Wall hanger or worth restoring?
 

I purchased an old parlour guitar a few years back with the intention of some day making it playable again, but I question the value of the instrument and the cost of the repairs.
The guitar is a George Washburn New Model and I can't seem to find a whole lot of information on it. The repairs would be extensive. I was told the guitar is over 100 years old. Any thoughts on this?

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I guess it just depends if you want to play it or have an old broken guitar. Old Washburns are notoriously hard to date with precision without some particular identifiers. The stamps and bridge look right for about 100 years old, but other than that, you would need to find a true Washburn expert (if there are any). Old Washburns are fairly numerous, but again an expert would have to appraise it. Though I can’t imagine it being much more than $1000 with the high likelihood it’s much, much less.

However, a couple hundred bucks could probably get you a decent playing guitar out of it.

My thought is that any guitar that has survived that long deserves to be restored to playing condition.

I like to see old guitars restored. However, it’s impossible to tell from a couple of photos how extensive (read expensive) those repairs might be. Cracks obviously, but what about the braces?, are the top and back attached to the sides all around? Is the bridge lifting? How about neck angle? Fret condition? Do you just want it to be playable or restored as far as possible to perfect condition?

Cracks in the top can be repaired quicker and cheaper than you might think provided a) they are not wide enough to require splints, b) you are not too hung up on appearance, and c) the top is still attached to the braces (unlikely I feel considering the extent of these cracks).

My main concern from your photos is the two cracks that look like they probably go under the bridge. Popping off the bridge and stabilising them is one thing, but if the bridge plate inside needs replacing that’s a whole different game.

I think that you should decide what budget you are prepared to ‘invest’ in this instrument, research local luthiers, then take it to the one that seems best and say to them you’ve got x dollars what can they do!

Hope you find a solution that’s good for you and the guitar!

Best wishes.

My thoughts is take it to a repair shop and get an idea of how much all the repairs would cost. After that I’d either get it fixed or sell it to someone who will. I don’t think a guitar like that should b hung on the wall for decoration. It should b played. How often do you have a chance to own and play a 100 year old guitar? I imagine that it has a sound all of its own

I've seen worse, it's definitely worth restoring. Get some quotes and consider how much you want to put into it.

It appears to have at least been refinished once, not sure about other work.

Ed

it's certainly cool. that fact that it's unbound will make it easier to deal with as well.