Man if I lived closer to you I would repair it for you with no charge. I’m about 5 hours away. This sort of thing really gets me going. I love getting neglected old guitars and making them 100% functional again. The only thing I wouldn’t be able to fix is the finish cracks. This is a really nice guitar that’s just begging for someone to give it some love. You really made it look great, didn’t expect it to be that nice under the dirt.
Jacob G you shim it from the bottom with wood veneer, only the width of pencil, and place it at the bottom of the pocket so it angles the neck backwards, like a Gibson guitar would be angled. After that, add a piece of foam, of the correct thickness, or again wood veneer or even a cut up credit card, underneath the top side of the pickup to angle it back to sit flush with the strings. It would greatly benefit with new tuners, a wrap around bridge with more intonation adjustment and a graph tech nut as well.
You could stabilize the cracks by using thin superglue and wicking it in. Tedious job though... That's a lot of cracks. Still, like you, I'd happily do it for free - trouble is I'm in the UK, which is a bit of a distance.
It looked like the neck block had moved or collapsed to me, the sinking top matched with push-out on the back. There would be some work in that area to get the structure back in the neck pocket before even worrying about the delamination on the back. With all that movement, I bet there are loose braces inside also and working through those F holes is almost impossible, especially clamping braces. I’d be willing to bet the first big step of a proper repair would be removing the back. As Troggly said, the cost of a proper repair would quickly exceed the value. Anything less is just gonna be a bandaid on a cannonball wound. It could be done but you would have to love it.
@@rubenserhalawan571 Also, only use as much heat as necessary. There is method to keeping your soldering iron clean but it takes a little getting used to. Trogly could probably improve his technique I imagine.
Just means it's dirty, tips literally fall apart as they go bad because of thermal stress from getting hot and then cooling. Use steel wool to clean the tip while it's hot, and then flux and tin the tip again until everything is shiny... Your iron wasn't really hot enough for the jack, most cheap pencil irons aren't.... Get a $35 adjustable one, and you'd be much better off.
Props to you for making what you had on hand work. You didnt go out and buy any expensive tools or parts. You worked with what you had and you finished the job! Awesome!
OK...these ES 335 styles can be a real pain. They bring on the pain. However: Get about a foot of latex medical tubing, with a 3/16 or 5 mm ID. Simply feed this through the pot openings in the body, and push the shaft of the pot onto the tubing. Pull the pot into place. Easy-peasy. While you're at it, feed the washer and nut onto the tubing, so you can just slide them onto the threads and get them started. Do that four times. Now, solder the end from an old or crummy instrument cord to a piece of stout guitar string, and use that to pull the jack into place. Slide the washer and nut over this also. Get them started. Viola! You can use a piece of medical tubing with an ID of 1/8th or 3 mm, and grab the toggle switch in the same manner as the pots. Slide down the washer and nut. Badda-bing! You are ready to go. These methods have saved me a LOT of agony and despair over the years. They work great.
Funnily enough I just watched this video "TV Jones replaces stock Gretsch 5120 pickups" - ua-cam.com/video/p29QN4ycHMU/v-deo.html showing exactly that - it was a revelation to me!
You need to invest in more rare vintage guitars, i love your channel and it’s definitley a breath of fresh air seeing a video that doesn’t have a les Paul in it.
Dom Madonia anything vintage that isn’t a Gibson or fender. there’s a community out there for it. Like the guys who love the vintage Vox guitars/basses, the mosrite fans, and you can’t forget about the Teisco fanatics either. Nobody else is really covering that stuff and the amount of viewers/ customers he’d bring in would be nuts
@@michaellavender ...I have a Silvertone that needs a bit of fixing,But only ever seen 2 identicle in 10+yrs of searches...Something like that,would be great!
Austin you’re an awesome person for doing this. Kudos for restoring this family heirloom and item of sentimental value for a kid who lost their grandfather, bravo man
God bless you for even trying for their family. What seems like a light thing could very well mean the whole world to that grandson. I know if I had the opportunity to receive a guitar of a grandpa, I'd been bawling like a baby for sure. Thank you Austin for sharing that with us.
The dexterity of the fingers was supernatural, the concentration superhuman, the determination just insane...then the switch dropped clunk into the guitar cavity
Good video Trogly, always a good thing for someone at no charge every so often. Family heirlooms like that sometimes can't be saved unless somebody has the kindness of their heart to do the restoration for nothing. Goodonya man!
Yes. Pickups like that; I've seen go for $150 or more on ebay. Can't remember what they are called? Anyway, they were also common on many American made Harmony and Silvertone guitars up until the early '70's. I think, that this guitar was in fact made in America, and contrary to what he says, it's not trying to be a knock-off. It's stylistically influenced, but the outright trying to copy a "Pro" guitar really wasn't a thing for mass market guitars then, because the public at large didn't know a Les Paul from a Strat until the 1970's, when their legends became part of the public consciousness. In the 1960's, when this guitar was likely conceived, there was little or no marketing advantage with a copy and at least a perceived slight risk of patent or copyright infringement.
That's a nice guitar. With a lot of TLC it could be a classic but only for someone with the time, patience and skill to do the necessary repairs. You did a good job with what you had but more importantly, you transformed a family heirloom. Well done.
That sounds better than many Gibson's I've played, different, but somehow better. I don't think taking it to a luthier is out of line. A real pro could help make that Wurlitzer last many more decades. And thanx to you Trogly for the work you did getting it to work well and thanx for documenting the Wurli sound. Keep it up.
