WATCH how furniture restorer restores a guitar!
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- Опубликовано: 28 сен 2024
- Watch how furniture restorer restores a guitar
This guitar was made by Olbrei & Co, in Tallinn, somewhere between 1907-1940. Restoring a guitar was quite a challenge for me. In this video you will see, did I succeed or not.
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@@johnwayne8114 I have seen far worse restorations by so called Luthiers. And ended up with a fine sounding Guitar .. What exactly did he get wrong in your expert opinion.
Yeah that's a beautiful guitar you got there but you wrecked it. Stick to fixing chairs please
@@johnwayne8114 0}}
Link do Filmu ruclips.net/video/6Y72_bzErAY/видео.html
At 10:10 you can see the makers stamp, this of course is after cracking it open. Hope it helps
Muusikariistade = Instruments
Töökoda = Workshop
T. Olbrei & Ko = Tönis Olbrei & Companion(s)
Tallinnas = Tallinn
Hermanni T. Nr 1 = Street name and number
EESTI = Estonia
Tönis Olbrei was a piano maker, his brother Jann and August Kraemann, a builder, merged their companies and started making pianos, harmoniums, mandolins, guitars and other musical instruments in 1905.
So I'd say that guitar is from earliest 1905 or a bit younger like up to 1915 or so.
Fascinating information; thank you for your input!
Thank you. I tried to understand but failed miserably.
I would have thought that if it was made in 1905 it would be marked as Reval and there would be no mention of Estonia. I would imagine the guitar was made after independence and dates from the 1920s.
Thank you for the details
Estonians rock !
It’s a schtuck scheisse now.
That's why professional guitar builder/repair people are called Luthier's, great work but so many OMG! what are you doing moment's. But I applaud the effort, so many would have just tossed it away.
OMG The crowning moment to me was the spraying of the top.
I love how there is no cheesy narration, or crappy "upbeat, inspirational" music track. Makes this video much more enjoyable.
I enjoy watching your skilled hands as they work with the wood. My grandfather built violins and repaired all kinds of instruments for the local music store. I was enthralled watching him work.
And that's why you take guitars to luthiers, not furniture people
He's sawing the back in half? WTF?
My thoughts exactly!!!
Ouch. The end result was OK, and better than I have seen from some 'luthiers' to be fair.. but still. That poor poor guitar is no more. B
@@CrimsonCustomGuitars nice to see you here Ben!
@@VictorRochaGaming the back was already in 2 half's he just trimmed a little off to make a spine as the 2 half's have shrunk with age so wont fit the body ,adding a spine allows him to glue the back on and it fit .
It's really interesting to see what another style of woodworker thinks is important when restoring and instrument. There's some overlap like fixing the cracks and filing off the end of the frets, but a luthier would have ignored the finish entirely to focus on the braces, neck, nut, bridge and saddle.
Gotta say, it looked fantastic in the end.
It looks like a lumpy shellacked mess.
Looks fantastic on a wall. Never to be played again.
You foolishly assume he didn't later tweak the action.
@@tolanstout D'uh! It's called French polish.
I think a luthier would have fixed the cracks, the frets, the action and the finish ... to finish! :) At least that's what I would do as an amateur but rather experienced luthier.
OUCH!
Definitely shows the difference between a luthier and a furniture restorer!
I get the same cringe when channels “restore” C&R firearms. Any collectors value is left on the shops wire wheel. Conservation of what is, is the proper course. IMHO
Groan. Big Al, Big Bore.
Fully agree. I was wondering: "Am I the only one to find this horrible?" When I saw the final result, I was about to cry. What a bad taste! No offense, but this man should definitely stick to furniture and leave musical instruments for REAL luthiers.
@@DriftinDoug you're obviously not a guitar player or even a furniture lover
He did an alright job but in comparison to a proper luthier, it was horrible.
And I have to encourage that before you put strings on your guitar, PLEASE check what type of guitar you have before getting the strings! You can't stick any strings on any guitar!
From what I can see, and researched this is a NYLON 7 string acoustic guitar, and I'm assuming this actually a classical guitar.
Warning to people who might not know, but you can't put steel strings on a Nylon guitar and visa versa. If there is too much tension on the neck and on the bridge it'll bow, f#cking your guitar. Same applies to if there's too little tension.
Different guitars have overall different necks, body's and components which influence what can and can't be done to a guitar. Example, most classical guitars don't have a truss rod, that is to say, there are those that do have them, however truss rods are primarily found in steel string acoustics and electrics because of they have a lot more tension.
Wow! Can’t believe that I stumbled on this video. I sold this guitar quite a few years ago, I think on eB. My wife and I had a guitar business in Michigan. I found it in a 2nd hand shop and thought it would make a good wall hanger. It hung on a wall in our house for a few years until we moved and no longer had a place for it. I think that it’s great that someone took the time to bring this old girl back to life.
Really good craftsmanship !
I wish it were my guitar I play
It's really beautiful
This could be a guitar that was played every day by maybe 1 person for all there life, would be interesting to find out, maybe someone back in the 40's, 50's, 60's maybe had no TV, also seems it's 7 string which rare. I'm considering a new guitar but honestly, the reality is most guitars do not get played sometimes for years. But this old beauty has a lot of stories to tell.
Next time I suggest you glue the braces to the back before you glue the back to the sides, and it helps to make a plaster mould of the back's dome at the outset so as to maintain the integrity of its shape - a common procedure in violin repair.
yes! the braces should be glued to the back first.
Different to the chairs, but equally as skilfull and fascinating to watch.
The pattern of the grain on the back looks incredible!
I used to build guitars. I think you did a decent job for just a quickie without luthier tools.
I liked the video, the restoration process and the result. It was a good idea to keep the guitar's face with the scratches. It preserves the original look.
Im a woodworker, and i found a similar guitar thrown away. I tried to restore it, and after watching this I am ashamed. Great work , nice workshop, top skills, and lovely guitar.
@damian - There are many videos available on RUclips which show guitar restorations performed by trained/experienced luthiers.
@@rb032682 Thanks. I will do a little more research next time before butchering another old guitar.
@@damianmaynard2592 - If I owned the guitar in this video, I would hang it with its back exposed. That wood is just too darned beautiful to hide it on the backside.
I suggest you look through youtube professional luthiers doing these restaurations, this is a actually a pretty good job but a had seen a lot of better works in comparison to this.
@@antoniofaria3384 What can YOU do? Put your money where your mouth is for once.
I think this showed a good, practical restoration. Not exactly high art, but done lovingly. Leaving the witness marks shows respect for what this little guitar has lived through. I thoroughly enjoyed it!
It's a catastrophe.
In the culture of guitarists, it's got too much work done apparently.
@@kenz2756 It's more about the culture of restoration. The idea is to preserve as much as possible. This instrument told a story of how the original craftsmen worked, the tools and materials they used. That story is gone now.
@@Adamfront Restoring what? It depends, doesn't it?
@@kenz2756 Not really. The basic principles are the same whether you are restoring an instrument, a painting, antique furniture or any other kind of art. Restoration should not damage the object you are trying to restore and everything you do should be reversible.
Perhaps in a few years the market will decide that this instrument is worth a massive amount of money in original condition. In that case the owner just lost a massive amount of money, and paid for the privilege. It would not be the first time this has happened.
Very satisfying watching someone else do all the work...
honestly i was expecting him to turn it into a sofa or a chair by the title
I like the way you fixed the damage, and cleaned up the guitar without wiping out all of its history. That instrument earned its battle scars, and it's nice to see them honored and preserved that way. Anyone can pull down a brand new guitar without a scratch on it. It's rare to see a time honored instrument like this in such good overall shape. Nice video! Oh, and that was a two piece, book matched back to begin with. That's why it cracked straight down the middle the way it did. The repair was perfect.
Yesssss
Hey stop drinking, my friend. Your face is so red.
@@grarglejobber7941 Beg Jesus to forgive you.
You need to remove the steel strings from this guitar. This guitar was made before steel strings were in common use. it was designed for gut strings that have a much lower tension on them. This 7 string guitar will have somewhere around 160-180 lbs of tension on the neck and bridge with steel strings. Gut strings would have a tension of around 90lbs with 7 strings. You will find the top will warp, the neck will warp, and eventually the bridge will rip off.
It is braced like a classical guitar but has a metal saddle and plain metal machine head rollers along with a curved fingerboard, which is extended in a pattern typical of jazz guitars. Moreover, if it was made as late as 1940, steel string guitars were much in vogue. I wouldn't be so sure that it was designed for gut strings and it predates nylon strings. I'm a retired luthier, by the way.
He doesn't care, he did it for the views.
These are interesting comments to me, I used to do furniture restoration for a living for a few years, working for a real professional. I (or he) wouldn´t know what to do and how on restoring musical instruments. I have inherited a violin and a mandolin that my grandfather (r.i.p) made in the past, they are at least 70 yrs. Should I take them to a professional in musical intstruments for a restoration? I like that they look their age and probably no one is ever going to play them (don`t know anyone who could) but it would be nice to have them in working condition.
Thanks
@@76blackwidow If your grandfather made the instruments using conventional methods, I would take them to someone who specialises in violin repair. However, if they are unlikely to be played in your lifetime, keep them as they are and leave it to the person who decides it's worth spending money to get them playable. It is not a good idea to take them to someone who is going to slap PVA glue on them (there is a professional guitar repairer on RUclips who is doing this with fiddles, insisting it is ok as the components can be removed with heat - this is bad practice, as the hide/bone/hoof glue used on violins sets rock hard and affects tone positively - PVA does not when it comes to bowed instruments - and violin tops are glued with a weaker glue and are best removed without heat). There are no doubt furniture makers who are aware of instrument making techniques, but don't assume that they all do.
@@Weejie2011 Couldn't he do anything better with the front. Looks like hell. Sitka spruce??? Looks like it could take a shave to get rid of some of that battle damage. PS. Those machines look like they're for steel and not gut or anything else.
This was a labor of love, and in truth, the back and sides are beautiful, the DELICATE, thin Spruce top is soft and you cannot remove much of surface damage, but you handled it nicely, and the character and sound has been rebuilt and renewed! A rare instrument given new life is special!
Браво, Мастер! Ваша работа вызывает восхищение. На Вашу работу интересно смотреть даже тем, кто в этом ничего не понимает.
The figuring on that back is amazing!
"А ну давай наяривай, гитара семиструнная..."©
Вы её возродили просто, браво👏👏👏
Да её только на стену повесить для антуража！Звук вообще никакой！
@@bigwens21 ну, от этого гроба хорошего звука вряд ли получится добиться в принципе. Но и по восстановлению главный косяк - с грифом почти ничего не сделал, накладку не выровнял, лады оставил древние, и даже их в одну плоскость не вывел, чего тут ждать?
Чего сидеть и горевать, ведь ночь , такая лунная . По молодости хотел научится на 7- ми струнке научится, но научился брякать на 6 -ти струнке .
привет всем русским!
@@maxxsrostov5759 Или русскоговорящим ?
Now this is a resto video! No jabbering and no music.
Edit: I would've replaced the frets and in the process cleaned the entire fingerboard of paint. But, nice job with this; way better than most could do.
I would rather see the years of patina saved and have it functional. scars give character and sound depth. But still amazing job and loved watching the video!
I'm amazed that the frets were still in such good condition. I recently worked on a 1946 Dutch made guitar restoration project. the thing that wasn't salvageable were the frets. They are manufactured from brass which has corroded, become soft and brittle. The one decision I am faced with is whether or not I try and salvage the original frets or have it fitted with new fret wire. Thanks for the interesting video. I would call it more of a rebuild than a restoration, but you did a great job. Well done.
as a luthier i can say, frets worn a lot with playing, so its not a crime to replace them tho.
people replace frets dozens of times over the lifespan of a well warn guitar. Don't fret, it's perfectly fine to refret.
@@robertdavidson8289 I've never made the connection between the word fret, as in guitar frets and the verb " to fret over something". Strange. Fret is also a word used to describe something being worn away, I think, hence fret wire, wire that helps to avoid the fret board being worn away by the strings. That's a whole lot of frets right there. Cheers.
They were probably replaced at some point by a luthier that actually knew what he was doing.
new fret wire if its going to be played! A player wants it playable, a museum might want original fret wire. Just save the old stuff in a baggie and keep them with it.
Hello, I liked watching your video. But I noticed at the end you used steel strings, on an old guitar like this with ladder bracing (parallel braces going along the inside of the top and back) they are not designed to be able to handle the string tension steel strings put on them. It might result in warping in the top and causing more damage, I would switch to nylon strings
Definitely. I have a lute I put metal strings on at first, big mistake. The neck bent - I replaced those strings pronto !
I like how you left the scuffs and scratches on the front. This retained its history and character. Nice work!
In the guitar world often less is more. Making it playable with minimal refinishing would probably have been preferable for most collectors/musicians.
Yeah, kinda broke my heart to be honest. And that varnish all over the guitar... Not great.
@@MateusVerde Did it sound bad??
Naaaaah man, this is a brandless barn guitar with a bolt-on neck. I guess maybe some Russian expat might want to buy it just for nostalgia but the build quality alone is reason enough to take a hard pass, at least to actual musicians.
@@paulneedham9885 No it sounds pretty crappy. These dudes are just larping as musicians.
@@paulneedham9885 It does not sound bad. Like Jerome was saying a minimal repair would be preferable to some people.
I, along with many other find the wear and tear, quirks and problems with old worn down instruments very inspiring.
And when you do such a big change to a guitar by the end of the process you have a different instrument. Not necessarily better or worse sounding, but some of the "magic" will be gone.
That being said, it does sound good now of course and I'm sure it will be used and loved.
Hope that helps you understand my point of view.
Congratulations. You brought two and a half thousand guitarists to tears.
I cried
Me too
I’m in tears lmao
Tears of joy
This was hard to watch...😖😢😭😭😭🤦🏼♂️
Beautiful! Would love to hear it with nylon strings, hopefully someone else will be making music with this guitar in another 100years. Thank you for making such an enjoyable video.
The back and sides are a surprising duo of the glory of wood refinished to show the tree's, the builder's and the restorers contributions. Thank you.
All of that work! Not one step to check the neck angle, playability, saddle location for intonation, keeping a potential collectible as original as possible, on and on. But, I'm quite sure you're an excellent furniture restorer. Well done in that respect!
World's greatest critic?
@@DriftinDoug I've been repairing guitars for over 40 years. The absolute number 1 priority in guitar repair is making it play well and in tune! Next would be to make it structurally sound e.g. loose braces, lifting bridge, neck reset, etc. Cosmetics are secondary.
The way it sounds before and after is what it's all about. All the rest...I can't tell if you did it right. But surely you put in a lot of effort and you did the best you could. Respect...🙏🏼
I thought the look and off tones from before the restoration were unique
Looks great but I have to admit that the process gave me the “fingernails on a chalkboard” feeling at times. Then again, he would likely find watching a luthier restore an antique piece painful, too.
I know a couple young luthiers who ended up being hired by cabinet shops because of their skills in fine woodworking.
I look forward to other videos in this series, like "car wash guy rebuilds F-1 engine" or "nurse practitioner performs heart transplant."
A testament to bolt-on necks for acoustic guitars.
And it still ended up with a super high action.
I think it’s cool that you experimented with & explored a guitar. There’s no other way to learn whether you’re really interested in something until you get your hands dirty and fuss with it.
I’m honestly mostly just jealous of you because I’d love to have the space, tools, and ability to try taking apart and exploring a guitar, then putting it back together with no real consequences, expectations, or pressure for it to sound or look good afterwards.
On the one hand, I can understand why people who develop serious bonds with their musical instruments might have found this somewhat sacrilegious or were confused by the heaps of praise when it comes to the process or final sound. Buuuuut on the other hand, I think it’s cool that you explored a guitar. And I think your title does a good enough job at implying that it is in no way meant to be instructional. Sometimes the very first steps into a new field/hobby are messy and unbalanced, which makes perfect sense.
For instance, on a forum for hobbyists creating/tending bonsai trees, people’s experience or time in the hobby is measured by the number of trees they killed. And for good reason. Certain hobbies can be really really hard! I’m halfway decent at traditional art. I can draw, do figure drawing, charcoal portraits, pen and ink, some oil painting. But if I posted a video of me attempting to make a piece of digital art, it would turn out horribly lol. And digital artists watching my process would probably be slapping their foreheads at my newbie mistakes and inefficiencies.
Some of the criticism feels fairly lighthearted (or otherwise in good faith) to me, like how someone watching someone learn to drive a manual might say they cringed seeing a learner strain a clutch/transmission. Not meant to be discouraging, but more a joke about how it can feel to watch people be inexperienced at something you know a lot about. But I agree that some of it is unnecessarily harsh.
Though I noticed you mostly only engaged with comments that were nearly universally praising you. Which, if you didn’t particularly enjoy the experience of working with the guitar and aren’t interested in pursuing it, is whatever since it’s just a one-off project. But if you had fun working on it and it sparked some interest to learn more about instrument-specific stuff, I think it’s worth acknowledging the good faith constructive criticism and suggestions about your methods or the final sound produced, because it could help you be more successful, or help things go more smoothly next time.
Sorry for the long comment, but it’s hard to say what I want to in only a few words. Anyway, good job on just fearlessly ripping into the project and seeing it through. I always end up taking forever to start new endeavors because I do so much anxious research. It was interesting to see how the instincts of a different woodworking field would handle a guitar. It’s also an interesting line of thought; general skills vs specializations... Thanks for sharing your exploration.
Guitar turned out beautiful. A bit different due to having 7 strings but still plays beautifully. Must be very satisfying to take some decrepit piece and make it usable again. Have a great day
Reading many of the comments it is refreshing that this "restoration" is a labor of love by a very talented woodworker. Love takes on many forms. The title was not "watch me build a better guitar." many of the techniques were irreversible and so it is with love. The guitar is better off having received the love and attention.
I enjoyed this video, I guess there are two schools of thought on refinishing, to me, "refinishing" is a complete job, "refurbish" is what was presented here. I, personally would have refinished the front as well...others like the distressed look...I would want to create the look of a brand new piece...just like it came from the store...before being abused/loved. good job!
I think he's found an evil niche. Imagine the eyeballs if you "restored" a Stradivarius!
Omg i had a heart attack when i thought he restored my stradivarious violin 😬
@@lavolpe8044 My Stratovarious was already pretuned when I got it. That's why it cost so much.
No resturo nada reparar no es restaurar.
These old guitars have a unique sound! I've got a similar one, in a similar state. My guitar teacher compared the sound to a damp shoe box but I like it and so do some of my musician friends. If I ever have fewer projects on my plate than right now, I might strike a deal with a very friendly luthier I happen to know for a bit of a restoration.
I know it needed to be done but I almost cried when you cut the back into!
I love it when old instruments are given a second life! Well done & beautiful work!
If Korn were a band in the 1800s, this will be their guitar.
They'd be called Maize
@@dathaniel9403 yes! Hehe
This honest guy did his very best, but oh boy! I'm not a Luthier, but there were so many moments that horrified me. I'm sure the real Luthiers are losing sleep over this one.
I liked and enjoyed it !!
Lord there are some keyboard experts on here. 🧐🥴🤪🤣
When you sanded off the finish from the back and revealed the curly maple, I literally said "wow" out loud. Thanks for that.
That ruins the history and age of the guitar he could have restored that finish.
@@Christopherhawl I hope you can recover from this horrible atrocity.
Thanks for this video! I’m restoring a very similar Russian guitar but mine has 4 extra bass strings. There are no markings on the inside to say who the maker is but other than the extra strings it’s identical inside. Even the tuners are the same. Very cool!
Tallin, Estonia
you got a nice piece of furniture because you can't call that musical instrument anymore :)))
for sure I won't ask people like you to fix my guitar, but for sure I'll trust you regarding fixing any historical furniture.
Good job!
I’m pretty sure it played. This is exactly what you over paid for at your local guitar tech shop there’s not a whole lot of magic going on up there Eric cartoon
I know in first person how hard these restorations can be. The work you have done with the back is very impressive. Good job!
I made a guitar (telecaster) when I was 16 and this video brought it all back. What a find! great job.
Now I wanna make another ;)
Stunning job!! The wood on the back and side is very unique. I'm so glad you left the "battle wounds" on the front. Sounds beautiful. I very much enjoyed this video and thank you for not adding annoying music. I love the sounds of just the work being done.
Nyet! As a guitar tech I occasionally repair classical guitars (that are all designed for nylon strings), that the owner mistakenly strings up with steel strings. The steel acoustic strings have a MUCH higher tension and can literally rip the bridge right off of the top. They will also warp your neck and top if the ancient bridge somehow stays put on the under braced top. I would replace those ASAP or risk destroying all of your beautiful work!
Great comment, considering the amount of “luthiers” puffing up their chests in the comments about how they know so much more than the next guy yet not one of them mentioned the blatantly obvious.
Absolutely! The sounds it brought forth in the beginning should have told him it wasn't meant to sound as a Modern guitar. Or possibly when he found it was made in Estona. I I'm willing to bet he did not even look up what it said. But I So hope he switched it to nylon before too much damage occurred. It just didn't serve it right. Hh Maybe hes not a guitarist but when he put the strings on, it just didn't sound right. It didn't Give out the sounds it was meant to make. But I feel like with his actions/body language he knew that. but why would he post the video with steel strings if he did???
And Im no Luthier, Don't pretend to be. I just knew that that guitar was never meant for steel the minute I heard it
it's not an ordinary classical guitar, it's russian seven string type of guitar, they were also made for steel strings, it's ok in that case
Interesting
@@nettle_leaf537 This from Wikipedia: "There are two basic types of Russian guitar: the "classical" model and the "gypsy" model. The classical model closely resembles the western 6-string classical guitar, and has nylon or gut strings. The gypsy model is steel strung, and resembles the western 6-string steel-string acoustic guitar, although more size and shape variations are found among gypsy guitars." Not sure about this one.
Beautiful. I love how you didn't remove the blemishes from the front panel. It shows character on an old instrument.
I was waiting for him to break out the belt sander.
As a guitar player I found this interesting, I liked that you left the front showing history but wouldn’t have been upset if you made the back the front, super👍🏻
Aye,the back turned out beautifully.
"There you go! Good as new!..."
'....yeah Viktor, about that...'
Noone gonna talk about how its a 7 string? Thats so cool!
Back in the day people had 12 fingers?
Exactly what I thought....
It's so called "russian guitar", you can google it.
I see lots of things that a luthier would do differently....like applying some heat to the back to loosen the glue rather than just pushing a putty knife in and prying it off!!
Most luthiers would use the seam knife to open the top. Heat could compromise the old delicate finish on the back. With enough patience and skill, a good luthier can get the back off mostly without much fuss or damage. That's how we take the tops and backs off of 300 year old Italian violins in the shop that I work at.
@@johannesgutenberg5993 - Applying heat could damage or blush the finish, that's for sure. It would be possible to heat the knife though which could help soften the old glue rather than roughly prying the seam open as in the video. That's great that you're working with such old instruments!! I don't work with anything quite that old.... :-)
@@johannesgutenberg5993 ruclips.net/video/qI4hzGRrub4/видео.html
Just have to heat the knife up on a flat clothes iron.
@@johannesgutenberg5993 Yeah, but I thought you invented the Bible, Johannes?!
Definitely not a luthier's restauration, yet very interesting to watch. Thanks.
I’m no luthier but what you did was give an old guitar a new lease on life and the chance to sing once more. The wood grain on the back and sides is beautiful. Haters gotta hate and opinions are like assholes, everyone has one.
I lost count of the things an actual guitar luthier would do differently.
Who cares. Negativity not needed. The fella got the job done.
@@shinyribs2178 He got the job done alright but the instrument lost its value and most likely sound qualities. If you want it to just be an ornamental piece for decoration then this is just fine. If this is used for actual playing then most musicians would be mortified.
