D'Aquisto / DeArmond pickup restoration work

[fws6]

Before....

[fws6]

And after !!!!!

[seanlowe]

very very nice work indeed. Is that.... fire damage?! or just 50 years of abuse?

[hot ford coupe]

Oh wow! That's a great restoration. The original looks like it was at the bottom of the Atlantic since WWII. That's also a fantastic instrument.

[fws6]

>Is that.... fire damage?! or just 50 years of abuse?

No / in fact it is very clean and probably spent most of its life in the case. Older archtops from the 50s/60s sometimes have their bindings and guards made out of acetate material which is unstable, and has a tendency to decay over time. That's what happened here. The process also corroded the metal parts. But the guitar itself is unharmed, very little finish wear if any. Take a look at the flame back ...

[oldane]

Beautiful work on a beautiful gitar.

[SamBooka]

how did you glue all the little pickguard pieces back together?

[fws6]

>how did you glue all the little pickguard pieces back together?

;-)

I traced the old guard and had Dave Aspray (www.daspraypickguards.com) make me a copy. He is fantastic !!! The pic doesnt do it justice it shows up like opaque but in real life it is a nice translucent tortoise material. And he applied the 9 ply (!) bindings faultlessly. Not an easy job.

[kris]

and?

[oldane]

Originally Posted by SamBooka

how did you glue all the little pickguard pieces back together?

LOL

[kamlapati]

First class work, worthy of that fantastic instrument.

[D'Aquisto Fan]

Beautiful guitar. Thanks for sharing more pictures.

[Gitarguy]

Originally Posted by fws6

>Is that.... fire damage?! or just 50 years of abuse?

No / in fact it is very clean and probably spent most of its life in the case. Older archtops from the 50s/60s sometimes have their bindings and guards made out of acetate material which is unstable, and has a tendency to decay over time. That's what happened here. The process also corroded the metal parts.

Actually, the material was most likely nitrocellulose. It was common on older guitars. It is also called celluloid, and has had many uses over the years. It decays over time, and in doing so it off-gasses nitric acid. The result is the crumbling and corrosion you had on your guitar. It was also used extensively for pocket knives, with the same results. It is also highly flammable.

A major use was for various film stocks. Many early motion pictures have been lost forever because the film itself has disintegrated.

[Retroman1969]

Absolute work of art!
Beautiful job.

[SamBooka]

Originally Posted by Gitarguy

A major use was for various film stocks.

And the humble fender guitar pick.. try burning one