Just watched a TV Jones vid yesterday about rewiring a hollowbody. For future reference, fishtank tubing longer than distance from each pot to pickup hole. Tubing over end of pots, push through to access, leave tubing routed through body, remove pots. Reinstall- pots inserted into tubing, pull tubing back through body into hole, remove tubing. Not sure if made sense, maybe shoulda just said go check TV Jones
Watching this again I just wanted to say, good on you for for making that lady's day. Loosing a spouse it rough and I am sure seeing that cleaned up and playable brought back a flood of memories for her.
Lucky kid. I'm leaving guitars for my grandkids too. I have 20 grandkids so far and only 18 guitars. WOOT WOOT!!! I'm always looking for another guitar and telling those kids to keep screwing. lol Stewmac makes a pot clamping wire to get them into place . I just copied one made from a coat hanger wire and it worked slick.
Well, it sounds like you have a few more NGD's ahead of you! My step granddaughter and my wife's cousin's kid are gonna have some holes in their walls when my day comes. I have nobody else to them to, though I have a few set aside for Guitars for Vets lined up. For anyone else with limited options to leave their guitars to, that's an option, I also have 2 set aside for my old high school. But, there are good options out there if you have more guitars than anyone should have and not enough loved ones to leave them to. I need to start getting more than 3 amps, though. I can't be a dick about it after all. (Oh man, the wife is gonna kill me if I do that! Maybe I should just get a bunch of battery operated practice amps....Or just a bunch of little Monoprice plug in amps and extra headphones.).
Heh, helpful hint: Franklin Titebond *is* wood glue. Not, as you noted, the best thing for gluing binding. Someone down-thread suggested cyanoacrylate; that'd be good for tacking down a short stretch like that that's pulled loose.
Something else you might look for is "canopy glue", used by builders of model airplanes to secure plastic parts (e.g., canopies) to wood. I've seen videos by other luthiers (particularly Rosa String Works) that use it for gluing on binding.
this video made me subscribe. --good on you, man. Think we all know that feeling when a favor sprawls way out of what may have been expected and you handled it with such good spirit and generosity
Great job putting that old beast back into a young mans dream. Its official. You sir have enough OCD and intelligence to be a Huey Pilot for sure. Your motivation is from the heart. Keep up the great videos! I just handed down my 1973 Epiphone FT 550 to my grandson. You would think that old Japanese made Epi was made of gold to him. You did well sir.
I have one of those , i play it quite often ,also an es335 almost just like it got it in a yard sale for 20 bucks, i love playing it more than the Gibson , , I WOULDNT SELL IT FOR NOTHING
I found an early 70s Hohner acoustic in the trash, which looked like this one. I resurrected it, only had electric 9-42 strings so I put them on, and BAM!! It plays and sounds great. I won't part with it. We been through too much together, hehe. It has its own personality.
@@Scottocaster6668 you can find all kinds of things dumpster diving , yard sales , church sales, and just trash bin , i work on and flip high ened houses , found a box of old comic books and a box of old baseball cards , no i havnt checked what the value is on them , dont really care , just love guitars , ROCK ON MY FRIEND, I LOVE HOHNER GUITARS AND HARMONICA, GREAT FIND
@@Scottocaster6668 Gratz, before Hohner was made in the Orient, it was a fine handcrafted piece made in Germany. If you haven't done much research, you really should find out, which fine instrument you own. Back in the day in Europe, Fender and Gibson were far away for the average player - Hohner and Hōfner wasn't. Many of them were trashed or just handled without any respect. Many of us only saw the high end American guitars. Today I realize, how snobbish we were. Treasure your nowadays high end rock 'n' roll and blues guitar 🎸🇩🇰🍻
i had an old epiphone very similar to this guitar once and totally regret getting rid of it.these guitars have an awesome sound and are my absolute favorite style of all the guitars out there
Good repair video. Really enjoyed it, especially when the pot slipped back into the guitar. That's reality. Good job getting all the pots and controls back into their original places. I've got an old Sears 6 string hollow body that reminds me of the Wurlitzer. It was new when I got it and that was over 50 years ago. Luckily it's always been in it's case when not being used. It went into retirement when I picked up my Strat in '73 but I've recently taken it out since I built a Harley-Benton (Les Paul) kit. I've been working on it's neck alignment and intonation to make it a better player. It was more of a slide guitar with it's high strings but it's actually finger playable now.
Oh hey, I've got one of these! (The vibrato-equipped model at least) I believe these were made by a company called Welson in Italy and imported to the US under the Wurlitzer name. IIRC Welson also exported to Germany under the Dynacord name. I think you're right about the late 60s time frame. From what I've seen, though I may be wrong, this pickup style was used between around 67 and 69. The original electronics in mine were really weird. The varitone style switch had some really dramatic filters and no bypass setting. The pots were also like 25k and 50k if I remember. This meant that you got fairly unusable sounds and very low output on some settings. I replaced the wiring on my varitone with some more subtle filters and a bypass setting, as well as changing to 500k pots. After installing some nice tuners and regluing some of those darn inlays I have a really nice playing guitar. It has a very old-school sound that nails garage rock tones and plays really nice with distortion, and is imo much more versatile in comparison with the original electronics. The pickups have a really strange design in comparison with anything else I've seen. The bar magnet bends around from under the pickup where it attaches to the pole pieces and pokes through the cover, where you can see it as those two rectangles. Also, the scale length on mine is like 23.5". It's like they just had to be different in a whole bunch of little ways, and it adds up to a really unique guitar.
