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Hi all – as some of you may know, I’m kinda ‘semi-retired’ and currently taking a break from building to enjoy restoring some old Gibson archtops. I’ve documented a lot of this work with photos which I thought some of you would enjoy seeing, so I’m posting them here.
To start off, here’s a rare one – a ’55 ES-130 – Gibson made this model for just a couple of years (1954-1956), and this particular one may be unique in that it has a 22 fret fingerboard (these older Gibson models would normally have 19 or 20 frets) – odd, since the higher frets are not even accessible on a non-cutaway – I assume the only 22 fret guitar Gibson was making at the time was the Les Paul, so I wonder if someone mistakenly grabbed a 22 fret Les Paul fingerboard and stuck it on this guitar??
Anyway, I had acquired just the shell of this guitar, with all the original hardware and electronics removed – it was a real mess - a previous owner had painted the whole guitar black, and the finish was crackled everywhere. Also, the fingerboard had been flattened to remove the radius, and a very bad re-fret was done. The guitar was structurally sound, though, and I felt that despite all the issues, it was worth restoring.
The first order of business was to fix up the fingerboard (I wanted to use the original board since it’s Brazilian rosewood). I had noticed that the center of the board was cracked between the 7th and 12th frets and seemed to be caving in, which I found very strange. This mystery was solved once I removed the board and found that the underside had a large tear-out in that area (didn’t stop Gibson from using the board anyway – lol). Apparently, whoever flattened the board almost sanded through to the tear-out void beneath, so the wood was very thin there. After filling the void with epoxy, I ran the board through the thickness sander to get it true flat and of even thickness. At this point, the board was thinner than it should be, and restoring the radius of the board would’ve made it very thin on the outer edges, so I glued a thin slab of rosewood to the underside, bringing the board back to 1/4” thickness which would allow for a radius on its face.
In heating the board to remove it, the original celluloid trapezoid inlays and bindings were all ruined, so both were replaced, and new medium size frets were installed.
With the restored fingerboard installed, the next step was to strip the paint and apply a new finish. After LOTS of scraping and sanding, I finally got down to bare wood – a very laborious process which made applying the new finish seem easy. With the finish work completed, I installed all new parts – period correct hardware and a Lollar P-90 pickup – turned out great, and it was very gratifying to bring this guitar back to life.
Look for more “guitar rescue” posts down the road : )
Last edited by MCampellone; 04-08-2026 at 09:42 AM.
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01-18-2026 07:45 PM
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Very cool Mark!
Dare I say it, but IMO, it is now better than it was when new, just because your very capable hands have made her whole.
Keep those guitar rescue stories coming and enjoy your retirement!
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Before your make over, it looked it was pulled out of a fire, that's the kind of "roasted maple" I can do without!
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wow. Beautiful work.
What are the two holes in the neck at around the third fret and above the heel? Is that normal?
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Ha - if you think that guitar looks "roasted", wait till you see the '69 Byrdland I'm working on - looks like it was stored next to a blast furnace!
Originally Posted by Mick-7
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Thanks, swinger, and glad you enjoyed the post - the guitar certainly underwent quite a transformation : ) Originally Posted by Stringswinger
More to come!
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Thanks! Those two holes in the neck are common for that era - I assume they accommodate locator pins used to secure the neck in a machine shaping set-up. Originally Posted by starjasmine
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Amazing work as always, Mark! I think you're really doing the guitar world a great service by putting these golden-era guitars back into playing condition. The quality of the materials alone should be enough to justify their continued existence as functional music making tools.
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Are these guitars for sale or are they customer orders? Or perhaps your personal collection?
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Don't you want to add a bit of finish checking? It looks brand new!
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Great post. Apart from the 'LP' fingerboard, how does the 130 differ from a 125? I guess the pickup location is actually the same as a 125.
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These restoration projects are all instruments that I've purchased myself, intending to sell them once the work is completed (though some may be hard to let go!!). The ES-130 has already been sold to a local guy who saw it in my shop while the work was underway. There are more I'll be putting up for sale, though, so stand by. Originally Posted by Tal_175
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The ES-130 doesn't differ much from the ES-125 - the 130 has a bound fingerboard and trapezoid inlays, while the 125 has no fingerboard binding and dot inlays. Originally Posted by garybaldy
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Agreed - that's one of the reasons it's so gratifying putting these guitars back into action! Originally Posted by andrew
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Oh, and this 130 has mahogany rims, and as far as I know, the 125's have maple rims, though I imagine there could be inconsistencies with regard to both models. Originally Posted by MCampellone
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So $5 for neck binding and big inlays. Great value!! Originally Posted by MCampellone
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Haha! - making these guitars look brand new (or as close to it as possible) is kinda the idea Originally Posted by ewall
Don't you want to add a bit of finish checking? It looks brand new!
