Restoring a Vintage Gibson found in Horrific Condition

Well, that was a lot of work for that sound. What do you think?

My REVERB SHOP:

[deransadventures]

Man please don't change the pickup. That sounded incredible! And great playing, as always.

[CC-tezf]

I like the minimalist, care-taker approach you take with your restorations. It's like you coax them back to health to pick up where they left off and they can still recognize themselves in a mirror. It sounds amazing. Thanks for giving this old guitar some new life!

[Aceroxx]

That pickup is the perfect blend of a Tele bridge pickup and a P90! Keep it!

[johnDingoFoxVelocity]

Nice job nice subtle restore without destroying the petina

[amaxxio]

Please don't change anything. It is a melody maker as it should be. Great restauration work. It looks awesome and I like the sound very much.

[shawnhulke]

Matt such a beautiful and sweet sounding old git fiddle. Has great sustain. Great playing.

[Caddynars]

The feedback really gives it a unique tone. It’s the kind of guitar that just says, “I’m a rebel, and I’ll decide the tone.”

[Pete]

Nice job on getting it right again without going overboard. My two cents: you already have a P 90 mahogany body guitar. Keep it as it is, and use it for recording to add color and texture. Like on all of those Led Zep records that have odd guitar tones that sound fantastic collectively. Also, it has made it this far in it's life without being hacked up and clearly has served someone very well. I mean, look at it, someone played the snot out of it for a long time. You don't do that with a guitar that is a dud. It may take a while to grow into what it has to offer. Anyway, I've seen lots of Melody Makers converted to P 90 for relatively cheap, I'd leave it alone and love it for what it is.

[davidpepper]

Hey Matthew, what you do is truly a service. These guitars in terrible condition would be lost to time. You see their beauty and preserve them for the future. You recognize them for what they are...pieces of history. Cheers man

[VitalityMassage]

If you take a pencil and sand it in half lengthwise (and get the tip sharp) then you can lay it flat on the frets and mark the curvature onto the nut so you can see it when you cut the slots.

[dougsnova]

Here's the deal, your words said one thing but your face while playing told a totally different story . That expressed your true feelings of the guitar. You stopped and held a note while it touched your soul . That guitar has earned it's stripes, rock it as it is.

[shytweedabone]

I found it remarkable that the feedback kept trying to get loose, the way you held it right on the edge was stunning!
The way you had to alter your playing to get the best out of that guitar was so interesting and unique. Keep it as close to the way it is as possible.

[skullPUMP]

If pure gold had a sound...this sent tingles of sheer glory down through my spine and it in turn reverberated throughout the very center of my being. Thank you so very much for this my brother.

[psykoelvis]

What an amazing mellow tone, it caresses you soul !!!

[mark-dietz]

I hope you find a thousand more old relics like this. I really enjoy your restoration videos. Best on the net Matthew!

[maurocasanova]

Your way of playing is really intense ! No effect, a bit of crunch, much dinamics in your hands. So beautiful

[DTGuitarTech]

Wow! Very sensitive restoration. I agree with your approach at not levelling the fretboard. A guitar that age needs to show it’s heritage. And my goodness, at 10 minutes and 48 seconds, it was like the guitar was crying tears of joy that someone had taken the time to restore it. Amazing tone. Worth the microphonics in my opinion. Great job. 👏

[robpetoletti]

Thank you for sharing that restore.
Incredibly fun to watch. Instead of routing out that old pocket I would look for a custom or maybe a nos pickup with better output 👍👍👍

[mikemaffei]

10:47 and 12:03 those unbelievable notes damn near made me cry.. that beautiful guitar, so abused and neglected and now singing beautifully again as she should.. Thank you so much for this Matthew, this was truly special!

[hpblack]

Perhaps the best video you have released. The pickup is great as is. The magic is in the player’s soul and fingers. Great job all around.