Lol the solder wheel trick reminded me of a time when guitar center techs serviced my Casino but left it ungrounded... I ended up grounding the thing myself with some solder I had laying around.
Back in 1984 (circa) I found a Hofner bass at a pawn shop for $175.00 the body had cracks but everything else worked. I took it home took off all the electronics and added a few coats of lacquer to reinforce the wood. It reminded me of the frustration of putting the bass back together! Sill got my Hofner with metal tuning knobs. I'd say it's around a 1970 from what I researched. Great video!
This is such a cool guitar, and I really enjoyed watching the cleanup. Like you I was really surprised by the tone given the condition and how old it is
I dig it. I would probably change out the pickups, but there is mojo in that guitar. I have my grandfathers Yamaha, a red Nippon Gakki, which I believe they made from around '68-'72. It is the last guitar I would ever get rid of. More or less insert the "pry from my cold dead hands" quote.
Those Yamaha red labels are amazing sounding guitars. I shouldn't have traded my '72.. I got mine at an estate sale cheap. Cleaned it , polished the frets and restrung it in the parking lot before a show. My friend who was the sound guy pulls up and I hand it to him and just say " Japan '72 " , his eyes light up as he strummed it.
"A rite of passage" Very well phrased. May I offer a couple tips? Hang onto a 30 inch length of mic cable to reinstall the output jack. You feed it through just as you did, and insert it into the jack. It's thick enough to hang onto the jack while pulling. Another tip is to feed your pulling line through washers and nuts in proper order prior to inserting into the body. Now, when you want to clean a well-loved ES-125, you're ready to rock! Oh, and I love the vintage twang! Thanks for the vid!
This was a bit of a change, and something quite nice. I enjoyed watching that unique, vintage axe brought back to life. You might want to try something like this again. Nice change from seeing nothing but ridiculously expensive big names. This was also educational. I've seen their juke boxes and my brother owned a piano, but I never knew Wurlitzer made guitars.
I did this with my grandpa's ESP, my mum loved it. I put Seymour Dunkins in, D'darrio Locking Tuners, new knobs, and new electronics. Repainted the body a matt black and added some extra shape to it (not turning a strat into a warbeast haha) to make it show as my grandpa's guitar. It's now by far my best guitar even against my AX
Check your local ads. Ya may be able to find one similar. I found a 60's Japanese hollow that looks a lot like this one. It was a little rough, but I only paid $40 for it! It's a beauty now!👍😎🎸🎶
I had a similar wiring nightmare with a Les Paul Supreme about 6-7 years ago, and I can say that I am not willing to take on another wiring job like that again anytime soon. It was really rough on me as it was my first time doing wiring that wasn't accessible through a control cavity, and I was replacing the EMGs that were in it with Gibson pickups, so it was a complete rewire. Kudos to you for not giving up!
Props to you for making what you had on hand work. You didnt go out and buy any expensive tools or parts. You worked with what you had and you finished the job! Awesome!
I am standing up applauding Mr. T! Living in range of an old Wurlitzer factory, this one kinda struck home. You made this BEAUTIFUL!! Even with the finish cracks. You did the work, and it paid off, big time. Be proud. And the sound is pretty frickin' good on this. I was as impressed as you. This sings!! Ya done Grandpa good. Wurlitzer is a very respected American brand name. Because of that, I doubt they were "cheap" when they were new (probably not as expensive as a Gibson, but definitely more than a "Kent"). You made me do some searches on the brand and guitars. If you Googled it, you gotta go looking for one of the "Gemini" models to review. BTW - I soooo want to get a standard Gibson ES or Les Paul scratchplate for this 7743, don't you??
Very nice of you to do that for her, you should send her a link to the video if you haven't already so the grandson has a true appreciation of the work you put in.
Great job' ...that tri burst is amazing and the tone is very usable, well worth all that effort and learning, especially when hearing the lady's memories'
Just wanted to give you a bit of a tip with your soldering, use a tip tinner to keep the solder tip covered, solder flux can greatly help flow the solder on oxidized surfaces, and using a moist paper sponge to shock the soldering iron tip can help with keeping it clean. If you need help finding these let me know, they are usually $5- 10 on online marketplaces.
great job Austin!! K udos to you on the effort you put into cleaning and repairing that beat up old Wurlitzer!! Your repair skills have really improved since you received the Stew Mac care package of tools!! I'm impressed!!
Hey Trogly, Ik this vid is 3 years old, but just wanted to let you know that I use 1/4 or 5/16 inch clear vinyl tubing tubing for fishing the pots. Just slide the stem of the pot into the tubing, and it fits very snugly into the tube , . Then just pull the tube through the potentiometer hole and there ya go!!! Ok you have some great videos,,thanks!
No, it was made in Italy by a company called Crucianelli. Like many Italian guitar companies, Crucianelli was mostly known for making accordions. They were marketed in the USA by Wurlitzer and under the brand name Welson in the UK. You will find Welsons in the US as well. I really want one of these, I keep looking for one in good shape on Reverb.
