Like a kid on Christmas morning!

[John J]

I feel like a kid again! I was cleaning out my garage up in the rafters when I found a box I thought I had lost forever. When I was twelve years old in 1972 I got as a gift a guitar kit. Yes they had kits way back then. Being twelve and naive I started with making the mold. Alas with no guidance and a poor selection of tools I quickly became frustrated and moved on to other pursuits. The kit sat in my parents attic for the next twenty years. I thought it was thrown out when my parents moved out and my siblings cleaned up. I don't know how but it made it to my garage (I have no recollection how). Today I found it and all parts appear to be intact and in good condition. According to the book it has a European silver spruce top and Rosewood back and sides. Rosewood fingerboard and Mahogany neck blank. Now I'll have to decide what to make!

[Daniel P]

So very cool!

I'm sure we'd all love to see more photos.

[Kevin in California]

That is pretty neat. Should be some pretty good quality wood coming from that era.

[Dave Bagwill]

Good find John!!

[John J]

Pictures of the top and back. I wonder what type of Rosewood would have been in a kit like this at that time. The step by step booklet is interesting. It instructs you to make a tin trough and boil the sides for at least an hour on the stovetop before quickly forcing them against the mold.

[ken cierp]

Looks like the markings that the "International Violin Co." used on their materials. Constantine's also sold a "box o guitar wood" like that. I did not purchase a complete package but I did get materials for my first guitars from both places.

Boiling and bending works great -- you do need plenty of hold downs to keep the veneer flat while drying which takes a while. I believe one of the Yamaha plants still boils their sides prior to loading them to a high temperature bender.

[Kevin in California]

The rosewood pic of it in the box looks just like East Indian Rosewood. The picture in you last post looks alot like Ovangkol, otherwise known as Shedua.
I think it is EIR, but very pretty grain there.