GG120 Croatian parlor from the 1930s

This was a different renovation. Partly due to the fact that the guitar was manufactured in the 1930s in the city of Sisak in Croatia. That I know it is a coincidence, 80% of the label was gone but on a small chip I could read "Sisak" in small letters. "Vardian" which was in large letters on the label did not give much, "Siasak" is a city in Croatia. Tricky details such as that the stable in plum wood was cut into the lid half a mm, the general appearance and the sloppy craftsmanship revealed that it was not the typical solid German production. A Balkan country is right. This is how it looked disassembled, the old board on the left.

But the most unusual was that the customer wanted a new fingerboard of Asian manufacture with an abundance of flowers. Not directly to my taste and what I would choose, but on this "floral" guitar the board worked perfectly OK.

Upon closer contact with the fretboard, I saw that it was not completely even in either length or width. The pearl decorations were super-thin, no more than 0,3 mm thick, and also decorated with carvings filled with black. This caused me big problems with the board as I could not sand as I usually do. The only option was to remove all the bumps on the tires. Not ideal, but it went well in the end even if some of the bottom bands got lower than I want them. Next time I know what it's about if you want to install an Asian * bling * board like this…

To make it look better, a white strip is milled along the sides of the grip board and around the head. Milling an ordinary side frame on the grip board with the grip board glued is turned impossible, the white indented strip gives the illusion of a rosewood strip. A little nervous when all the mother of pearl on the board couldn't go wrong! Same with the banding, the thin pearl flakes would like to break. Got to save some small pieces that came loose with super glue.

The neck was a real club and I removed a lot of wood on the back. Gave it one a weak V-shape that was not thin but comfortable to hold. Reconstructed the color with stain and spirit varnish.

Had trouble with neck sizing as neither the attachment nor the body was completely straight. Not German quality directly! Glued the neck a second time after adjustment.

The stable was retained but extended at the front edge with new wood to make room for a sloping and wide stable leg. The bottom was thinned, the ribs were replaced and a carbon fiber rod was mounted in the neck. The lid had a wide drying crack that was filled with a spruce stick. A couple of pearl mortars around the sound hole were gone and replaced with new ones. The tuning screws were bushed around the posts. The guitar got composite stable legs, oversaddle toning and "turbo plugs". Some pictures halfway.

A lot of extra work on this, but it ended well. The guitar was chosen for renovation as it sounded good and so did it when I was done. The customer was very satisfied 🙂

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