The first thing that happens with a new batch is to disassemble the instruments into parts; stable, grip board, neck, bottom and body. Tuning screws, upper saddle and bottom plug and any string holder are also loosened. Each instrument receives a labeled plastic box to hold the parts together.
The harp guitar gets to rest for a while, picked the next item in the queue instead. A typical but fairly early European parlor from my warehouse, number 49. The stable is newer and there is a knitting hole in the coffin, otherwise in good condition.
Levin mandolin 1924
Looked up the number and it is from 1924 and not 1918. The grip board sat hard and I had to warm properly to soften the glue. The celluloid strip around the bottom, on the other hand, was loose and it made it relatively easy to loosen the bottom with a razor blade. The thick black and cracked celluloid plaque protection should be replaced with black plastic. No features inside with typical bit for strong ribs. A crack in the lid.
Levin lute 1929
Fingerboard and bottom came off without much problem. Inside, it was heavily ribbed with oversized ribs. It is to be converted to a fixed stable, the usual shade under the string holder was unusually enough missing. The heat damage in the paint in the lid and bottom could be scraped off and will not show much after repainting. The smartest thing to do is to replace the "neck", which is both neck and neck block in one piece. You must reduce the string height when stalling. Now the angle is adjusted for a high floating stall. It should be fine to loosen the side and the cover for the "neck foot" for a turnover. It will be something I haven't done before. Both the bottom and lid have a strong curvature.
Carlstedt
Be especially careful with this, mahogany is a soft wood that is happy to crack when pressing a knife into the glue joint. But it was good to get it apart.
The fretboard is easy to loosen without water or heat, but the fingerboard is more difficult to loosen. Here is a small series of pictures. Uses small travel irons to heat and two thin tin-wrapped spatulas to loosen fingerboard from cover. For the rest of the board, I use a spatula with a sharpened edge, you can hardly "derail" and dig into the neck or fingerboard with the shovel flat under the board. It can happen if the neck or fingerboard has a substantial "run out" with fibers at a 30 degree slope or more. A syringe is used to inject water between the board and the neck after heating before starting to work with the spade. It is IMPORTANT to wear protective gloves, if you are going to cut yourself, it will happen now! The spatula is sharpened on all three edges.
The neck is easily loosened with the grip board. Uses a wallpaper plier with Stewmac's hose and nipple and a simple but very effective jig to loosen the neck. To release a lot of water, I use a plastic bottle where most of the water gets stuck on the road. A hole is drilled into the pocket on the dove tail for the nipple. Only needed to heat for a few minutes to get rid of the jig.
To get off the bottom, the strip must be loosened first of all. Use a razor blade to slowly but surely loosen the celluloid strip in one piece. With the strip off, you can see the joint between the kerfing and the bottom. Continues with razor blades and my thin spatula and sometimes Stewmac's triangular separation knife.
The ribbing was fairly simple and made with strong ribs and a strip of la Levin in maple under the stable. On such a large guitar, an X-rib is preferred and it will be converted to one.
Nr 49
This is a typical mass-made parlor and it is noticeable that not much love has been put into it inside. The variant with the bar behind the stable and no stable plate is a weak construction. The reinforcements around the sound hole are unusual and well thought out. The mysterious little pieces on the page do not give much, may be a later repair.
The neck is a little special with a sharp V shape. The grip board sat like just that and my neck chipped a little at the edge, I get to cut in some wood. The grip board was partly sawed at the 12th band and partly the band cuts were cut very deep. The board must be replaced with a new one. The stable is new and will be replaced with a more recent pyramid figure.