1969 Martin D-18 Dreadnought Guitar

Unfortunately, this guitar got snagged before I could even get a video clip of it. It has a big, up-front, classic, bluegrassy, D-18 voice.

It's a quite beat-up guitar and had languished here for a long time before getting repaired in earnest. The worst of it was a huge cracked treble side that split from endblock to neckblock. Almost 2 years ago, I wrangled it back together enough to hold in place but it was still quite hideous as it had been left for some time with the side broken and nothing wanted to go back together at all flush or correctly. I considered it a win that it lined-up even remotely.

Tim then took that further and was very patient in reinforcing the rear of the crack -- using epoxy-soaked linen to stabilize the entire length on the inside. We then just needed to fill and smooth-out the rough patches, then buff-up. I did that part and didn't want to try to make it look good. I didn't mind the scarred character and so let it be with no finish touch-ups beyond sealer and some buffing. 

Other repairs included fitting a replacement bridge (a nice old one with the correct-looking rosewood) as someone had lefty-fied this at some point (yikes) and a neck reset, both of which I did at some point in the process. Jake Too finished it up, though, giving it a level/dress of the frets, fitting a new bone saddle, and getting it setup nicely.

The short of it is that I was very happy with how this turned-out despite its flaws! ...and that bearclaw-style figure on the top? How about that?