Just a hobby carpenter here, but here's a couple of ways to glue those kind of cracks. The old fashion method is mixing clear wood lacquer (water-based, not acrylic) with very fine wood dust (the stuff you get from sanding, saw dust is far too coarse for this) until you get something the consistency of soft dough and press it in with a putty knife. It's not the easiest thing to do and you have to work fast as the mix begins to harden in just a few minutes, but it's easier to blend in afterwords (when completely dried it looks a bit like solid wood and will bond well with any kind of paint/lacquer). The fast and easy way is to use modern wood glue, squirt it over the crack than push it in with an air compressor (just hold the nozzle an inch or two above the glue and let the air push it into the crack). Use a damp cloth to wipe out the excess glue, than place a heavy flat object on top of the surface to hold down the edges of the crack until the glue hardens (otherwise the expanding glue may push out the edges a bit). Mind that most wood glue is white and will remain lighter than wood after hardening, it's also not so easy to paint over, if the crack was wider than a hair you'll have to rub it with fine grit sandpaper, than apply wood stain to match the original color and only than apply your finishing.
I laghed so hard when the bleep came when he dropped it in the guitar
Me too
i spit my morning coffee out everywhere, was not expecting it lol
it's like polishing a turd
Same here
11:25
Man if I lived closer to you I would repair it for you with no charge. I’m about 5 hours away. This sort of thing really gets me going. I love getting neglected old guitars and making them 100% functional again. The only thing I wouldn’t be able to fix is the finish cracks. This is a really nice guitar that’s just begging for someone to give it some love. You really made it look great, didn’t expect it to be that nice under the dirt.
How do you think you’d go about fixing the neck?
Jacob G you shim it from the bottom with wood veneer, only the width of pencil, and place it at the bottom of the pocket so it angles the neck backwards, like a Gibson guitar would be angled. After that, add a piece of foam, of the correct thickness, or again wood veneer or even a cut up credit card, underneath the top side of the pickup to angle it back to sit flush with the strings. It would greatly benefit with new tuners, a wrap around bridge with more intonation adjustment and a graph tech nut as well.
Trog is in Ohio, correct? I am 25 or so miles from Cleveland (east). I love cleaning those old ones up too!
You could stabilize the cracks by using thin superglue and wicking it in. Tedious job though... That's a lot of cracks. Still, like you, I'd happily do it for free - trouble is I'm in the UK, which is a bit of a distance.
It looked like the neck block had moved or collapsed to me, the sinking top matched with push-out on the back. There would be some work in that area to get the structure back in the neck pocket before even worrying about the delamination on the back. With all that movement, I bet there are loose braces inside also and working through those F holes is almost impossible, especially clamping braces. I’d be willing to bet the first big step of a proper repair would be removing the back. As Troggly said, the cost of a proper repair would quickly exceed the value. Anything less is just gonna be a bandaid on a cannonball wound. It could be done but you would have to love it.
If your soldering iron is only getting hot in one place, you need to get a new tip for it most likely.
You should also leave a bit of solder on the tip when you store it, this protects it against corrosion.
@@rubenserhalawan571 Also, only use as much heat as necessary. There is method to keeping your soldering iron clean but it takes a little getting used to. Trogly could probably improve his technique I imagine.
Just means it's dirty, tips literally fall apart as they go bad because of thermal stress from getting hot and then cooling.
Use steel wool to clean the tip while it's hot, and then flux and tin the tip again until everything is shiny...
Your iron wasn't really hot enough for the jack, most cheap pencil irons aren't.... Get a $35 adjustable one, and you'd be much better off.
@@rubenserhalawan571 Quite right, 'tinning the tip'!
Ian Just the tip?
Props to you for making what you had on hand work. You didnt go out and buy any expensive tools or parts. You worked with what you had and you finished the job! Awesome!
Trogly: Owns thousands of dollars in guitars
Also Trogly: Well you wanna use your soldering wire and eyebrow twizzlers to get this back on place.
Hundreds of thousands
You don't get that much money by spending it
Ah yes, eyebrow twizzlers
OK...these ES 335 styles can be a real pain. They bring on the pain. However:
Get about a foot of latex medical tubing, with a 3/16 or 5 mm ID. Simply feed this through the pot openings in the body, and push the shaft of the pot onto the tubing. Pull the pot into place. Easy-peasy.
While you're at it, feed the washer and nut onto the tubing, so you can just slide them onto the threads and get them started. Do that four times.
Now, solder the end from an old or crummy instrument cord to a piece of stout guitar string, and use that to pull the jack into place. Slide the washer and nut over this also. Get them started. Viola!
You can use a piece of medical tubing with an ID of 1/8th or 3 mm, and grab the toggle switch in the same manner as the pots. Slide down the washer and nut. Badda-bing! You are ready to go.
These methods have saved me a LOT of agony and despair over the years. They work great.
^ This is how the pros do it. Thanks to StewMac trade secrets circa 1992..... (or at least that's where I learned it).
I grabbed a bunch of the tubing super cheap at an aquarium store
Funnily enough I just watched this video "TV Jones replaces stock Gretsch 5120 pickups" - ua-cam.com/video/p29QN4ycHMU/v-deo.html showing exactly that - it was a revelation to me!
Perihelion77 I remember reading other of your generous intelligent and helpful comments. Thanks man 👍🏻 You're what guitar community is all about.
thanks!
Sucking up the inlay was hilarious. I know it was an accident but it was so obvious on the video that I immediately thought you did it on purpose.
You need to invest in more rare vintage guitars, i love your channel and it’s definitley a breath of fresh air seeing a video that doesn’t have a les Paul in it.
Like the Hondo death dagger?
