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Guitar Restorations: 1935 Martin D18, Part 3: Pick Guard and Fret Job Wherein our guitar repair tech channels a 1930s Martin guitar maker to right some wrongs on this vintage instrument. From "Handmade Music" episode DHMM-306

This 1935 Martin has had the original pick guard replaced with one that's not true to the year in which this guitar was made

When it comes to vintage guitars, "all original" are the words that most collectors and musician enthusiasts want to hear. That designation would indicate that virtually every original part of the instrument is present, intact and, hopefully, has survived in good shape. But in many instances, a particular make and model of guitar may itself be a rarity--never mind whether all of its parts are original.

When original parts have been damaged or are missing, replacements that are spot-on period-authentic replicas are the next best thing. That's where Andy Jellison's skill comes in. Andy is one of the knowledgeable and talented repair technicians employed by George Gruhn at the world-famous Gruhn Guitars in Nashville.

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George Gruhn with a 1929 Gibson HG-24. The guitars brought into Gruhn's shop run the gamut when it comes to condition. This one, now beautifully restored, was literally reassembled from pieces.

"Time Travel" and the Difference Between Building and Fixing

"People think often that repair and building [guitars and other stringed instruments] are the same basic skill. They're not," says George Gruhn. "In building, there are things that repeat--inlay patterns, standardized neck shapes, standardized dovetail joints--it's repetitious, which is good, and you can have some efficiency that way. In repair, each and every job is different."

In a way, repair techs at Gruhn Guitars may have to "assume the identity" of Gibson makers from the '30s on one day, and then morph into a Martin maker from the '40s the next. For this particular repair job, Andy Jellison must "become" a Martin guitar maker from the 1930s.

Thus far, much of Jellison's work on this guitar has been to help undo the damage of so-called "fixes" from earlier periods in this instrument's history. He’s applied glue to repair wood damage where he found it, and he performed a neck-set. Now he continues his progress by crafting from scratch a replica pick guard to replace the inauthentic one he removed earlier.

	The new pick guard is pressed into place and secured with hide glue.
	The replacement was handmade to look as authentic to the original as possible.
	Repair technician Andy Jellison inspects the newly installed pick guard.

Martin D18: Pick-Guard Replacement

Materials:

transparent sheeting
celluloid blank
scissors
craft knife
razor blade
belt sander
hide glue
clamp

• Creating a good representation of an original Martin pick guard begins by tracing the original "footprint" of the original pick guard onto transparent sheeting, then laying that pattern over a celluloid blank. In that way Andy can cleanly cut around the material to form the proper shape exactly the way Martin did it at the factory 70 years before. The celluloid piece was selected to match, as closely as possible, the color and pattern of an original 1935 pick guard.

• The sheeting is then trimmed so that just the pick guard's outline remains as a template.

• The template is placed over the celluloid blank and then cut using scissors and a craft knife.

• The scissors leave a rough edge on the blank, so the edge of the new pick guard is smoothed out using a belt sander and the edge of a razor blade.

• Even though the pick guard is not an acoustic part of the instrument, painstaking attention to detail goes into its creation. Finishing the edge with a razor blade, Andy makes sure not to leave the edge overly sharp--as might be the case on a modern pick guard--but instead leaves a slightly chamfered or rounded edge.

• Once its shape and edge are as close as possible to what it would be had it been made by Martin in 1935, the pick guard is attached to the spruce top with hide glue. Placement is easy because the "footprint" of the original is still visible.

• A clamp and acrylic caul press the pick guard flat, ensuring that it is positioned properly and secure as the glue dries.

Later a special finish will be applied to the newly installed pick guard, giving it an oxidized or "cloudy" look--so that it won't appear too new.

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