1973 Gibson Dove
From time to time, as I search for instruments for our Catch of the Day column, I run across an instrument that is in need of major work. These are usually described as project guitars, and in many cases they are instruments that deserve to be resurrected, but for whatever reason the person selling it can’t do the work. I thought it might be interesting to feature a few of these instruments as they turn up. Today’s Project Guitar is a 1973 Gibson Dove that got smacked hard enough to not only pop the neck loose, but to crack the neck block as well.
From the front, this Gibson Dove looks mighty fine. The Dove was introduced in 1962 and it featured a natural spruce top and maple sides and back that was stained a vibrant red.
You can see that the neck was cleanly knocked free of the body. During this period Gibson would finish the guitar after the neck was joined to the body and if you look carefully you’ll notice the finish is a little ragged where the joint was broken.
I think it’s kind of amazing that the heel didn’t break during the accident. The neck block does have a split in it, but it turned out to be impossible to photograph it. Since the neck will have to come out, it will probably be pretty easy to fix the neck block because you’ll be able to get glue in the crack from both inside and outside of the guitar.
The heel most likely survived because the neck is made from three pieces of maple, which makes for a very solid unit.
It turns out there is also a small crack the runs along the side the fretboard. If you look carefully you can just see it peeking out beneath the pick guard. This kind of crack is a pain to fix with the neck in place because it’s very difficult to get a good clamping surface with the fretboard in the way. But when you take the neck out, this will be easy to clamp up and stabilize.
Apart from the loose neck and the top crack, the rest of the guitar looks to be in fine structural and pretty good cosmetic condition. These nicks and dings are par for the course for a forty year old guitar.
It’s very common to strip off any valuable parts before selling a guitar like this. To their credit, the sellers have opted to offer it with the original Grover Rotomatics, which are worth at least $125 by themselves. The inlaid Dove pickguard is also worth quite a bit by itself. So is this guitar worth buying and resurrecting? Absolutely. The early 1970s were not Gibson’s finest era, but this is still a worthy guitar and when it is repaired it will give many more decades of service. As of this writing the, bidding is up $920.
Click here to see the original eBay listing.
UPDATE: This guitar sold for $1100 on May 4, 2014.
