1973 Gibson MK-35 000-Size Guitar

These odd '70s Gibsons get bad press because of their future-forward look and design but they're perfectly-good guitars provided they're in good order. They have a 000-size body that's vaguely dreadnought-shaped, too. The big, asymmetric bridge is a striking look -- as is the Ovation-style, faux-wood, plastic rosette insert and scooped headstock shape. Who was the target audience for this? Rock bands? Proto-New-Wave? Folksies gone interstellar and cosmic?

Anyhow, this one has been in the shop for a long time awaiting work because I knew it would be a thinking man's game to get it back together. It was absolutely devastated in the neck joint area when it arrived, with a caved-in block, caved-in neck, loose bracing, and lots of cracks in the area. An old attempt at repair had been made, complete with black spray finish "overcoat"  to hide all of the mess at the heel.

I had to disassemble all of it, add some "flying buttress" wing-blocks that extended the neckblock out to either side, reset the neck for the second time, and add whatever other extra support I could dream-up. Once that was done, I could finally level and dress the frets and set it up. It's now playing bang-on and has plenty of saddle to go for adjustment's sake.

This particular guitar has a refinished top, oversprayed back and sides, and is gnarly to say the least. It does get the job done and looks nice from the other side of the jam space, so I think its job is done!