France! Voilà
Guitars were given free to tramps by piano teachers in an attempt to associate guitars with the lower orders and get young ladies of quality back to the piano
Brown I do nt know if that true but it makes a fantastic story!
Great job on a great old guitar! The song made me smile. My Italian Dad used to sing that to my Irish Mom, whose name was Rose.
Nice work again Jerry your customer should be completely happy, happy, happy.
Two minutes into your video and I know I'm going to enjoy it Jerry. This is gonna be a good one. Thank you
I really enjoyed watching this. Thanks for your time.
who the heck gives this video a thumbs down,they must want hip hop music from that beautiful guitar
Nice job.....hope you have more old ones like this again...Keep the videos a coming..
you are an artist what a privilege to work on that must have been for you great work thanks for shearing
I thoroughly enjoy watching how you chisel and scrape away the unwanted wood and glue, and bring everything back to beautiful! Impressive for sure. This old Washburn is looking and sounding great. Thanks for posting.
Wow Man!!!!!!!! You Inspire me Daily.
That carbon paper dovetail checking method is a fantastic idea, whoever thought that one up was a genius.
just call me Einstein.
I've seen Ted at twoofrd using that same technique. It's such a simple but neat idea.
What a gentleman you are you deserve your new tool that your customer sent you
An hour long Rosa restoration. This was a highlight of the weekend! Great work on the old Washburn, Jerry.
thank you Sir. i love my family roots. i come from hillbilly's and outlaws, music has always been with me. as i stepped away from a troubled past, i thought my connection with the good parts of my family were gone. you give me hope that the respect, not the lies i was told as a child, will return to the ugliness of this world. we all make mistakes and you showed me that we can repair them if we try
That's a real beauty Jerry I enjoyed watching you repair it.
Jerry you are master luthier great job fixing that old beauty
nice job on the very old guitar, love seeing your work and thanks for sharing your work.
That was made the year my granddad was. He'd take a bit more than skillful scraping and a bit of shellac to get him looking and working as well as that instrument.
It's a joy to watch this channel.
Thanks for this tour through an old guitars resurrection.
I see and try to learn every bit of the way.
This was a very well spent Sunday night.
Five minutes in, my kinda video.
→Just finished watching. The guitar and the case are so cool. Great restoration again. Thanks for sharing, Jerry.
You exceeded your self there gerry what a lovely old guitar it will last another 100 years thanks to you you are a very talented Luthier and love what you do
I think your an Artist. You do amazing work. Finished product is magnificent. Thanks for sharing this with us.
you are amazing , if i ever need one of mine fixed , you will be the first contact . thanks for sharing !!!
Great job Grandpa 👍👏👏👏You have wonderful grandchildren to give you such a fantastic shirt!
Another great video Jerry, outstanding work as always!
CHeers, John
What an awesome guitar... Thanks for share it Jerry.
Greetings from Germany
i like the way you work my dad always said that if you do something right the first time you wont have to do it again.
Wow you really bought that back to life for future generations to enjoy. Well done mate and thanks for an hour of great viewing. 👍
ANOTHER AMAZING RESTORATION...HAT'S OFF TO "ROSA STRING WORKSHOP" LOVE THIS CHANNEL !
I really appreciate the invention of the adjustable truss rod after watching this video. A great job turning this back into a playable instrument that some one can enjoy for many years to come. Bravo!
Loved seeing this come back to life.
Simply amazing job Jerry.
Beautiful work as ever, another one brought back to life.
Beautiful job as always, Jerry! I worked on a similar old Brazilian Rosewood Parlor Guitar. It had a crack in the side with a thin gouge along the crack like that. I filled it with some ebony dust and super glue, and even rubbed some in the crack itself. It came out perfect. Looked like a dark streak in the wood. Twas shellacked, so it was easy to fix the finish. Polished the shellac with some pumice powder.
Great video, lovely old guitar, can't wait to see the case restored as well
Wow! Looks like a million bucks! I can’t wait to see the case video!
Beautiful sounding instrument. Great job getting it in shape for the next 1 1/4 century.
Bonnie elderly guitar brought back to life, brilliant.
Got one of the limited run of the 125th anniversary editions by Washburn. Lovely to see one of the originals come back to life! Thanks
Wow, pretty amazing!
I can barely tell the difference of the color of that binding. Another awesome job Jerry. You are an awesome wood worker!!!
My five year old daughter was watching with me, and said "That's a good show". LOL Great work as always, Jerry.
Tell her hello from me.
Great job on a great old guitar. special thanks for the song at the end. my father sang that to my mother a million times and brought back sweet memories. Her name was Rosemary
That neck repair was a good demonstration of how good titebond is. Glued in those small bits of wood and in a few hours they were stuff well enough to be hammering and chiseling them, nice. Also a lovely guitar beautifully repaired.
