I came across this old Giannini guitar in a charity shop. Sadly it was a real mess.
Someone had completely trashed the front of it by Gluing a Contact pickup to it and then tearing it off taking a big chunk of the wood with it. They had also stuck stickers all over it and then peeled them off taking bits of the veneer with them.
They only wanted £10 for it, but it was such a mess, I wouldn't have considered buying it........ but being me, I couldn't help but pick it up, tune it and give it a quick strum.
To my surprise, it sounded amazing, with a really beautiful, rich and warm tone. Looking closer at it, I could tell it was actually a very high quality, beautifully made classical guitar, that could well be of some use to me for recording. So I paid my £10 and took it home.
I did wonder about attempting some sort of restoration, but the work required was way above my pay grade, so I decided to flatten the surface with wood filler and give it a paint job...... and this is the result.
I'm not the worlds greatest artist but thought I would have a bit of fun with it. I added a mermaid, a seagull and Nemo the fish. Whatever you think of my artistic skills, it definitely looks ten times better than it did.
For those interested in such things, after some investigation, I discovered that it was made by renowned Italian luthier Tranquillo Giannini who moved to Brazil and opened a workshop there in 1900. The company still exists today and still makes very high quality instruments. This model dates back to about 1930, and one of these in good condition would set you back around the £1,000 mark. So it seems I got myself a real bargain.
@fiveplustwo theme - Painted and Decorated
@SwillinBillyFlynn