Dom Madonia anything vintage that isn’t a Gibson or fender. there’s a community out there for it. Like the guys who love the vintage Vox guitars/basses, the mosrite fans, and you can’t forget about the Teisco fanatics either. Nobody else is really covering that stuff and the amount of viewers/ customers he’d bring in would be nuts
@@michaellavender ...I have a Silvertone that needs a bit of fixing,But only ever seen 2 identicle in 10+yrs of searches...Something like that,would be great!
20:16 that feedback ... that's what good records are made from 🤩
Love it! Would be perfect for Oasis covers.
This was probably the most nerve wrecking episode of trogly’s guitar show that I have ever watched. Mad respect for getting all the pots back in.
Austin you’re an awesome person for doing this. Kudos for restoring this family heirloom and item of sentimental value for a kid who lost their grandfather, bravo man
God bless you for even trying for their family. What seems like a light thing could very well mean the whole world to that grandson. I know if I had the opportunity to receive a guitar of a grandpa, I'd been bawling like a baby for sure. Thank you Austin for sharing that with us.
The dexterity of the fingers was supernatural, the concentration superhuman, the determination just insane...then the switch dropped clunk into the guitar cavity
Good video Trogly, always a good thing for someone at no charge every so often. Family heirlooms like that sometimes can't be saved unless somebody has the kindness of their heart to do the restoration for nothing. Goodonya man!
The problems are obvious, but those pickups have character for days. They really sound great on the nicer settings. Pleasant surprise.
Yes. Pickups like that; I've seen go for $150 or more on ebay. Can't remember what they are called? Anyway, they were also common on many American made Harmony and Silvertone guitars up until the early '70's. I think, that this guitar was in fact made in America, and contrary to what he says, it's not trying to be a knock-off. It's stylistically influenced, but the outright trying to copy a "Pro" guitar really wasn't a thing for mass market guitars then, because the public at large didn't know a Les Paul from a Strat until the 1970's, when their legends became part of the public consciousness. In the 1960's, when this guitar was likely conceived, there was little or no marketing advantage with a copy and at least a perceived slight risk of patent or copyright infringement.
That's a nice guitar. With a lot of TLC it could be a classic but only for someone with the time, patience and skill to do the necessary repairs. You did a good job with what you had but more importantly, you transformed a family heirloom. Well done.
I would love to see you do more guitar repairs/restorations/whatever the proper term is.
He doesn't know how to do guitar repairs
@@lrec5783 Then what do you call rewiring the thing?
Ethan Rops wiring is not a repair. He means gluing, fret jobs, etc
@@gabewilliams7462 Well, whatever the proper term is, I would enjoy seeing more like it.
Check out "Dave's World of Fun Stuff" on youtube
That sounds better than many Gibson's I've played, different, but somehow better. I don't think taking it to a luthier is out of line. A real pro could help make that Wurlitzer last many more decades.
And thanx to you Trogly for the work you did getting it to work well and thanx for documenting the Wurli sound. Keep it up.
Just watched a TV Jones vid yesterday about rewiring a hollowbody. For future reference, fishtank tubing longer than distance from each pot to pickup hole. Tubing over end of pots, push through to access, leave tubing routed through body, remove pots. Reinstall- pots inserted into tubing, pull tubing back through body into hole, remove tubing. Not sure if made sense, maybe shoulda just said go check TV Jones
Makes perfect sense. Smart idea.
Sewing thread also works. Tie it to the pots before you remove them then just pull them back through. Also works if you are upgrading pots.
Did that 52 years ago... long before TV Jones
I used string, left over from a stringline/construction job. Completely redid an Epiphone Dot Deluxe.
@@Icantdrive55 late to this, but I've always used dental floss, same principle.
Watching this again I just wanted to say, good on you for for making that lady's day.
Loosing a spouse it rough and I am sure seeing that cleaned up and playable brought back a flood of memories for her.
Lucky kid. I'm leaving guitars for my grandkids too. I have 20 grandkids so far and only 18 guitars. WOOT WOOT!!! I'm always looking for another guitar and telling those kids to keep screwing. lol Stewmac makes a pot clamping wire to get them into place . I just copied one made from a coat hanger wire and it worked slick.
God damn how many kids do you have??
mechanics wire would work good too. the advantage is its thinner and is easier to form
Well, it sounds like you have a few more NGD's ahead of you! My step granddaughter and my wife's cousin's kid are gonna have some holes in their walls when my day comes. I have nobody else to them to, though I have a few set aside for Guitars for Vets lined up. For anyone else with limited options to leave their guitars to, that's an option, I also have 2 set aside for my old high school. But, there are good options out there if you have more guitars than anyone should have and not enough loved ones to leave them to. I need to start getting more than 3 amps, though. I can't be a dick about it after all. (Oh man, the wife is gonna kill me if I do that! Maybe I should just get a bunch of battery operated practice amps....Or just a bunch of little Monoprice plug in amps and extra headphones.).
damn, that's a big family... Irish?
@@BroKEnCaPSLoCk1 Not Irish or catholic. Insane maybe. 😜
That is such a charming guitar. Really nice of you to do that for that lady and her grandson. I hope he loves it. It's a cool axe
I must admit at being surprised on how good it sounded. That Varitone circuit hides some cool tones!
Ditto
Definitely a niche sound. It would be GREAT for an experience like a buckethead or something funky.