@@schnaftipufti That guitar had no value as a musical instrument. It might have had some historical value , but we don’t know it’s provenance, so it’s doubtful. To raise that guitar to instrument quality would require so much work it would not be the same guitar.
Let's get things into perspective now....It's funny how with most things people are obsessed with keeping the monetary value of something or even increasing it..... Guitars like most things are not built for this reason , there built to be played and enjoyed ..... exactly as this man has done.... RESPECT 🙏
I would have recommended using nylon strings (like a classical guitar). The steal string that looked like were on there at the start probably should have never been put on the guitar in the first place.
Absolutely and that guitar is dry as a popcorn fart
I mean it's a Russian 7string so you should use steel strings (ignoring the age of it)
@@ciclismo1450 This is a 19th century Russian guitar. It should have nylon strings.
@@edzmuda6870 1907 is 20th century
@@intelligentacid That's true, but the style didn't suddenly change when the century ended.
I appreciate the work put into this. However, I’m guessing this is for hanging on the wall and not for playing.
Interesting to watch the differences in approach. I have some mixed feelings about it...but I appreciate several of the techniques used to arrive at the finished piece.
That was beautiful. Love keeping the front mostly intact. Bringing out the back side wood was great. I would have this guitar hands down over any new one. Obviously a luthier could adjust the technicalities but that sound it produces is majical. I wouldn't change a thing. Seeing something like this is just deeply moving. Thank you for keeping this instrument alive
Nice film, quite mesmerising 😊
Interesting to see the whole spectrum of reactions to the decisions made between before and after.
I plug my phone into a valve compressor/ preamp.
That goes into a Pioneer SA420 transistor power amp.
It makes sense according to my philosophy, it's very low budget, it's something you're not meant to do, I think it sounds fine.
I was waiting for the perfectly renovated body front… 😄
Moi aussi. I presume the patina of age was seen as desirable? The striped wood was brought back gloriously, though.
Yes, that bugged me too! I can see why they might have wanted to leave it though, those marks are part of it's history and character.
Some wear marks are ugly but sometimes they are beautiful.
@@ATRestoration - yeah, but the wear marks that you left look ABSOLUTELY UGLY compared to the rest of the body.
@@johncoops6897 Ugly is sometimes better than correct/beautiful. Because its more interesting. If you put 10 new guitars and this one side by side, which one will stand out?
The way the guitar came apart I’m not surprised that the artisan put the bracing back in the rim before gluing on the back, but traditionally when assembling the guitar, those braces are attached to the back first and then glued to the rim.
This isn’t how I would have approached this restoration but there’s certainly more than one way to get it done. And my gods that back is gorgeous.
As a music lover when you cut that the guitar half I almost had a heart attack.
It is gorgeous now that you did it over
From a 6 thousand dollar guitar to a 1 hundred dollar price of art that's all
It was never at any point in its history worth $6k
$6k? Looks like you picked the wrong week to stop sniffing glue.
considering that you arre not a luthier, you made a very very decent work with that guitar. The fretboard was a bit the scary part but for the rest congratulations. I own a similar guitar with similar issues but even with my knowledge about guitars I wouldn't get near the quality of what you have done. For the people who are freaking out, keep in mind that old parlor guitar were anyway not super high quality instruments, so it's not like if he had committed a crime.
why do you assume he's not a luthier?
@@DriftinDoug because it says o in the title "how furniture restorer restores a guitar"
I love the buzzing sound coming from the d string in the beginning
Like a sitar lol :)
What a beauty. When I was a kid and teen, I used to play. I have wanted to try again and a model similar to this would be perfect for my EDS and arthritic fingers and small hands! Looks so comfortable to play! 👏👏👏🤗
Save the Ukraine.
I support the current thing!
Absolutely stunning! Just can't get over the beauty of the grain. Superb as always!
Look folks: this is not about him being a luthier, a furniture restorer, a plumber or whatever. Here's a guy who loves renovating/restoring things and who got hold of an old guitar. He does what he likes most and does his best to give that thing a shiny look and a new life, and his work is a success, however you define this. This is all that matters! How many of you bashers are professionals in your own hobby?
I am! (appointed Member of the Institute of Engineering and Technology, elected Member of The Institute of Musical Instrument Technology, Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts)
@@iandeare1So what's your hobby? Of all your honorable designations there is not one that necessarily makes you a professional instrument restorer, if this is the case..
@@LawsForever I think you'll find being an elected member of The Institute of Musical Instrument Technology, alone, does make me a professional. My training, work, and experience not withstanding. I trust you've finished your petty, and irksome, retorts. If you have any further queries regarding my bona fides I suggest you do some proper research, as I have already answered, and provided more than enough evidence to you.