Thank you so much for what you do. I really enjoyed watching this one brought back to life.
Really like that little guitar!!!! He has common sense and does great work.
Don't know why I didn't get a notification for this video, yet I did for the next one (coffin repair) this was most definitely another miracle repair. Looks & sounds great.
Really enjoyed your repair work on this old washburn guitar as Ive done many such repairs and enjoy your ingenuity thanks for sharing.
Jerry you've done it again impeccable workmanship and a great video on top you have a great night my friend until the next video take care buddy
THAT WAS A FIVE STAR VIDEO.....THE WORK YOU DID RESTORING THAT BEAUTIFUL OLD INSTRUMENT WAS SECOND TO NONE , AND THE WAY IT SOUNDED AFTERWARDS WAS EVEN BETTER....I HOPE YOU GET MORE INSTRUMENTS LIKE THAT ONE...THAT WAS PURE JOY TO WATCH....
maybe put a new battery in your hearing aid ol fella...youre yelling
Sounds good. Made a nice old guitar. God bless.
Mr. Rosa , AGAIN.. You are AMAZING. !!!!!
Total respect mate .. staining and matching finishes is an absolute art form ✅✅
Mr Rosa. Really enjoyed this episode watching you repair this sweet old 1800's period Washburn parlor guitar. It turned out geat! sounds real good too!
The « pièce de résistance » is the main dish in a full menu… Quite an old-fashioned notion, so it fits with the guitar.
This was excellent . Thank you . I met this older guy (about 82 y/o) while installing some air conditioning for him back in the mid 90's . And during breaks marveled at his shop . My take away after that experience and the humble words he spoke was this ; Everything can be clamped down | Nothing has to be moved or carried by brute force | And never reach out farther then where your elbow is to work on something Get closer to it > Or get it closer to you . That was a wise man .
I found this same 1890 Washburn parlor guitar in the family attic in 1964 and played Peter, Paul and Mary songs on it. It was in very good condition. I gave it to a luthier in Buffalo in hopes it would.be preserved.
same model
I'm qualified to do this sort of thing, taught by John Bailey, a British guitar maker. I didn't keep it up though - not enough money in it and none of it easy money. But I can tell you, this is the real deal and I think the cherry on the cake is when he sings a song on it. Hats off.
In the time it took to watch this, I changed strings on my acoustic, tuned it and played a few tunes of my own. It's a lot less worry.
Got almost the same Washburn that had the full neck reset with carbon fibre rods and some cracks and binding fixed. It’s the guitar non guitar players like the sound of the best. 1899. I got the Washburn book and it helped date it accurately. If you haven’t got it I’ll gladly help get the exact year on this if the customer wants it. All the best and great work. It’s really inspiring what you do. 👌🏻
this was a very special segment. The workmanship to restore it was amazing. It's amazing that a 125 year old guitar can be brought back to life with a couple clamps and hand chisles. Congrats on a great job. I'll know where to send my Martin is 100 years.
By what seems to be overwhelming coincidence, I have almost the exact guitar and I have it in pieces so that I can repair it. Branded inside is "1897 Style". It has 4 abalone position markers, each different, the identical binding to the one you repaired and an abalone rosette at each end of the bridge. The fretboard was (And remains) cracked, as on yours, from the sound hole to the 12th fret. Little tiny crack. Couple small cracks in the body, nothing too bad. Had to pull the fretboard off. The neck/body joint is solid but the action had gotten too high to be playable. The neck itself had warped over the years and I had to plane it to get it flat again and I'm still working on it. Fretboard might go back on tomorrow.
I'm told by experts online that obtaining the correct date is almost impossible. They said mine was built between 1898 and 1902 and I wouldn't be at all surprised if yours is the same style and age. They tell me that there were three levels (Prices). The price apparently was dependent upon trim with all having the same basic wooden components. The one in the video looks like the lower end, mine is the middle and the top level had abalone binding a la Martin D45. I own half a dozen acoustic guitars, including a 43 year old Martin but the Washburn is my daily player, or will be once she's back in one piece. The wide fretboard is essential (I have fingers that look like bratwursts) and she plays like a dream when in top condition. Makes a LOT of noise for a tiny body.
It's both a pleasure and an honor to watch you work. I never miss an episode of Rosa's School for Aspiring Luthiers.
You, Sir, ROCK. And also bluegrass, if that can be a verb. Cheers!
You should take a bow, not many men like you left with skills that are at your level. Thanks for the videos.
Awesome resto Jerry you saved another one!Cheers
Wow that’s amazing man! Really great work.
Excellent work as always sir. I enjoyed watching the process of bringing that old guitar back to life.
Those old Washburn parlor guitars are great players,you did a great job my friend
That was a most interesting repair. Really enjoyed it as much as you enjoyed the results.