Heh, helpful hint: Franklin Titebond *is* wood glue. Not, as you noted, the best thing for gluing binding. Someone down-thread suggested cyanoacrylate; that'd be good for tacking down a short stretch like that that's pulled loose.
"Super glue" that's the more common name.. That's what you need.
Something else you might look for is "canopy glue", used by builders of model airplanes to secure plastic parts (e.g., canopies) to wood. I've seen videos by other luthiers (particularly Rosa String Works) that use it for gluing on binding.
@@davidhansen2748 seems a bit overkill, honestly. Super glue works fine and dries fast.
The standard glue for edge binding was Duco. It softens the binding and causes it to bind well with the wood.
NO CLaMPS!
You saved grandpa's Wiley Wurlitzer!
That was a nice thing you did, hope the grandson puts it to use. OUTSTANDING!!!🎸
So nice of you to do all this restoration work. Love seeing a disused guitar come back to life.
He can be a Jukebox Hero with that Wurlitzer😂🎵
Best comment!
Funny coincidence, that song had popped into my mind only the other day, while on the loo x-))
I too associate Wurlitzer with jukeboxes...
Its beat up but he didnt find it in a 2nd hand store
@@barbonson_richards Yep, brilliant piece of family history to preserve 👍
this video made me subscribe. --good on you, man. Think we all know that feeling when a favor sprawls way out of what may have been expected and you handled it with such good spirit and generosity
If the lady wants it fixed up to be playable..tell her to send it to "Dave's World of Fun Stuff" in Canada. He does fantastic work.
nice work. not over restored it shows it has many years of experience. grandpa's guitar will be around for a long time thanks to you. thumbs up
to glue binding, use cianoacrylate
Superglue for anyone who isnt a nerd like this fella
was just about to say that myself
@@elijahfrost6258 or is from another country, where superglue is not an existent brand. XoXo chad
Or some regular acetone based glue
@@carguy7884 elefant toenail glue with powdered dikdik horn filler
Great job putting that old beast back into a young mans dream. Its official. You sir have enough OCD and intelligence to be a Huey Pilot for sure. Your motivation is from the heart. Keep up the great videos! I just handed down my 1973 Epiphone FT 550 to my grandson. You would think that old Japanese made Epi was made of gold to him. You did well sir.
I have one of those , i play it quite often ,also an es335 almost just like it got it in a yard sale for 20 bucks, i love playing it more than the Gibson , , I WOULDNT SELL IT FOR NOTHING
I found an early 70s Hohner acoustic in the trash, which looked like this one. I resurrected it, only had electric 9-42 strings so I put them on, and BAM!!
It plays and sounds great. I won't part with it. We been through too much together, hehe. It has its own personality.
@@Scottocaster6668 you can find all kinds of things dumpster diving , yard sales , church sales, and just trash bin , i work on and flip high ened houses , found a box of old comic books and a box of old baseball cards , no i havnt checked what the value is on them , dont really care , just love guitars , ROCK ON MY FRIEND, I LOVE HOHNER GUITARS AND HARMONICA, GREAT FIND
@@bellesmom238 Oh, for sure. It's mind boggling how wasteful people are. I've found practically new stuff .
You too brother,
And thanks 😀👍.
Be safe.
@@Scottocaster6668 Gratz, before Hohner was made in the Orient, it was a fine handcrafted piece made in Germany. If you haven't done much research, you really should find out, which fine instrument you own. Back in the day in Europe, Fender and Gibson were far away for the average player - Hohner and Hōfner wasn't. Many of them were trashed or just handled without any respect. Many of us only saw the high end American guitars. Today I realize, how snobbish we were. Treasure your nowadays high end rock 'n' roll and blues guitar 🎸🇩🇰🍻
Didn’t think I would like this Episode, but I did. Good change of pace!! Thanks Austin.
Reinstalling the electronics seemed like a nightmare! I'm impressed that you actually managed to do it!!
Preserving that historic guitar is your paycheck! Long live rock ‘n’ roll I need it day and night!✝️🇺🇸🎸
bringing back to life roached guitars would be a good video series.
i had an old epiphone very similar to this guitar once and totally regret getting rid of it.these guitars have an awesome sound and are my absolute favorite style of all the guitars out there
19:40 makes this my favorite troglys video ever... STRANGLEHOLD BABY!!!!! And the feedback afterwords is AMZING
I actually think that was one of your best videos. I would love to see more repair videos along with the history of the guitar 🎸
Good repair video. Really enjoyed it, especially when the pot slipped back into the guitar. That's reality. Good job getting all the pots and controls back into their original places. I've got an old Sears 6 string hollow body that reminds me of the Wurlitzer. It was new when I got it and that was over 50 years ago. Luckily it's always been in it's case when not being used. It went into retirement when I picked up my Strat in '73 but I've recently taken it out since I built a Harley-Benton (Les Paul) kit. I've been working on it's neck alignment and intonation to make it a better player. It was more of a slide guitar with it's high strings but it's actually finger playable now.
this was very nice of you! you did very well, this wasn't an easy thing to fix up.
For me the biggest disasters always come when you're trying to do something nice for somebody and it always goes to hell....lol
No good deed goes unpunished.
The road to hell is paved with good intentions
That's a Charlie Brown goin' and payn' Lucy a nickle to make him feel worse than he already dose, yet he keeps going back ! ! ! 🤭😊😁 LOL
Ngl , sounds alot better than i thought it would when you said it was unplayable.
