1960 Levin

[Levin]

Hi, I have been passed down an old Levin guitar from my father who bought the guitar in 1960. At the time he was told that it was 12 years old but the serial number (404023) seems to be from 1960. It looks to have been painted and a pick up added but I'm not entirely sure. The guitar has hardly been played but the body is marked and has cracks which could be in the paint or in the timber.

I am considering restoring the guitar back to original but I'm not sure just how much to spend? Is it a worthwhile exercise? It's something I will do either way but it's just how far I go - if it's not worth preserving then I may do it myself rather than having it professionally done. It holds a lot of sentimental value but I would hate to do the wrong thing by the guitar if it's special in any way. I guess I'm worried about repainting it as it is or taking back to original.


Any thoughts, opinions, or information would be appreciated.

Cheers, Greg .

[ThatRhythmMan]

I don’t know a whole lot about Levins, except that some are really, really great guitars. I would guess it’s worth having done professionally.

The pickguard/pickup assembly looks like some that were used by Framus in the 60s.

[Stringswinger]

Greg, I had a Levin classical that was made in the late 50's/early 60's about 30 years ago and she was a fine guitar.

I think any Swedish made Levin is probably worth restoring to playing condition. I doubt there is any enormous value there (A Gibson, Fender or Martin it is not) but care should be taken to preserve originality and a checked paint job adds mojo (there is no reason to refinish a guitar simply due to lacquer checking, but cracks in the wood should be repaired). The electronics might need some tweaking (clean the pots, check the solder joints etc.). It might need a neck reset and some binding repair. Take it to a competent luthier and figure it all out.

She is a beauty and deserves some much needed maintenance. Keep us posted and welcome to the forum!

[Rob MacKillop]

It doesn't look as if it needs much work done to it. Levin guitars are much loved and admired in Europe, not so much in the US or Oz. From a European perspective, please don't change anything, just clean it up.

[plasticpigeon]

I can't say I am an expert in Levin's but I have restored a Levin parlour guitar that had also been painted! I have no idea why anyone would paint such a nice guitar, as Levin's are pretty good quality instruments but it must have seemed a good idea at the time. Taking off the red might be tricky. If you are lucky the original lacquer is underneath and if the red is some kind of gloss house paint, then wire wool and turps might work as it won't touch the nitrocellulose paint underneath. If it is car spray or similar it would need very careful sanding or scraping to get it back to original. This is hard without damaging the finish and would probably require a touch up afterwards. If you are unlucky it will be bare wood underneth, but to be honest I doubt that it would have been stripped first. The pickups are very appropriate for a European archtop. The cracks are very likely to be in the finish and not the wood, and they may even have been the reason for the repaint. I have a soft spot for European archtops so I think it is worth getting done professionally. If you are interested this is the process I went through to strip the car paint of this 1943 Levin.

Jerome's guitar repairs and restorations: 1943 Levin

[Franz 1997]

I don't know about this one, but it might be worth knowing that many 50s/60s higher end Levin arch tops ( I had a 325 I think, fine guitar) have bolt-on necks. This means that the neck angle can be easily adjusted and shimmed if necessary. But it's not at all obvious by looking - if you discover a sizeable hole underneath the tailpiece bracket, then it's a bolt-on. Then all you need is the 2-foot long bolt adjusting rod, which goes through that hole.....

[Doctor Jeff]

Looks like all original including paint to me...

If the neck is wonky maybe a neck reset and refret if needed. Otherwise, if the electronics work, I'd leave absolutely alone.

The motto of the collector is do as little damage as possible...

[Levin]

Hi All,
I appreciate the advise and thank you for making me feel welcome.

The original sticker has overspray so I think it may be a repainted but you never know.
My next move will be to find a good luthier and see what they think. My goal is to do the right thing by the guitar.
being that it has been rarely played the frets are in new condition and luckily the electronics are as new - pots are smooth and no static when plugged in. The only issue in playability is the tuners aren't holding and it goes out of tune almost immediately. I'll have a look as soon as I have an opportunity, any idea where I can find parts or original replacements? What would the original strings have been as the current ones seem very light? I think dad put on new ones before giving it to me.

its Christmas tomorrow so I hope you all have a fantastic and safe day surrounded by family. I'll keep you all in the loop as she progresses.

Greg

[Doctor Jeff]

Those tuners while cool and vintage look very weak to me. I don't know if there's a way to adjust the tension?

If you could find replacements with the same screw hole spacing I'd be tempted to replace them. Klusons look very similar.

[plasticpigeon]

I absolutely cannot understand how tuners cannot hold tune. All tuners are worm gears which cannot be driven backwards. I can imagine that problems are either the strings slipping on the posts which can be solved by installing the strings so that the first turn overlaps the string so it cannot be pulled out of the hole, or a badly cut nut so that the string tension is not the same above and below the nut, and playing the guitar evenually makes the string slide in the nut and go out of tune. In short I'm sure thr tuners are fine and it is some other thing that is causing the strings to go out of tune. Please don't replace the original Levin tuners, I see original tuners replaced very often and unless they are actually physically broken I can't understand the need.

[Hammertone]

That pickup assembly was made by Schaller, who, along with FUMA and Star, supplied many European archtop makers with similar assemblies, either on an OEM or an aftermarket basis. Typically, the OEM ones have the brand engraved into the plate - I've seen them from Framus, Hofner, Hoyer, Hopf, Klira, Roger and more. This one is blank, suggesting that it was an aftermarket part, perhaps added by the retailer or distributor.

[Doctor Jeff]

OK, my first snarky comment is I can solve the tuner problem quite easily...

I absolutely cannot understand how tuners cannot hold tune. All tuners are worm gears which cannot be driven backwards.

Well the strings could be slipping of course, but gears can go forwards and backwards. It's simple mechanics--what holds the gear in place is friction. On an open machine there's a set screw which can be tightened to adjust the tension and friction. On some closed machines you can remove the cover to tighten the set screw.



There are certainly bad tuners out there that won't hold tension. I agree don't replace if you don't have to, but if you can replace without making new screw holes with a modern, high-quality tuner, you can keep the old tuners and it won't affect the collectability at all.

[plasticpigeon]

Well the strings could be slipping of course, but gears can go forwards and backwards. It's simple mechanics--what holds the gear in place is friction. On an open machine there's a set screw which can be tightened to adjust the tension and friction. On some closed machines you can remove the cover to tighten the set screw.



There are certainly bad tuners out there that won't hold tension. I agree don't replace if you don't have to, but if you can replace without making new screw holes with a modern, high-quality tuner, you can keep the old tuners and it won't affect the collectability at all.

What reasons have you found for tuners not holding tune? Unless broken, I don't think I have come across a tuner that won't hold tune. Of course the gears can go forwards and backwards, but it is only possible to drive the gear with the screw (worm), it is not possible to drive the screw with the gear, due as you say to friction because of the large reduction ratio. If somehow the shaft was not connected to the gear properly then the shaft could turn on the gear, but there is usually a square making sure there is a good mechanical connection between the two. For this reason I am highly skeptical of the conclusion that it is the tuner that is a fault, and not either the nut or sloppy installation of the strings.

[Emmer]

The model is Levin 335. The colour is not original, there was only two finishes available, sunburnt and natural. The pickups are not factory. The only pickups used by Levin at this time were Dearmond. You should try to restore it