| Welcome
to my workshop ....
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The workshop is always a buzz of activity,
from newly created work to repairs and restorations.
Sohn Stringed Instruments is located in the lower Fraser
Valley in beautiful British Columbia. I'm privileged to have
the workshop located in a peaceful country setting with an
incredible view of Mt. Baker in the distance. This tranquil
setting is ideal as I have little interruption to distract
me from my work.
Restoration of vintage stringed instruments is my passion.
There is no greater pleasure than taking an old mandolin or
guitar and restoring it. Over the years I have done some
interesting restorations to numerous vintage instruments.
Here's a few examples and the stories behind them. |
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1918 Gibson F Style.
Click on the picture to view the
repair. |
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This is a 1966 Gibson ES175. Someone
had taken a saw and cut the headstock off. The serial
numbers inside the guitar body told me it was an original
and I went ahead with the repair. First I removed the
headstock overlay and carefully removed the ultra-thin
crown inlay from the original headstock veneer. Next,
I then proceeded to reconstruct the damaged areas to the
headstock and then inlaid a new headstock veneer to match
the Gibson logo of the late 1960's era. The sides and
back of the headstock were veneered with thin strips of
mahogany. The customer requested that the back of the
neck be refinished and the frets be replaced. Aside from
the finish looking new on the neck and headstock, the
previous damage is now undetectable.
Click on the picture to view the repair. |
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This 1955 Gibson ES295
guitar came to my shop with a broken headstock,
The cracked headstock was a rather easy repair but was
impossible to hide because of the gold finish surrounding
the area. The back of the neck was badly worn with hardly
any of the gold finish left on it. The customer agreed
to have the neck refinished. After painstakingly mixing
several samples, I was able to closely match the original
gold finish.
Click on the picture to view the repair.
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| This guitar, a 1967
Gibson J200, had sentimental value to the customer
and was considered a family heirloom. It had fallen
off the wall and the neck cracked at the neck heel.
The top also cracked on both sides of the neck extension
right to the sound hole. The original unprofessional
repair to the instrument, in my opinion, created more
damage than the original break. A sawed off piece of
broom handle was propped up against one of the back
braces and the neck block to support the neck. Five
minute epoxy was used to glue the cracks together and
was a nightmare to get off. In some places the glue
was half an inch thick inside the guitar. It took me
3 days just to get the neck off the guitar. The customer
requested that it be refinished in its entirety. I completed
the neck re-set and refinished the guitar to match the
vintage blonde colour that it originally had.
Click on the picture to view the repair.
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