2005 Yamaha C-70
I bought a Yamaha C-70 in 2005, thinking I’d learn classical guitar through a formal study and certification program. But I quickly discovered that reading sheet music and playing classical pieces wasn’t as enjoyable as I’d hoped. Turns out, Jimi Hendrix and the electric guitar were more my style. So the Yamaha ended up neglected, sitting quietly in a corner for years.
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At some point, I noticed the body had been damaged—a gaping hole near the bottom. I repaired it and figured I might as well turn the whole thing into a restoration project. I had grand ideas: mother-of-pearl inlays, a fresh shellac finish, a new nut and saddle, etc.. But it proved more ambitious than I expected. I darkened the body with black shellac but wasn’t satisfied with the result, and the project stalled. The guitar was left unfinished—this time on my workshop wall. Eventually, though, I decided to see it through.
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My inspiration came from the old white Spanish guitars I’d seen in vintage photos—elegant, aged, and full of character. This is the journey I took to bring that vision to life...
Dark shellac and left unfinished!
Manufacture code dates production to July 2005
First, I applied multiple coats of "old white" chalk paint...
But it was too bright! So, I added dark wax...
At the same time I started working on the fretboard. I hard to remove the frets so that I could do some inlay work...
The body and headstock would have roses, so I wanted the fretboard to have leaves....
I custom ordered the abalone and gold leaves...
I upgraded the tuners...
And sanded the neck because it was too sticky!
Levelling the new frets...
My wife used a stencil and chalk paint to put roses on the body...
Crowning the frets...
We went with red roses at first...
But we felt like it was taking attention away from the rest of the guitar so we painted white over it...
My wife applied a thick layer of paint for texture, and then I tried to create a soft outline with dark wax...
As you can see, the idea was to give the paint a "cracked" effect...
The headstock is a mother of pearl inlay, with crushed abalone for its border....
And done!