Oh hey, I've got one of these! (The vibrato-equipped model at least) I believe these were made by a company called Welson in Italy and imported to the US under the Wurlitzer name. IIRC Welson also exported to Germany under the Dynacord name. I think you're right about the late 60s time frame. From what I've seen, though I may be wrong, this pickup style was used between around 67 and 69.
The original electronics in mine were really weird. The varitone style switch had some really dramatic filters and no bypass setting. The pots were also like 25k and 50k if I remember. This meant that you got fairly unusable sounds and very low output on some settings.
I replaced the wiring on my varitone with some more subtle filters and a bypass setting, as well as changing to 500k pots. After installing some nice tuners and regluing some of those darn inlays I have a really nice playing guitar. It has a very old-school sound that nails garage rock tones and plays really nice with distortion, and is imo much more versatile in comparison with the original electronics.
The pickups have a really strange design in comparison with anything else I've seen. The bar magnet bends around from under the pickup where it attaches to the pole pieces and pokes through the cover, where you can see it as those two rectangles.
Also, the scale length on mine is like 23.5". It's like they just had to be different in a whole bunch of little ways, and it adds up to a really unique guitar.
Finally, someone who calls it a "Vibrato" and NOT a "Tremolo". You can thank Leo Fender for that...
You are correct! The 1969 Welson catalogue lists it as model DS2
Nice of you to do that for her. Came out better than I thought it would. 👍
I like most of the tones on this better than the Gibsons you demo. Even the feedback is cool. Also, it's beautiful.
Made a huge free ad for that virtuoso polishing.
Holy cheetos that thing really works 😆
Your Mom really loves this Acoustic-Electric & it's sweet.
Hey man. I think it's pretty cool what you did to this guitar for this family. Thumbs up to you.👍
One of my favorite videos. I love guitar rescue videos.
Lol the solder wheel trick reminded me of a time when guitar center techs serviced my Casino but left it ungrounded... I ended up grounding the thing myself with some solder I had laying around.
Back in 1984 (circa) I found a Hofner bass at a pawn shop for $175.00 the body had cracks but everything else worked. I took it home took off all the electronics and added a few coats of lacquer to reinforce the wood. It reminded me of the frustration of putting the bass back together! Sill got my Hofner with metal tuning knobs. I'd say it's around a 1970 from what I researched. Great video!
This is such a cool guitar, and I really enjoyed watching the cleanup. Like you I was really surprised by the tone given the condition and how old it is
This man's "sweeper" is really powerful to pick up a dsm inlay
I dig it. I would probably change out the pickups, but there is mojo in that guitar. I have my grandfathers Yamaha, a red Nippon Gakki, which I believe they made from around '68-'72. It is the last guitar I would ever get rid of. More or less insert the "pry from my cold dead hands" quote.
Nice!
Those old Yamaha's are Amazing guitars! Definitely hang on to it! 👍
Those Yamaha red labels are amazing sounding guitars. I shouldn't have traded my '72.. I got mine at an estate sale cheap. Cleaned it , polished the frets and restrung it in the parking lot before a show. My friend who was the sound guy pulls up and I hand it to him and just say " Japan '72 " , his eyes light up as he strummed it.
"A rite of passage" Very well phrased. May I offer a couple tips? Hang onto a 30 inch length of mic cable to reinstall the output jack. You feed it through just as you did, and insert it into the jack. It's thick enough to hang onto the jack while pulling. Another tip is to feed your pulling line through washers and nuts in proper order prior to inserting into the body. Now, when you want to clean a well-loved ES-125, you're ready to rock! Oh, and I love the vintage twang! Thanks for the vid!
This was a bit of a change, and something quite nice. I enjoyed watching that unique, vintage axe brought back to life. You might want to try something like this again. Nice change from seeing nothing but ridiculously expensive big names. This was also educational. I've seen their juke boxes and my brother owned a piano, but I never knew Wurlitzer made guitars.
I did this with my grandpa's ESP, my mum loved it. I put Seymour Dunkins in, D'darrio Locking Tuners, new knobs, and new electronics. Repainted the body a matt black and added some extra shape to it (not turning a strat into a warbeast haha) to make it show as my grandpa's guitar. It's now by far my best guitar even against my AX
"He put a quarter in the Wurlitzer, and he pushed three buttons and the thing began to whirl," (J. Mitchell)
Austin.. A+ for effort and willingness to help out. Thanks for the video!
this tone is beautiful
It doesn't sound too bad. Nice job on it. In sure you made that lady very happy and I think that's what matters the most
that thing is beautiful, id buy one in that condition and restore it lol
Check your local ads. Ya may be able to find one similar. I found a 60's Japanese hollow that looks a lot like this one. It was a little rough, but I only paid $40 for it! It's a beauty now!👍😎🎸🎶
74dart man very cool! got any videos about it?
@@lucabuchignani1141 not yet!🙂
@@74dartman13 If you were planning on posting one, I'd be very interested to watch it
@@lucabuchignani1141 cool! I may be doing some videos on my builds, repairs, mods, etc.👍😎🎸🎶
I had a similar wiring nightmare with a Les Paul Supreme about 6-7 years ago, and I can say that I am not willing to take on another wiring job like that again anytime soon. It was really rough on me as it was my first time doing wiring that wasn't accessible through a control cavity, and I was replacing the EMGs that were in it with Gibson pickups, so it was a complete rewire. Kudos to you for not giving up!
Trogly's in the HOUSE!!!
