We specialize in the restoration and repair of rare, collectible stringed instruments. We consider them treasures. We are fortunate to have the opportunity to work on and learn from instruments made by some of the world's greatest luthiers over the past 200 years.

We take our responsibility seriously. We bring to the task experience in museum exhibition, jewelry making, sculpture, woodworking, fine art, industrial design, academic research and musicianship.

As players, we know what a player expects and demands from an instrument.

OUR APPROACH
As craftspersons, sensitive to the historical importance and value of many of these instruments, we approach each restoration with the intent to honor to the greatest degree possible the integrity of the original design and manufacture of the instrument. Down to replicating the techiques and materials used in its original construction

In this work, we've had to relearn processes and formulations largely forgotten. Any particular instrument might call for us to replicate an ivory tuner button, mill a tuner post, create a replica bridge, cut and inlay missing pearl, recreate a rope or marquetry binding, replace a shattered section of Brazilian Rosewood or hand dye and polish a black lacquer neck finish a la 200 years ago.

And we do so while retaining as much of the original instrument's parts and components as possible. As you'll be able to see in the photos that follow, it can sometimes be a challenge.

But it's always also a privilege and joy when an instrument comes back together, after sometimes having not been playable in a half a century, and let's us hear it's voice. We are no longer surprised to be greeted with rich tonalities from these instruments and have concluded that near century aged wood makes for extraordinary guitars and other acoustic instruments.

ABOVE RIGHT - We are fortunate to have master percussionist Chico Oropeza working with us. He has mastered the science/art of French Polishing in our shop and the instruments come alive again.

RIGHT - Restored c.1820s. Attributed to school of Johannes Stauffer, early form of Luigi Legnani model.

LEFT - Many instruments arrive with missing perfling and binding like the top photo. In the middle and below, we've replicated the multi-ply perfling and several feet of missing rope binding.
Rope binding is not readily available.
Further, the angles and woods in rope binding from various makers are different. We replicate it by laying up, by hand, scores of laminates of alternating wood, until its several inches thick. Then we slice it up into thin strips at precise angles to replicate the original direction and angles the rope binding takes on the instrument.

MARTIN 00-28 - This vintage 1929 Martin had serious problems, as you can see above and below. How we turned the instrument above into the one in the upper right is shown below.

The bridge area was in serious condition as was the shattered lower bout. We repaired the bridge plate and soundboard with patches before beginning the process or replacing the shattered segment of the soundboard with Red Spruce aged at least 50 years.

Wood is a very forgiving creature. She can be heated, steamed, bent, coaxed, prodded, sanded joined and shaped into almost any configuration imaginable.

Below: we've restored the structural integrity of the shattered bridge area before carving and attaching a replica of the original in ebony with a preban ivory saddle.

Above left: Several feet of 1920's size herringbone perfling was missing. A shattered vintage 1920's Washburn mandolin was scavenged for the classic Martin herringbone of the right width and pattern size appropriate to this instrument's vintage.

Left: we've cut away the shattered segment of the soundboard and are shown straightening and beveling the edge to prepare for the replacement section. A small deck has been installed between the braces which are reglued and reinforced where they had lost wood. Kerfing repairs are next clamped before the new 50 year old section of Red Spruce is cut and fit to the joint you can see in the photos to your right.

We believe that some things are just worth saving. Regardless.

"Luigi Legnani" model, Early form
with Italian style one piece neck & internal/external heel block.

Period and Baroque players will appreciate this one. This instrument has been given a new life. Although this is very much an early German make guitar in the style of the Stauffer Legnani model, the acknowledged living Stauffer expert, Bernhard Kresse, in Germany, has studied these images and states "It's definitely no Stauffer. Shape, bridge, inside heel, maple fingerboard, material of the body, it all doesn't indicate a Stauffer."

Thanks also to Len at the Romantic Guitar Website for helping insure the attribution on this instrument fits with the known facts on period instruments and makers. For any interested in learning more about early romantic era instruments this link will lead you there.

It remains a marvelous early period instrument of excellent craftsmanship and charactistic sound. And deserved to be restored.

Besides an open seam on on the top, a good deal of wear, a refinish somewhere along the lines, it had one of the worse neck warps and twists we've ever encountered.

Top: The soft wood of the neck and the original maple fretboard simply failed (after 100 or more years) in every condition possible. The early style Italianate one piece neck and heel inside and out help date this instrument to among the earliest of these instruments made by the followers of Stauffer Although this instrument has clear Stauffer influences.

The inner heel block glue had weakened and the sides no longer fit well throwing the neck angle off to one side. The neck had both a bow and a twist. And the neck heel was snapped. Nasty stuff.

LEFT CENTER: We shimmed the joint in the heel block with maple to reset the neck angle.

LEFT LOW CENTER: After removing the fretboard, we chose to reinforce the neck with a rigid truss of ebony to provide resistance against a reoccurance of the spiral twist of the neck.

CENTER : At the soundboard there was a window that had been cut away, possibly to help in judging a good fit of the sides into the slots, in manufacture. To help reinforce the fit of the parts of the neck joint, we elected to cut precise plugs to lock everything tightly together. This allowed us to structurally enhance the instrument, while preserving the original cutaway as it was made. .

RIGHT CENTER: We splined the open seam in the soundboard and reinforced the seam with cleats.

BOTTOM PAIR: Neck corrected and playable with good action and intonation.
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LEFT: Bridge before and after. Missing wood carving replicated in ebony.

BELOW LEFT: The new fretboard. One third of the original frets re able to be reused and are in the last 5 positions. The fretboard is, like the original made of maple with a smooth black shellac based lacquer surface. The black lacquer on the headstock and neck back is original, but we've filled the dings and worn areas, and repolished it all back to a fine sheen. It's basically a French polish with lampblack in the formulation. We made the necessary brass bar frets by hand

BELOW: There is nothing like the feeling when we get an instrument like this back into this kind of condition.

This instrument was a basket case. the bass headstock was about to fall off (we helped it to do the restoration properly). There were cracks, shattered edges, internal bracing that was loose, veneer that had been lost along with other components and the bridge had dryed out and cracked (been repaired with who knows what - Auto body Bondo actually) and recracked.

The photos show how we approached several of the problem areas in before and after details.

This instrument is now in a private collection.