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Stefano Caponnetto gypsy guitar
Jangle_Jamie
Scottish HighlandsNew De Rijk, some Gitanes and quite a few others
Bought recently in poor condition on Ebay. I'm now at the stage where I have to decide between the original worn flimsy aluminium tailpiece, or a nice brass Dupont Favino tailpiece (you can guess which way I'm leaning!!!). Andy, I think I can hear your voice saying "keep it as original as possible!". Technically, it should have a new soundhole decoration overlay, arm rest and pick guard added.
Fretboard planed straight, radiused and refretted. Fret hammer of choice? Being a mountaineer, I naturally reached for one of my vintage Chouinard Alpine Hammers!!!
I couldn't decide what to do with the markers, so will have to sort those out soon. The bridge is made and ready. Exciting!!!
Comments
Cracks and splits sorted, fretboard planed and refretted.
This thing is coming along quickly! The original tailpiece looks fine to me.
Got it strung up this evening, and the neck is already pulling up a little. Damn! That means I will probably have to install some carbon rods as Andy recommended. Could it be done from the back of the neck?
It's not a nice feeling to get so far and then have such a major problem. Sounds nice though!!
Yep, understand your frustration with having to start over but I think in the long run you would not be happy with a compromise. That twist at the headstock would bug me even if the rest of the neck and fingerboard was playable, but if it is moving already you may have to bite the bullet and get into some major surgery. If there is a way to straighten the neck by clamping it to a solid flat surface as Andy W recommended to fit carbon rods then replace the fingerboard, hopefully it will stay straight. From what I have seen of your posts it is all within your abilities and you will be happier with a 'proper' job done. And yes, the original tailpiece gets my vote too, it keeps more of the Sicilian look as appropriate, the Favino type while nice looking is heading towards a more generic French style. Meanwhile, the soundhole cover and elbow rest would finish the job for sure but I have no idea how to achieve that, my talents don't stretch that far. Just my ten cents......
@Jangle_Jamie When you are done with this project, here's another one for you to bite on. Ha ha. Price seems a little bit higher than what I'd expect for a guitar in this condition, but just think of all the revenue you could get from the youtube videos you make. "I resurrected this Gypsy guitar!!" But you might have to race @paulmcevoy75 for it. 😂😂
https://reverb.com/item/91418920-di-mauro-gypsy-jazz-guitar-project
That is nuts. I sold a really nice one last year for the same price, (photo below).
I would go to $100 just for the challenge but shipping would cost more than that.
Could it be done from the back of the neck?
A luthier would probably say no but when you don't know any better you do it anyway. And it worked for me.
But I should add, doing it this way will keep it straight but it won't prevent it from from being pulled up at the heel. I could only route the channel as wide as the insert.
I suspect Buco is right, doing it that way would not necessarily stop it being pulled up from the heel joint, If you remove the fingerboard you could route a channel the full length into the body past the heel and insert the rods, that should be safer.
Ok, thanks for the suggestions. I had already spotted that 'relic' Di Mauro. I don't think I've seen a messier gypsy guitar than that!
I was very disappointed last night to see the neck pulling up a little. I had visions of waking up this morning to a guitar completely folded in half. As it happens, it hadn't moved any more under full tension (thank crikey). I needed to lower the height of the zero fret so have done that. I decided to take some height off the frets near the soundhole. Just polishing now and will get it playing again later.