This guitar was made April 22, 1913 in Russia, by I. F. Muller, Petrovka Street, Moscow. 1913 was an important year for Russia, it was the 300th anniversary of Romanov rule and the last peaceful year the country experienced before the onset of global war and internal revolution. It’s owner had it handed down to them through the generations, with hand-written history of it making its way from Siberia Russia to Alberta Canada during a 1929 immigration. As you’ll see in the following pictures it was quite destroyed. The owner really only wanted it stabilized for display purposes, never thinking it could ever be made playable….. we’ll see about that Fresh from the box, the side profile hints at major structural damage. The top had let go …The neck block broke, and took the sides and back along with it …The entire skeleton was basically banana-shaped…Started by disassembly – a long considered examination led me to believe the easiest was would be to remove the back first and start there. So here I have the wooden binding off. …The back came off quite easy. No additional damage and all braces solid. Original manufacturer’s label. I had a Russian luthier from Moncton, NB translate it for me. Thanks Sergiy. Date Stamp: 22.April.1913. Here’s where all the damage is. …Neck block broke free from the top and the bottom. Only a thin piece of veneer is holding it to the sides. All braces on the top had popped loose. Tail block also broke free from the top and bottom. About 1/3 of the kerf strip had let go. Another view of the broken neck block. Ornate headstock and tuning machines. Diagnosis complete. Now to start rebuilding it. First the neck block and tail block. Reattach the top of the lower bout to the tail block and sides. Re-glue the kerf strips to the sides. Also at this time re-glued all the braces on the top (no photos). Good an solid now. Reinforced the seam beneath the bridge and above the sound hole. This should prevent seam splitting and help reduce belly bulge and sunken sound hole. I used pieces of reclaimed cherry wood for the reinforcement pieces. Time to glue the back on again. Original wood binding re-glued and taped into place. Body re-built and ready to sort out the neck angle and adjustments. The neck angle and side-to-side alignment took hours, but after it was done the neck was dead centre and the angle allowed this guitar to become as playable as it ever could be. See the finished pictures below. I’m pretty darn impressed with it!!!
General Guitar Works 
amazing! Would you ever consider selling?
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Sold it long ago. Thanks for the interest.
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No worries! Great work. If you ever get any similar ones in/ if you remember the person who you sold it to’s contact info just let me know!
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my email is Lutespot@gmail.com if anything ever comes up.
thanks again
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