I was wondering how he was going to do that. Looks like he took a router to it just deep enough to take it off along with the binding and purfling. You can see how shallow he was going as you can see a very thin layer of the original top up by the neck area. He probably sanded the remains off would be my guess. Pretty delicate stuff there!

Yes, and here I expected a little steam and a flathead screw driver. LOL.

Wow
 

That is some very beautiful scrap wood! Bruce Sexauer recently showed pics of a backyard fire pit with some spectacular bits and pieces of high end woods!
Apparently if you are building as much as these gents, the scraps accumulate quickly!

Hopefully not for the same reason!

You will be rockin this pretty quick. Way to go Ben!

Salud

Paul

Class act all the way Ben, not to mention, your (surgeon-like) skills are nothing short of amazing.

BTW....That non perfect back would make a bunch of nice "Wilborn monogramed" beverage coasters...just sayin'. :D You're welcome.

And just like that the back has been replaced. I must say, I don't think this could have turned out any better.

Shazam!!! That replacement set is amazing!

And just like that, Ben is back at warp speed!

I am kind of in shock right now, there is no way that could be done this quickly is there???

Speedy
 

Well, I figure it took about 10 hours all told. It would have been WAY worse had it been the top that needed replacement. As it was, I was able to just sort of swap them out. I was fortunate to have a few pieces of the ebony binding left, so the match is basically perfect. I use CA glue to attach my bindings, so there is really no wait time between installing and scraping. In fact, the body is already in the spray booth with a coat of Isolante sealer curing on it as I write.

That looks incredible, Eddie & Ben!

One more glamour shot: the view from the top.

Sometimes, words are hard to find. I thought the original woods for this were beautiful. If anything, I think the replacement looks even better! I'm glad it worked out for you, and full credit to Ben, integrity pays off. I reckon he's got everyone on this thread thinking they'd like a guitar built by a guy like that.

Incredible stuff, I agree that the replacement looks even better. And since its been seasoned for a while you can be sure of its integrity.... just like Ben!

The new back is looking even more spectacular under finish. Here she is, still in the booth:

Wow!!! That’s incredible!

Yikes! :eek::eek::eek: