So I've taken on a bit of a project to fix up a vintage guitar I came across at the right price.

It's an early '60's (as far as I can tell, they didn't have serial numbers....) Alver arch top. Alver was the "student" brand Maton Guitars used for a while. The story goes that although they were "no-frills" designs, they were still built by the same guys that built the flagship models, so they became cost ineffective and where phased out. That's what I hear anyway.

I was getting impatient of myself to take the pic's so you cans see where i tried some fret board oil


Alver "Before Shots #3" by Ch0jiN, on Flickr

This is how I picked it up. It's missing the bridge and two peg heads from the tuners, but apart from that it appears to be completely original.



Alver "Before Shots #1" by Ch0jiN, on Flickr


It looks to have a bone nut, but it's trashed and I'll replace it with unbleached bone.

You can probably see some of the tuning keys are bent too. I'm actually going to replace all of them with some from stewmac that look almost identical and keep these ones away somewhere.



Alver "Before Shots #2" by Ch0jiN, on Flickr

Here you can see where someone has clearly tried to prise the bridge off with a jackhammer at some point....


Alver "Before Shots #5" by Ch0jiN, on Flickr

So here you can see the clear (well, 'clear' is overstating it, it's actually heavily yellowed with age) pick guard with the engraved ship that I'm told identifies this guitar as particularly rare amongst a very rare breed.

The plastic though has gone quite soft and spongy though so I'm considering replacement options. Maybe matte black on white with the same design engraved.


Alver "Before Shots #8" by Ch0jiN, on Flickr

Makes me thirsty just looking at the fret board...

Given the staining, it's been played some. But, the first three frets are barely dented so I plan to keep them.



Alver "Before Shots #7" by Ch0jiN, on Flickr

There is some nasty fret sprout though as the neck has clearly dried out some over the years. I would like to keep the original frets, so I'm planning on gluing the ends back down and filing the offenders back down. It'll need a level and crown too.


Alver "Before Shots #6" by Ch0jiN, on Flickr

Last but not least, the neck joint is slightly loose. There's probably 1mm wiggle up and down. Sideways is rock solid. I'm not sure how I'll proceed there, but I'll get the tuners and bridge on, string it up and see how it all looks first.

I am planning on electrifying her too, but in a non-invasive way. I'll put a slim floater up at the neck and install a strap jack. I'll likely add stealth thumb wheel volume and tone under the new pick guard too.

Anyway, here's one more in B&W so you can see the unusual grain in the top.


Alver "Before Shots #4" by Ch0jiN, on Flickr

Well, I hope you dig it and if you do, I'll keep you posted on the restoration because there might just be another really beat up piece of Australian music history on it's way to me.....