Seems there are two kinds of guitar players - just like there are two kinds of car owners - some baby their cars, and some don't care what a car looks like as long it gets them where they want to go. I understand that for some players, the guitar is primarily a musical tool - but as a builder, I appreciate the amount of work and the level of craftsmanship that went into making these guitars beautiful, so I'm always a little dismayed when I see a guitar that has not been well cared for. Seeing their former beauty restored to these fine old instruments just gives me a good feeling.
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Beautiful work and workmanship. Such a pleasure to see the restoration.
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Holy Mackerel!!!
Another "rescued" masterpiece. Beautiful work as usual Mark. Thanks for posting.
Tony D.
Proud Campellone Owner/Player
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That’s beautiful, Mark! It’s really wonderful to have you here on the forum - you are much appreciated! But it’s not fair to tempt us with beauty without being able to hear it. With 70 years of maturation and a new lease on life, it must sound great. Even a 30 second sound clip would be a treat!
Since you’re taking some time to enjoy doing something different, how about a 7 string? I think it was Jimmy Blue Note who recently floated the idea here of asking you. The few of us who play 7s would love to have a Campellone 7. I expressed some concern that it might take making a few to refine a 7 to the level of your 6 strings, but I don’t know that to be true. Someone said that Benedetto 7s have the same bodies as 6s, which surprised me. Any thoughts you have about making a 7 would be wonderful.
It can’t hurt to ask
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Good work Mark! Semi retirement seems to be a lot of fun.
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Thanks for the kind words. The ES-130 now has a new home so I can't make a recording myself - if I can get its owner to send me something, I'll post it. Originally Posted by nevershouldhavesoldit
That’s beautiful, Mark! It’s really wonderful to have you here on the forum - you are much appreciated! But it’s not fair to tempt us with beauty without being able to hear it. With 70 years of maturation and a new lease on life, it must sound great. Even a 30 second sound clip would be a treat!
Since you’re taking some time to enjoy doing something different, how about a 7 string? I think it was Jimmy Blue Note who recently floated the idea here of asking you. The few of us who play 7s would love to have a Campellone 7. I expressed some concern that it might take making a few to refine a 7 to the level of your 6 strings, but I don’t know that to be true. Someone said that Benedetto 7s have the same bodies as 6s, which surprised me. Any thoughts you have about making a 7 would be wonderful.
It can’t hurt to ask
I'm afraid that production of a 7-string is unlikely - I've never had an interest in playing a 7-string, so the motivation is just not there - sorry guys
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That is a top-shelf restoration all the way. Outstanding.
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Nice to see that my 'Guitar Rescue' thread is generating some interest. Here's another - an easy one - I got this '49 ES-150 as a husk - no hardware/electronics. Though checked, hazy and grimy, the finish was in pretty good shape over all - an area on the treble side upper bout rim was worn through to the wood - the finish on the neck had some chips and dings. The original frets were small and worn - the fingerboard showed some wear as well. I touched up the worn finish on the rim - filled the neck divots and over-sprayed to restore a smooth feel - fingerboard was resurfaced and larger frets (and new nut) were installed. To finish off, the body was lightly sanded and buffed to restore its original luster - new period correct hardware and new Gibson P-90 pickup were added to finally put this beauty back in action.....and up for sale.
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Well you know what camp I am in Originally Posted by MCampellone
Haha! - making these guitars look brand new (or as close to it as possible) is kinda the idea
Seems there are two kinds of guitar players - just like there are two kinds of car owners - some baby their cars, and some don't care what a car looks like as long it gets them where they want to go. I understand that for some players, the guitar is primarily a musical tool - but as a builder, I appreciate the amount of work and the level of craftsmanship that went into making these guitars beautiful, so I'm always a little dismayed when I see a guitar that has not been well cared for. Seeing their former beauty restored to these fine old instruments just gives me a good feeling. Stunning work as usual buddy !!!
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