1963 Gibson B-45 12 String

So right after the CBC interview aired last week I got a message from a really nice gentleman who said he had an old Gibson that needed fixing. As the storey goes he bought it in the early 60s and it was unfortunately stepped in by a nephew about 30ish years ago. The top was caved right in and he had taken it to a couple of luthiers that declined to take on the job because the damage was too extensive. It sat in its case unplayed and unfixed for most of the last two decades. With nothing to lose, he got ahold of me. Since I’m no luthier, I’m not bound by the “rules”, so we agreed to let me take a shot at it. The pictures below are the “before shots”.

Came to me like this.
Still caved in.
Split and popped loose from the cross brace.
Pretty fragile.
Broken brace.
More beach issues.
That should give you an idea.
Glued up the brace that broken completely.
With the jack pushing up on the brace, the top flattened out and I could work on gluing the cracks and bracing them from underneath.
Used a suction cup to force the glue down into the cracks.
In the mirror you can see the glue squeezing through.
A bar clamp squeezes the top cracks tight together and the magnets hold the cleats in place underneath while the glue dries.
Magnets on the inside. Then I repeated the same process with all the rest of the cracks on the top and on the back, and around the top of the sound hole. I didn’t bother taking pictures of everything, it all looked the same, just in different spots on the guitar.
This is the finished guitar. It’s not flawless by any stretch, but it the action is great and it sounds pretty darn good.

3 thoughts on “1963 Gibson B-45 12 String

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  1. Nice work!

    Just go to show that where there’s a will……………………. Maybe it’s a Grant thing!

    Overall, I’m surprised that other luthiers wouldn’t touch it. At first glance it looks pretty nasty with the broken brace and all but, as you showed, that is fixable.

    What was the hardest part for you to do?

    You did a great job on this, I’m jealous of the guy that owns it. All that nitro-cellular checking, or whatever, gives it real character.

    Thanks again for your time yesterday, I learned a lot. And thanks, too, for the loaner / beater!

    Talk soon,

    Grant Suderman

    Like

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