@@iandeare1 Your words sound like the ones of a super-ego being assaulted on. Though i have no doubts regarding your achievements, it seems very strange to me that you lay out all your honors in so much detail. I hold some degrees in science, though it would never cross my mind to brag so loudly about them. Some virtue of modesty is always winsome!
@@LawsForever: you insolently demanded proof of professional interest: my list of designatory letters, and professional memberships is the quickest, and easiest way to provide said proof. As an apparent scientist I would've expected you to appreciate the brevity. Instead you continue to attempt insult. Thankfully my Super-ego, and Id, for that matter, are well beyond such petty behaviour.
I suspect this pointless trading of insults has reached it's conclusion. Good day.
I'm really impressed, whatever you touch, you change it to a treasure :)
Really nice job for a non luthier 👍
Did you make the bridge pins yourself, or buy them?
I bought them from Aliexpress.
I don’t understand why people are so negative In the comments, he never claimed to be a professional Luthier nor is it an expensive guitar. It’s not like it’s some 1700s multi million dollar guitar, it’s probably some pawn shop guitar he wanted to mess with a little. You can’t learn from nowhere
OH SHUT UP !
@@ronnieboucherthecrystalcraftsm thanks Ronnie!
It's a fair question and I'll try to give a fair reply.
As an effort to make a prettier object, this was a very sucfessful undertaking. But to a serious guitar player, function is far more important than cosmetic appearance. The work undertaken didn't really address the issues that would have made the instrument play better. And those issues could have pretty easily been addressed after the guitqar was dismantled. As a guitar player, the most important thing to me is how well the guitar plays. That means, can the strings be held to the frets easily and in a way that avoids buzzing and allows each not to sound clearly? And is the instrument stable? WIll it safely hold string tension? Can I run my fingers overthe frets comfortably without a sharp end digging into me? To address thes concerns, several specific things could have been done.
First, the bridge plate (the block of wood on the underside of the instrument under the bridge, where the strings attach to the body) was in terrible condition. Replacing it or reinforcing it (e.g., with a mixture of sawdust and cyanoacrilate glue) would have been relatively simple and would have greatly increased stability. After replacement/reiforcement, the bridge pin holes could have been properly tapered (using a reamer) so that bridge pins would fit properly. The pin holes could also have been slotted to ensure that the string tension was fully supported by the bridge block and not just by the pins themselves. This is all simple work that many amateurs have done successfully and would have added little to the time involved. If you know what to do, actually doing it is easy.
A trickier but arguably even more important task would be assuring that the neck was straight and set at the proper angle. Guitar body joints tend to "creep" over time under tension into a slight jelly bean shape, with the top sinking and the back doming. On the top, there may be a concavity in front of the bridge and a convexity bvehind it as the strings torque it forward. This is due to string tension. There are several ways all this can be addressed. One is to remove the neck and insert shims to reset its angle. this is a lot easier to do on an instrument with a bolt-on neck and is the reason why some of the best guitars now being mad have adopted a bolt-on neck design. It takes some care and skill to do this but I'm confident that the talented and experienced woodworker who did the repair had sufficient skill to do a decent job had he chosen to study up a bit and take on that task. (assuring that the top bracing is adequate for the string tension, ideally by using lower-tension strings, also helps here.) Another approach is to "slip the back," that is, to detach the back plate, force some of the "bend" out of the body, and reglue the back to hold the body in the new, less curved geometry. Straightening the neck can be done in a few ways but it's a trickier process. If the fingerboard can be removed intact, the neck surface can be sanded so that any cuve is leveled. Then a new fingerboard can be attached or even the old one can be reglued if it came off in one piece. If the neck bowing is less severe, bar frets can be used essentially as wedges to expand the top surface of the neck and force a slight curve out of it. If a new fretboard is used, then a nice smooth surface is assured. Although this compromises the originality of the instrument, it may improve performance if the old fretboard is heavily worn, brittle, or damaged during removal. Sometimes, the neck can also be steamed and bent into a straighter shape, but this is probably not the best approach as the warping can return over time and getting the neck bent to exactly where you want it isn't simple. These are all tried and true methods, although they do require some specialized skill. But a good woodworker who read up on these methods should be able to apply them.
Finally, the frets despeartely needed attention and probably replacement. The surface fo the frets needs to be gently rounded and their hieights need to form a level surface from fret to fret in order for the strings to play correctly. This is not particularly difficult to do on an instrument that is undergoing a major overhaul.
Players care very much about all of these details because they are what separate a decent guitar that can be played with relative ease from a box with strings that is a struggle to make sound even half-way decent. The work as undertaken focused on appearance pretty much to the exclusion of playability. Imagine an old car that had no brakes but had been repainted to look all bright and shiney. Such a car might look nice in a display of old cars but a driving enthusiast wouldn't consider the work done to it as having addressed the "right" issues. To a driver, there was no improvement of any value. To someone interested in the car as an object to be admired purely aesthetically, the repaint would be a succesful and worthwhile undertaking. Either perspective is legitimate.
