Gots me a Hummingbird GB-23!

[Barry]

Finally, after many years of wanting and looking (and not having the money when I did find one--still don't!) I found an MIJ Hummingbird GB-23 close by.

Turns out the seller is a realtor who's had it second hand for 20 years from a guy who played in a band. He was an awfully nice fella about my own age, and I got it for $200 instead of the original asking price of $250. That's the good news.

The not so good news is that there is a small amount of structural damage to a couple of the braces, and the original owner had replaced the tuners and not aligned them too well. The artwork on the pick guard was rubbed away from use, and there was also an internal transducer pickup that had stopped working.

Aside from the expected dings and scratches, it appears like the guitar had been hit or dropped at some point in it's life, hard enough to crack a couple of the braces and cause 2 hairline cracks in the back.

When I contacted the seller about the cracks he claimed he didn't realize there was a problem and has offered to refund me $50 for my troubles. It is to come by cheque. My fingers are crossed. It will take about $50 worth of parts to replace the usual bits, and correct the wear and tear and damage, about half of which is for a new pick guard. You can't call it a Hummingbird if there's no bird, eh?

The only pics I have right now are tear down ones showing the damaged bits to be replaced but I will post a few as the "project" proceeds. Despite a bit of bellying-up behind the bridge and some bridge rotation caused by the cracked brace beside the sound hole the action on this ole gal remains amazingly good and playable, so that 's a bonus and gives me hope that it can be stabilized and restored to something a lot better than it was.

Waiting on parts to arrive which may be up to a few weeks. Film at eleven.

[charles]

Congrats on finally capturing your "white whale", Barry; looking forward to seeing the progress of getting her back up to fighting shape.

[Barry]

Well, wouldn't it just rot yer socks? I knew this was going to take some work to make it right but I had no idea how much!

I confidently began tearing her down and I ordered new parts, including a new pick guard. So naturally I had to remove the old one on which the artwork had been completely worn off. It took the better part of the day to remove using a hair dryer and thin scrapers plus Goo Gone--40 year old glue is bugger to get off! Then I saw it!



Crap! Now it all made sense as to what I was seeing. I knew this had experienced a blow of some kind but I couldn't figure out where. Obviously it had been hit hard directly on the pick guard which had broken the 2 braces underneath plus the obvious one on the back.

One of the two top braces:


Bottom brace:


I contacted the seller who quickly offered to refund my money as long as I can put it back into playing condition. The plan is to give it to charity (he's a decent fellow, lucky for me). The difficulty is that I already ordered about $50 worth of parts, including a $29 pick guard (they ain't cheap).

So now I have to wait for the guard to arrive, throw some glue into the cracks, and hope the guard covers it all up and holds it together. I've agreed to eat the remaining parts as well a set of strings since I should have done a better job of investigating the guitar before buying it.

With luck the part arrives in a week or so and I'll resolve this mess.
Damn! I guess I'm just cursed.

[charles]

Wow now THAT is what I call a war wound.

Sorry to hear it's not worked out. The search for the perfect Hummingbird continues. Oh well - it's always good to have one guitar you have to keep searching for (I've been waiting for the right Strat for about a decade )

[Barry]

Yeah thanks Charles.
I reckon that this poor ole gal was probably stepped on. That's the only thing that makes sense since a blow would likely have left an impact mark on the pickup and there was none. But underneath it, was a hell of a mess!

The miracle is that you can still play it. Damn shame.

[Barry]

UPDATE:
Today I received the promised $50 from the seller. (whew!)
We've been talking some more and the plan now is to donate it to charity or some other worthwhile cause so someone can have a guitar to play. He's returning the full amount (plus I hope the cost of the pick guard) with the stipulation that I put it back into some sort of playing condition.

I would like him to refund the $29 for the guard since I have no use for it and I'll eat the other parts + strings. My plan is to squirt the crack full of CA and cover up the damage with the pick guard. We'll see how that goes.

[Barry]

The guitar is all glued and stabilized, cleaned, and re-assembled, with a new set of strings. Just waiting for the pick guard to arrive to finish things up.
The seller is a stand up guy and tells me my money is on its way. Then the 'bird is on its way to a needy player. Nice.

I'll post a pic or two when it's complete.

[charles]

Good on you and the seller for donating the guitar and your time on the fixes to a player in need. It's a nice outcome.

[Barry]

As promised the seller returned the full amount paid. (Good on ya Darrell!)

I spent a minimal amount of time on repairs, the goal was to stabilize the top without getting too "involved" with the process. I was able to get my arthritic fingers into the sound hole and squirt some CA glue into the open cracks of two of the broken braces which I could access without any special tools. They sealed up very quickly and are now solid. One additional cracked brace remains, back towards the bridge. I couldn't get at it by hand.

The large sound hole crack was similarly treated but unfortunately I was not able to flatten it much. To do it properly requires a deep throat C clamp to reach deeper into the body. I improvised with a smaller C clamp and some cedar strips and it's still a bit uneven. The new pick guard manages to conceal most of it.

I stripped and cleaned everything, including the case, and put on a set of 12 gauge cheap-ish strings I had in the box.







Despite the hell this guitar has endured, it still plays remarkably well, a testament to the original build quality. The action is excellent and the neck is still well aligned. Lots of bass response but because of the damage to the sound board the treble strings sound thin by comparison. Not really performance worthy, but it will make a perfect starter guitar for someone.

What a shame, I thought I'd finally found my bird.

[charles]

Some lucky player will be very happy with that guitar and it is great that you and the previous owner have done this.

Hopefully you've now created enough positive karma to send another dream 'bird your way soon.