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1936 Martin 2-32 Mandolin Finish Repair

February 5, 2015/in Frontpage Article, restorations /by Jeff Mallia

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 […]

1938 Martin 0-17 Restoration

February 3, 2015/in Frontpage Article, restorations /by Jeff Mallia

Here is a golden era martin 00-17 minor restoration from my repair archive completed in 2012. This guitar was presented in a very roughly over coated state. It had been lovingly hand varnished by brush to give it a face lift some time in the last 50 years. The “artist” who carried out this work […]

1936 Martin 2-32 Mandolin Finish Repair

February 5, 2015/in Frontpage Article, restorations /by Jeff Mallia

1938 Martin 0-17 Restoration

February 3, 2015/in Frontpage Article, restorations /by Jeff Mallia

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1936 Martin 2-32 Mandolin Finish Repair

February 5, 2015/in Frontpage Article, restorations /by Jeff Mallia

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.

1938 Martin 0-17 Restoration

February 3, 2015/in Frontpage Article, restorations /by Jeff Mallia

Here is a golden era martin 00-17 minor restoration from my repair archive completed in 2012.

This guitar was presented in a very roughly over coated state. It had been lovingly hand varnished by brush to give it a face lift some time in the last 50 years.

The “artist” who carried out this work was detailed enough to make sure they coated the guitar thoroughly. tuners, fretboard, bridge and all. Apart from that the guitar was in need of a neck reset and some brace/bridge plate and crack repair.

The approach here was to carefully test various areas to see how the varnish layer would respond to different methods of removal.

After disassembling the neck and bridge from the body, the finish removal work began. A huge bonus was that the varnish over coating was applied without any preparation sanding. This meant the original finish was preserved – patina and all under all that over coating.

It still took many hours of carefully removing the varnish to reveal the original finish completely from the tuning heads, frets and fretboard and bridge as well as the rest of the guitar.

Following up with a neck reset, brace re gluing, crack repair, bridge work and setup, this beautiful example of a golden era Martin was ready to make music for hopefully many decades to come. A real pleasure to work on.