Props to you for making what you had on hand work. You didnt go out and buy any expensive tools or parts. You worked with what you had and you finished the job! Awesome!
I am standing up applauding Mr. T! Living in range of an old Wurlitzer factory, this one kinda struck home. You made this BEAUTIFUL!! Even with the finish cracks. You did the work, and it paid off, big time. Be proud. And the sound is pretty frickin' good on this. I was as impressed as you. This sings!! Ya done Grandpa good. Wurlitzer is a very respected American brand name. Because of that, I doubt they were "cheap" when they were new (probably not as expensive as a Gibson, but definitely more than a "Kent"). You made me do some searches on the brand and guitars. If you Googled it, you gotta go looking for one of the "Gemini" models to review. BTW - I soooo want to get a standard Gibson ES or Les Paul scratchplate for this 7743, don't you??
Im crying tears of laughter after the pot fell back into the body cavity 😂😂 Great job Trogly!
Very nice of you to do that for her, you should send her a link to the video if you haven't already so the grandson has a true appreciation of the work you put in.
The first two varitone sounds sounded so modern compared to everything else it caught me off guard
Thanks for restoring this and showing us. :) it was a real treat to see this old thing get some TLC and I’m glad it’s going to a good home.
Another great show, this kinda thing helps set you apart from the others.
Great job' ...that tri burst is amazing and the tone is very usable, well worth all that effort and learning, especially when hearing the lady's memories'
11:25 I was waiting for so patiently :D
when you do stuff luke this for people ..You make all of us proud Austin..Way to go buddy. I personally enjoyed the journey..
So weird seeing "No Views" lol. Thanks for the info! also @ 11:26 about spewed liquid all over my laptop HAHA!
Priceless! “It’s seen a lot of bars.” Tinny, but functional. It will be further loved.
Nice job!
It’s got vibe for days, that makes up for it’s imperfections
has hollow body. plays stranglehold. im proud
Just wanted to give you a bit of a tip with your soldering, use a tip tinner to keep the solder tip covered, solder flux can greatly help flow the solder on oxidized surfaces, and using a moist paper sponge to shock the soldering iron tip can help with keeping it clean. If you need help finding these let me know, they are usually $5- 10 on online marketplaces.
Aw, come on lady, get on this video, read the comments and slip him a few $$. That was a lot of work for a favor!!
Nice job Buddy👍👍
great job Austin!! K udos to you on the effort you put into cleaning and repairing that beat up old Wurlitzer!! Your repair skills have really improved since you received the Stew Mac care package of tools!! I'm impressed!!
Thats a real guitar
As opposed to all the fake ones usually on his channel?
Ok boomer
i just started my moms old 1970 espana thanks for the video! wanted to have it to play havent played it since i was 9! super excited
Call Dan Erlewine for this kind of job.
That collaboration would be awesome.
Great job, Trogly. The before and after pics really show the transformation!
Plz review some odd ball sgs trog love ya vids man
Hey Trogly,
Ik this vid is 3 years old, but just wanted to let you know that I use 1/4 or 5/16 inch clear vinyl tubing tubing for fishing the pots.
Just slide the stem of the pot into the tubing, and it fits very snugly into the tube , . Then just pull the tube through the potentiometer hole and there ya go!!!
Ok you have some great videos,,thanks!
This thing looks like it was made in Japan. Matsumoku factory maybe?
No, it was made in Italy by a company called Crucianelli. Like many Italian guitar companies, Crucianelli was mostly known for making accordions. They were marketed in the USA by Wurlitzer and under the brand name Welson in the UK. You will find Welsons in the US as well. I really want one of these, I keep looking for one in good shape on Reverb.
@@kynoceph Welson are a brand of Quagliardi Company from Castelfidardo, NOT CRUCIANELLI.
That's a cool old axe, I love those old '60s guitars from around the world. Great job bringing it back to life.
I’m here
Thank god your here.
HE’S HERE
So very cool of you to do this Trogly. To her, that guitar is priceless. Hopefully, a lot of good karma is coming your way. Cheers!
Trogly do you like Sesame Street?
I heard that too :D
That can be saved! Great vid! 17:55 you can hear the classic tone of that thing.
first
The clean tones sounded great!
Respect for the amount of work and love you put into this oldie!
Dude. I think that was really cool that you hooked this guitar up for her. Mad credit, dude!
Just a hobby carpenter here, but here's a couple of ways to glue those kind of cracks. The old fashion method is mixing clear wood lacquer (water-based, not acrylic) with very fine wood dust (the stuff you get from sanding, saw dust is far too coarse for this) until you get something the consistency of soft dough and press it in with a putty knife. It's not the easiest thing to do and you have to work fast as the mix begins to harden in just a few minutes, but it's easier to blend in afterwords (when completely dried it looks a bit like solid wood and will bond well with any kind of paint/lacquer). The fast and easy way is to use modern wood glue, squirt it over the crack than push it in with an air compressor (just hold the nozzle an inch or two above the glue and let the air push it into the crack). Use a damp cloth to wipe out the excess glue, than place a heavy flat object on top of the surface to hold down the edges of the crack until the glue hardens (otherwise the expanding glue may push out the edges a bit). Mind that most wood glue is white and will remain lighter than wood after hardening, it's also not so easy to paint over, if the crack was wider than a hair you'll have to rub it with fine grit sandpaper, than apply wood stain to match the original color and only than apply your finishing.