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Guitar Restorations: 1935 Martin D18, Part 5--The Final Test and The Art of Restoration The newly restored 1935 Martin guitar gets taken for a test drive. Also, George Gruhn's take on the role of the repair technician, and just what a guitar purist means by "restoration." From "Handmade Music" episode DHMM-307

The restored 1935 Martin D18

With the repair work complete, George Gruhn can evaluate the work done over the past several months on this 1935 Martin D18 by repair technician Andy Jellison. If the work is not up to Jellison's usual standards, the value of this rare piece could be diminished. Therefore the pressure is on during the "test drive" by the shop's founder and world-renowned guitar expert.

That pressure is understandable. According to one writer at Guitar Player magazine, George Gruhn knows more about guitars than anyone on earth."

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The Verdict

Gruhn inspects Andy Jellison's work visually, looking at the specific repairs, and to what extent those repairs are visually evident. He then gives the guitar the final and most important test--to play it and find out how it sounds. It doesn't take Gruhn long to conclude that this was a job well done.

"The ultimate test is 'does it sound good?'" says Gruhn. "The answer," he says, as he strums these strings for the first time, "is 'yes it does.'"

"This should make some player very happy." Gruhn continues. "It's really powerful, it's well-balanced. It has terrific bass response, but it's not just bass--it's bass and treble both. And it's got tone. It's not just power; it's got everything."

Many musicians feel that there's something about the tone of a vintage guitar that newly built guitars just can't match. This Martin been restored to its original appearance and it retains a warm and clear tone that's only attainable from seventy years of aging.

In all, this labor-intensive repair is deemed worth the effort and money invested. For Gruhn, saving a classic is a worthy cause.

	George Gruhn with a 1929 Gibson HG-24.

The Art of Guitar Restoration: Leave No Trace

George Gruhn is proud of his repair staff, and he's proud to show off evidence of their skill. Using a priceless Gibson acoustic from the late1920s as a premiere example, he recounts what he himself regards as an "amazing repair." It's a Gibson HG-24 with a serial number predating the year this style and configuration was actually offered in Gibson's catalog. As such, this is another historically unusual piece.

"We've never seen another like it," says Gruhn, "but when this guitar came in, it was a basket case. It was brought to us in a paper sack of pieces. It was missing large segments of wood on the back and sides."

Following a complicated reassembly and extensive set of repairs, it's now nearly impossible for most observers to see evidence of any repair work done. "It's put back together, including grafted wood, where you can't find any damage on it," says Gruhn. "It has some scratches--which we left. But it had not less than twenty cracks in the top; it had gaping, large pieces on the side gone. It had cracks in the back. There was hardly anything that wasn't messed up on it. The point is that it's possible to do repairs that are barely short of magical if you have the skill, and are willing to take the time and trouble to do it."

Age Is Relative

The type of repair done at Gruhn's doesn't always mean making an instrument look brand new. In fact, for vintage instruments to retain their maximum value, they shouldn't look new. The staff at Gruhn's may leave certain types of natural wear--like the scratches on the top of that vintage Gibson--as a visible remnant of the instrument's heritage. "We are not erasing normal, honest wear," says Gruhn.

Rather than making an old guitar look shiny and pristine, and replacing worn parts with modern ones that might be functionally more advanced, the aim instead is to preserve the integrity of the instrument and return it as closely as is feasible to its roots and origin.

The key is to repair vintage instruments in a manner that is period-specific and appropriate to their age and history.

1955 Fender Stratocaster

An original 1960 Gibson Les Paul in Sunburst finish

The "Invisible" Artist

By its nature, the guiding principle of authentic restoration is to leave the vintage instrument in the best condition possible, but also true to the period in which it was created. Gruhn's repair specialists are even very particular about what they will or will not do when it comes to refinishing.

"You wouldn't refinish a Stradivari from the late 1600s or early 1700s," he says. "But we do repair damage. There's difference between fixing something that is broken versus simply stripping off an original finish and refinishing. If something is so worn out, such as the frets, to the point that you can't play it anymore, we will re-fret, but using the proper, original type wire. We're not making it look new; we are keeping the original intent of the maker--such that you cannot tell that we worked on it at all."

Unlike the work of a guitar maker--or luthier--who may have trademark attributes or visual flourishes left on the instruments he creates, the repair technician's job is essentially the opposite--to leave no visible trace of his work. "The repairman is invisible," George Gruhn likes to say.

The work of a luthier may be appreciated as distinctive and noticeable, even from a distance. By contrast, if the same is said of a restoration expert, it means that he hasn't done his job properly.

RESOURCES :

Gruhn Guitars
Nashville, Tennessee
www.gruhn.com

GUESTS :

George Gruhn
Proprietor, Gruhn Guitars
Nashville, Tenn.
www.gruhn.com

Andy Jellison, Vintage Instrument Repair Specialist
Gruhn Guitars
Nashville, Tenn.
www.gruhn.com