I’ve been a Certified C.F.Martin Warranty Repairman for over 20 years. I worked at the Gibson Custom Shop in Nashville and I’m an authorized Gibson warranty station as well as Fender, Taylor, Guild, Gretsch, Alembic, Ovation, Takamine and many others.
After over 35 years of repairing guitars, I've seen just about every kind of damaged guitar you can imagine and I've had to correct, repair, rebuild, and restore major damage to many fine vintage and valuable instruments. Repairing and restoring rare and valuable guitars is one of the most common requests that I receive. Most guitars can be repaired to look like new again, but for vintage guitars, the actual goal is not to make the guitar look like new, that would destroy the value, but to remove all of the negatives and work with what is left. A great repair or a great restoration will preserve the character of the instrument so that the effect of time will stay in the background.
Repairing and restoring rare and valuable guitars is one of the most common requests that I receive. Most guitars can be repaired to look like new again, be sturdy, and stable with great longevity. For collectiblev vintage guitars, the actual goal is not to make the guitar look like new, that would destroy the value, but to remove all of the negatives and work with what is left. A great repair or a great restoration will preserve the character of the instrument so that the effect of time will move into the background.
I recently did a complete restoration on an old 1902 Martin 00-45 for actor Richard Gere that was one of only three prototypes ever produced. The handmade quality of the instrument was so special and the restoration was so complete, that Martin even reintroduced the guitar.