I understand why some people think this guitar has been made more beautiful and would look nicer as a display object. From that point of view, this was a ripping success. But I also understand why it was such a disappointment to those whose primary emphasis is on its functioning as a musical instrument. Yes, the woodworker was able to get some music from it at the conclusion. But I'm pretty confident that doing so wasn't easy. There was some string buzzing as it was. He added reverb perhaps to obfuscate some of its buzzing issues? I suspect that fretting required something of a "death grip" and not the lighter touch a well set-up guitar (and very inexpensive guitars can be well set-up) would require. So, from the player's perspective, all of that dismantling and reassembly without tending to the things that could have made the guitar more useful as an instrument seem like a wasted opportunity and perhaps (less fairly) as a misplaced concern with appearance primarily. To nonplayers or casual players who justifiably may not understand how important proper geometry is to the utility of a guitar, or who think that an old and inexpensive guitar can't ever be made to play well, it's reasonable to think that all the critics of the work done are just nitpicking. But to those folks with a sensitivity for old instruments, they saw the work as taking what was once -- and could again be -- a musical instrument, and transforming it into a decorative object that could make some sound but not in the way that it really could or should.
So, it's all a matter of perspective and it can be understandably hard for each to understand the other's point of view. But there are clearly to ways of looking at the work done. I hope this explanation helps people understand some of the criticisms and also helps some of the critics understand the push-back.
It broke my heart when all the cool relic on the wood sanded like so 😢
Well done! Just a pity that the original varnish was grinded away on the neck and the body. That varnish belongs to the guitar and is an very important part of its history. Luckyli the soundboard got to keep the original varnish with just some overlay of new shellac. Otherwise a nice work!
The first two lines of the stamp translate as Estonian “Musical Instrument Works” per Google translate. I believe the rest of the stamp is the name and address of the shop.
You rule. Good work.
Thanks for checking this out. The question is: was the guitar made by the outfit in the stamp, or sold by the outfit in the stamp? The date indicated by the author is suspect, as the build style is way earlier. But it is possible that the manufacturer had not changed with the times and was building an 1860-1880 instrument in 1905 (1940? really?). Guitars such as these were often manufactured in Germany or Austria and exported to Russian-guitar markets. The variable neck mechanism is a Austrian invention, by one Stauffer. There was a sizable German population in the Baltic states, so it's possible for a guitar to be both Estonian and German.
A little bit more to add. Tallinnas is the capital of Estonia. The Hermanni T could be a street address since Tee looks like it would translate to road or street. As far as manufacture goes the best clue would be to see how easy it might be to stamp it through the sound hole. But your guess is as good as mine. 🤷🏻♂️
As a lifelong musician, I am furious beyond words watching this.
Why can't they make a guitar as cool looking as this.
Having watched my luthier painstakingly change strings, clean the fretboard and lower the action on my guitar just 2 days ago, I'll only say... a guitar is not a piece of furniture.
I just have to say, this is too cool. Well done! I’m no restorer, but this just sparked my interest to possibly restore a guitar.
Nice job. There are some pretty harsh comments on this video but I think you took an old crappy guitar and made it really nice. Like I said, nice job!
Very nice work and a gorgeous guitar. Where was the internet when I was a young woodworker?
At 16:16 when you were applying the cleaner and shellac, the guitar seemed to be smiling! Great Job!!
The back was absolutely beautiful. The sides were in good shape, but the front should have gotten some serious attention. I'd pull the bridge, sand it down, and cut out and drop a in new sound hole decoration using mother of pearl (also use that for the inlays). Keep it up and post another video!
Am wishing all comments were as civil as this one.
The wood grain on the back of the guitar is gorgeous
Wow the wood on the back looks so beautiful
This guitar has become a furniture now
Pretty sure I heard it play
Na questão de restauração ficou bem legal, porém uma pessoa que não seja luthier mexendo em um instrumento musical é complicado, pois não adianta só deixar alinhado, cada parte da construção importa para afinação correta, o tipo de madeira, os materiais usados, a forma de envernizar e por aí vai
This is one of those videos you have to watch on 2x speed or lose your mind. But once I did that i thoroughly enjoyed the video!
Badly needed to be refreted. The frets on this guitar are killed in actions. Great restor though. Thank you
+1 for a re-fret
Agreed... They could use a bit more detailing and polishing, if it's to be played... But they aren't dead to where it needs a refret.
I agree. The frets have grooves a 32nd deep in places.
The restoration as a piece of wooden art is amazing. But the mechanics as an instrument still need to be addressed, but that’s why I watch Ted Woodfords videos.
@@alexo5861 Agreed. Ted is a wonderful luthier and a joy to watch. This guy doesn't claim to be a luthier, which I guess is why his approach to the instrument is similar to how he would tackle a furniture restoration job.
That wood they used on the sides and back look amazing.
Keeping the body face with its history was a good thing . Beautiful restoration and sound .
Nice .