1936 Martin 2-32 Mandolin Finish Repair

This finish repair is from my repair archive, completed in 2007

This beautiful mandolin was in really great shape for its age, however a pretty ugly finish repair on it’s nicely flamed back was holding it back from being a perfect example of CF Martin and Co’s finest mandolins. I remember listening to an exact same instrument being played on David “Dawg” Grismans “Tone Poems” CD whilst getting into this repair.

After carefully removing the offending layers of finish repair, it appeared that a small area of dents most probably buckle dents were what the last repairer was trying to cover up, only it seemed to get out of hand.

The most important part of this repair was to build the finish in exactly the same layering of finish and colour as revealed by the exposed area back to the wood. Paying particular attention to getting as close to perfect match to each colour layer whilst working with a very small airbrush spray pattern the completed colour layer was pretty close. The final clear coats were blended in with the original finish and after drying, the finish patina worn to match the instruments general appearance.

A particularly satisfying note is that shortly after the repair was completed, this instrument was purchased by none other than David Grisman himself.