MIMF

My Granddad bought this at a yard sale several years ago and left it to his son (my uncle). It needed more TLC than he was able to give it so he sent it to me. Tuners are the obvious first priority, and I've ordered some. I'll be doing a fret leveling today and hopefully that goes well. There's no truss rod and there is a bit of difference in level between most of the fretboard and the portion directly over the body. Neck does look straight fortunately. The case is a wreck. The bridge and nut may be salvageable, but we'll see. I'll have to construct a pickguard, and these evidently came with either a black or white one with a similar shield to the headstock embossed on it. It has all the checking in the finish that you'd expect (and desire, likely). I didn't know anything about this guitar until some internet research. Silvertoneworld.com says it is a 672 which was introduced in 1950 and retired in 1953. No label inside so I guess I'll never know for sure. Should be a fun project.

Very cool.

Barry Daniels wrote:Very cool.

Well, yes and no . Upon closer inspection, there has been a neck reset which didn't go so well. The fretboard extension is laying on the top, there's that gap at the joint, and the glue they used has dripped quite a bit inside the guitar, making a real mess. Won't be able to clean it up either, unfortunately. When I saw that the bridge had been adjusted to it's lowest position, I was concerned and now I know why that was done. The reset didn't solve any problem as far as I can tell, at least not the original problem I would guess. The glue almost looks like Elmer's school glue. It's dried hard and is milky white. Hopefully it won't be too hard to remove the neck. At least it's not epoxy!

I have done one neck reset. Oddly enough, also from a guitar from the same uncle--a Martin from the 40s if I remember correctly. It went well enough so I'm not too intimidated. Hope that glue is easy to dissolve/melt though.

I measured the scale length to be 25.875". Mind you, I used a tape measure, which might not be the most accurate method. That seems rather long but I'm far from an expert.

Well, I'll have to dig out the steam rig before I can do anything. Shame though, I wanted to get started on it.

What would be your goal(s) of doing another reset?

What's wrong with the machines?

Interesting body shape, with the wide shoulders and tight curves at the waist. What's it sound like, or can't you tell at this point?

There are a lot of people who put a fair bit of love into those old Silvertones, it's worth putting back together. Or passing on to someone who will.

Barry Daniels wrote:What would be your goal(s) of doing another reset?

I would hope to get it right this time around. Closing up the gaps at the bottom of the neck heel and under the fretboard extension would certainly make it look better, and there isn't a whole lot of room for a bridge as it is now. The top pic is a straight edge running on the fretboard and measuring at the bridge position.

Joshua Levin-Epstein wrote:What's wrong with the machines?

I thought I had included that pic the first time around.

Wow!

That's a whole new level of hillbilly... On the bridge, you are looking for around 1" or so over the top with the straightedge on the fretboard. I'd reset the neck.

Brian Evans wrote:That's a whole new level of hillbilly... On the bridge, you are looking for around 1" or so over the top with the straightedge on the fretboard. I'd reset the neck.

Well I am a hillbilly, so this is a match made in heaven .

Update: finally got the neck removed via steam.

Nice solid wood top, carved or pressed. Good deal.

Looks like a fun project. These old archtops are quite fascinating. I have worked on a few Kay and Harmony models, and their owners always treasure them, even though they are usually a wreck. It is a lot of fun to just bring them even part-way back to life. A few years ago, when I did some fixes on a Harmony for a friend ("Just make it playable", they usually say), I took measurements and then built a carved model to the same specs. Turned out really nice, and the friend who owns it just loves it. Good luck with this project, and I look forward to seeing the results.

I tried to avoid a refret but, after leveling and having some really low frets, I had to do it. Leveled the fretboard and replaced the binding. It was very thin and brittle. Made a new nut and bridge base, as the old one was way too low to work after the neck reset. Oh yeah, also fabricated a pickguard modeled after pics from the Silvertone world website. Had a friend with one of those vinyl label makes print off a shield like the one on the headstock, then colored it to match.

Anyway, it's all done now and it sounds and plays great. I actually think it sounds better than the archtop I made myself . Next I'll try to tackle the case, which has an unattached top. Don't really know how I'll do that but I must figure something out.

I don't know how to rotate the pics, so they're a bit confusing.

Nice work, Greg.

That looks incredible!

Thanks for the kind words

Nice work! A labor of love.

Very nicely done.