1844 LOUIS PANORMO
NUMBER 727
An 1844 Louis Panormo guitar that has been part of the family for years and is now in the workshop to make secure and playable. The guitar as it arrived in 2017, with its coffin case. It needs a gentle clean, but the soundboard and bridge seem in good condition.
The peg head and Baker Tuning machines are in good condition, but the sides are cracked and split in many places. There is even a hole in the right hand lower bout. This alone will necessitate removing the back. Inside I can hear many rattles of loose bars which will be easier to repair with the back removed.
A sturdy knife inserted in already weakened joints, begins the process of removing the back from the the body. I tend to begin work with the back. Here, the bars are being glued on where they have come unstuck and little spruce pieces reinforce cracks. With the restoration label on and the white spruce toned down, the back is ready.
One side of the guitar has splits in the Brazilian rosewood sides. The splits are closed with screw clamps and reinforced with linen.
The opposite side of the guitar is much more damaged and at least three pieces of rosewood rib are missing. Some of the splits are crudely glued with PVA which must be loosened with cotton and water. When softened in water, the PVA again appears white and the split can be reopened. Care must be used here as too much water will cause the ribs to loose their curvature.
With so many roughly parallel splits it is necessary to keep the ribs flat as the damage is glued up. This is made even more difficult as in some places the rosewood is less than 1mm thick.
The Baker machine heads cleaned up very nicely.
Gluing up cracks in the side up to the edge of the hole. Again, closed cracks are reinforced inside the guitar with linen right up to the edge of the hole.
The hole and the hole filled.The sides are Brazillian rosewood, a wood prohibited in trade since by CITIES. For the repair I used Indian rosewood purchased in 1982, which is not prohibited.The repair is also reinforced from behind with linen and is very strong. Filling and adding colour help with the disguise.
Re-gluing bars to the soundboard and reinforcing soundboard splits. A thin layer of maple reinforces the bridge pin holes.
With the back of the guitar now replaced the bridge still needed one replacement mother-of-pearl disc.
The restored guitar ready to return to its owner, March 2018.
Dimensions:
String length: 630mm
Overall Length: 929mm
Width of upper bout: 230mm
Width at waist: 177mm
Width at lower bout: 286mm
Height at upper bout: 92mm
Height at lower bout: 98mm
Nut width: 46.5mm
Distance between 12 fret and 1st string; 4.0
Distance between 12 fret and 6th string; 4.5
Weight: 1.125kg