"Restoring" a guitar?

Donny Hinson · Post by **Donny Hinson** » 17 Oct 2022 3:04 pm

I think we all enjoy and respect the people who can build and restore things. Here on the forum, we have folks like Bill Hatcher, Kevin Hatton, Darvin Wilhoit, Mike Cass, Johnie King, Chas Smith, and many others who have showed us their restoration talents.

And then, and then, and then........I see this guy:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HF2LJ7JDauU

Ken Pippus · Post by **Ken Pippus** » 17 Oct 2022 3:34 pm

Admirable industry. Dubious objective.

Lee Baucum · Post by **Lee Baucum** » 17 Oct 2022 4:41 pm

How can we ever unsee that?

Charlie McDonald · Post by **Charlie McDonald** » 18 Oct 2022 2:49 am

I gather he used Top Ramen on the hole repair (as opposed to Back Ramen).

Tuning was painful, but optional.

Lee Baucum · Post by **Lee Baucum** » 18 Oct 2022 6:19 am

Hmm. Over a half-million subscribers. Over a million views of this video.

Brilliant.

What kind of YouTube revenue are we helping him generate??

ajm · Post by **ajm** » 18 Oct 2022 7:40 am

So for a restoration story of a good kind, here's the story of Joe Bonamassa's "Lazarus".

Go to 8:10.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xcqG4Zu ... l=GibsonTV

Earnest Bovine · Post by **Earnest Bovine** » 18 Oct 2022 12:12 pm

Michael Boyd could use this guitar.

https://youtu.be/g3J1urgMUmk?t=785

Post by **Dave Mudgett** » 18 Oct 2022 2:53 pm

This kind of stuff is simply “entertainment”. I’ve seen lots worse. Um, yes, the standards are pretty low these days.

Doug Beaumier · Post by **Doug Beaumier** » 18 Oct 2022 3:30 pm

I loved this comment... "Ready to be thrown away again, Good job!"

Jim Fogle · Post by **Jim Fogle** » 18 Oct 2022 6:15 pm

Anyone notice he put the tuning keys on upside down? The keys point to the rear of the guitar in the beginning of the video while they point to the front after reassembly.

That wire brush was tough to watch too.

On the other hand most people would have thrown the guitar away. At least he made it useful again.

Ken Pippus · Post by **Ken Pippus** » 18 Oct 2022 7:20 pm

Useful?

Erv Niehaus · Post by **Erv Niehaus** » 19 Oct 2022 8:34 am

I think he went to a lot of work for nothing.

Erv

Lee Baucum · Post by **Lee Baucum** » 19 Oct 2022 9:23 am

Erv Niehaus wrote:I think he went to a lot of work for nothing.
Erv

It depends on what you mean by "...a lot of work for nothing."

With over half a million subscribers and over a million views of the video, he could be generating a lot of revenue from You Tube.

~Lee

Erv Niehaus · Post by **Erv Niehaus** » 19 Oct 2022 9:26 am

Whatever.

Ian Rae · Post by **Ian Rae** » 19 Oct 2022 10:51 am

I have real difficulty with this kind of nonsense flooding the planet. For every one of us who smiles knowingly, there will be untold numbers who copy him in good faith.

I needed to lay bricks a year or so ago. I watched a dozen videos before I found someone who was an actual bricklayer who could communicate. Got the job done, but I could easily have been mislead

Erv Niehaus · Post by **Erv Niehaus** » 19 Oct 2022 12:32 pm

Ian,
I agree.

Erv

Per Berner · Post by **Per Berner** » 23 Oct 2022 6:20 am

It looked better before "restoration".Obviously it was a cheap, crappy nylon string guitar made from inferior materials to begin with, so with steel strings it will hopefully soon break again...

Fred Treece · Post by **Fred Treece** » 24 Oct 2022 8:30 am

Doug Beaumier wrote:I loved this comment... "Ready to be thrown away again, Good job!"

Me too

But I am also thinkin’ maybe that guy is Willie’s guitar tech...

Harry Dove · Post by **Harry Dove** » 29 Oct 2022 3:55 pm

Well here is a little different approach.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhQuJTc5yFY

However, I do still wonder about the possibilities of tone with ramen noodles.

Bob Carlucci · Post by **Bob Carlucci** » 10 Dec 2022 3:49 am

I've done a few "restorations" similar in quality to that one over the years.. Some guitars just don't merit much more than the abomination we just witnessed.. Objective is to get the guitar stable, well playable, and back into circulation.
For a proper luthier to do a proper rebuild/restoration on that guitar would cost 500x more than the value of the guitar... If he would have put the right strings on it, tuned it up properly, and then been able to actually play it, it might not have been so painful to watch... In any case, this video was "canned".. It was designed to get the reaction it got.. I have seen a lot of these over the years... In 90% of these videos you can see a guy pulling something out of the weeds, or garbage, or mud, old barn, or any combination therof. Always can see the rust that was obviously recently added with a solution of vinegar,hydrogen peroxide and salt.. Wood items like this guitar are smeared with mud dirt etc...Look at the way the mud is streaked on this guitar.. It was hand applied..
so yeah it was a terrible restoration, but it was bogus, and yet still met its goal.,,, Eyeballs on the screen.... bob

Lee Baucum · Post by **Lee Baucum** » 10 Dec 2022 5:56 am

but it was bogus, and yet still met its goal.,,, Eyeballs on the screen.... bob

Yep. Which generates revenue.