This has been so interesting to watch, I am addicted to your video's. Great stuff.
Love your videos Jerry. This was a special one
I really enjoyed watching a true craftsman at work.
I have a martin from that era that looks so similar. Despite missing a few inches of a side panel it is incredibly sweet sounding and resonant. Great little instruments.
Fantastic job restoring the Washburn! Thanks for sharing with us.
I love watching your videos. I run them all night on many occasions. Thank you. 🔈🔉🔊
I am so thrilled by the sliver fix. I have engaged exactly the same fix using Krazy Glue and it works fine. If the digout is really small I layer in very fine matching wood dust (different colors of different woods - powder is stored in Krazy Glue vials with the shade marked outside) and noozle a little CA glue in there and rub in wood powder with my finger whilst catching the falling powder on a piece of paper cuz it's precious and I keep layering till I match the level of repaired wood then I scrape and sand very carefully - the mix of Krazy Glue and fine wood powder is actually flexible enough to match expansion and contraction of the wood being filled - the wood powder/CA glue layering is miraculous and a lot easier than sculpting slivers which I really don't mind. I have lived to see somebody do a few things that I and 13 other people on earth do. Thank you and Mahalo.
Well done! You really brought that one back from the graveyard. I’d love to just try a guitar of that vintage.
My wife used an iron on a pretty new hardwood dining table but did not use a thick enough protective pad, and she spoiled the finish with that milky white discolouration. One weekend she was away, I set to it with 0000 steel wool and vegetable oil. I did a pretty good job. I can still see where I worked on it, but my wife can’t tell, so that’s good enough. I tricked her a bit by turning the table 180°. I earned some husband points that weekend!
Our old dining table used to do the same thing. I always blamed the furniture polish (in the spray can). I don’t have any evidence to back that up but I believe it softens the finish somehow and opens the pores in some types of finishes. If wood finishes seem sticky at all after using spray polish, I’d try something different.
We had same when at some point people left hot drinks or food in trays on top of coffee table. We put up with the bloom for a year and the I took dry tea towel to protect surface and a hot iron (definitely no steam). Worked on gently and progressively. All gone I would appear it moisture stuck in the finish and the heat drove it out. Whatever you do go careful. Wife was out and I was sweating😃
Nonya Bizness classy
Awesome vid Jerry. There is something very therapeutic about your vids.
Great video Jerry.
One of my favorite guitars you've had on you channel!
Jerry I thought I was time traveling when I saw July 2019 ;-) that’s a nice old guitar, and a beautiful job repairing it... amazing.
Jerry your are truly a craftsman. You know, you really do make it look easy but you're not fooling me. Thank you for sharing such great content and hats off to the owner of the guitar to be inspired with confidence that the parlor guitar was worth of restoring...after all if he didn't think you could do it likely wouldn't have done it.
"i can rock it"...you certainly can,what a beautiful job on a sweet piece of history!..thank you for sharing!.....and just started the case video.....thank you to Sue as well!
Love watching you fix instruments, I watch your videos more than any others. Best regards from your neighbour to the north 🇨🇦
What a great video. I actually have grown to enjoy the long videos you put out... And usually a little bonus music at the end... Thank you so much!
Excellent work restoring the past and nice performance🤠🤗🤗🌹
I absolutely love your videos of restoring such beautiful instruments and making them playable for (hopefully) another 100 years. I have been binge watching your videos and learning so much from them. Thank you for sharing your craft.
Nice......wouldn't mind owning that one too. Great job restoring it!
I'm a multi repairer of most things so no expert at one. This was was a fantastic tutorial for me to repair my oldest guitar. thank you.
It was a very satisfying video to watch. Well done!
Love it. One was at a local shop near me up here in MN. I couldn't believe how V-shaped the neck was. It was very pronounced.
Yeah, as much as I love those old guitars, the necks are TERRIBLE. Huge, chunky, overweight, really. But the sound of them almost makes it worth trying to get around on them. Plus, the age thing, and wondering how many hands played this guitar first. Love those old parlor guitars, my favorite in terms of size and projection.
That material is from a old bed sheet my great grandmother had that pattern in her spare bedroom from the 20's-30's . Now saying that I can't say it always was a bed sheet because everything was repurposed back in the day . We still have a quilt that's gotta be close to 200 years old .its made of old bed sheet flour sacks and button up shirts .
What a beautiful little guitar, sounds great too, you saved something special there Jerry, fine work as usual.
A fine job. A real pleasure to watch a craftsman at work. 👍😊
holy shit the fact that you are colorblind but do so well at these restorations is amazing
And it's a nice sounding little guitar!
Such PATIENCE!
Such SKILLS!
Such IDEAS!
👍👍
WOW!... thats a cool guitar. cant wait to see it finished