Levin archtop 1947

Got in a handled Levin archtop guitar that would get a Lollar pickup and a general repair. Tone and volume control would sit in the lid. The bottom without major problems except that the celluloid strip was hard as porcelain, became 4 pieces instead of two. Got loose on the bottom which was a heavy lump, thinned to about 3 mm and changed the ribs to better wood - the old ones had lying wood. Could not hold me!

The only bar in the lid was loose at one end. It had cracked a lot in the side around the neck attachment, but was repaired quite nicely. They were a little unevenly glued, so I loosened the gluing and redone it. Laid a veneer on the inside and a new kerfling. Mounted the paws and telejack with a reinforcement in maple. Glued a couple of cracks in the lid at the f-holes. The neck was in three parts (hmm…). Drilled a round rod in birch under the heel cover to hold the pieces together. Some pictures while the neck was glued.

    

Stretched the strings on the guitar in my new jig and flat-cut the grip board in that position. Afterwards, the grip board had a slightly curved back (which became straight when I pulled it up after strapping). Clever with the paws, one is logarithmic and should sit on the volume control, the other linear. Of course I managed to mix them together (see in the picture!) And had to solder twice .. now you know it! Got some really cool knobs on eBay. How right were they?

The new 3 + 3 tuning screws fit perfectly, the 6 old loose ones were a bit too loose. Lollar micken just fit with a shoe horn! A few nice pictures.

     

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