Guitars destroyed in the floods - repairable?

[FlamingTop]

Hello Guys!

I am from the Philippines! And in case you weren't able to catch the news about a month a go, our country was ravaged by storms, causing floods that reached up to the roofs of some of our houses!

My uncle was one of the victims of the storm! He had all his vintage gear in the first floor when the storm struck, while he and his wife were in Europe for the holidays.

Damaged in the flooding were a vintage amp (yet to be confirmed but something tells me it's a vox, a vintage gretch, and his main axe, a stratocaster which he mentioned was from the 60s).

He says the guitar was fully submerged in water at the peak of the storm. We are yet to locate it, to see if it still works and to see if the wood has warped out. I guess my question is, is a guitar like this still savable as far as the wood, electronics, and hardware are concerned?

Thanks in advance fellows!

Es

[Pietro]

Somewhere on this page, there might still be a member who had a great Gibson Les Paul that was submerged in Katrina here a few years back. It is, from what he says, an awesome, although "fugly" guitar.

I actually thought it was beautiful.

It still played and worked fine.

He named it... wait for it... Katrina...

[Papajuice]

Originally Posted by Pietro

Somewhere on this page, there might still be a member who had a great Gibson Les Paul that was submerged in Katrina here a few years back. It is, from what he says, an awesome, although "fugly" guitar.

I actually thought it was beautiful.

It still played and worked fine.

He named it... wait for it... Katrina...

That one is mine, we clean all the electronics and let it dry out on it's own. Works like a champ 5 years later.

[Old Tele man]

...some warpage can be corrected, but often not. Really depends upon wood and grain cut.

[FlamingTop]

Thanks so much for the inputs folks! anybody else here with a similar experience?

I hope the help hasn't thrown the guitar away thinking it was garbage :O

[Pietro]

papajuice,

for old time's sake, a pic please?

[Papajuice]

Originally Posted by Pietro

papajuice,

for old time's sake, a pic please?

[stormin1155]

The strat might come out of it OK... depending on how long it was soaking... I'd be a bit more concerned about the Gretsch (assuming it's a hollow body). At the very least the amp speakers will need reconing... chances are they are gonners. The amp itself might be OK.

[GtrDr]

I repaired 2 neck through Spector basses from the 80's. Victims of Katrina.They were under 12' of water for a week in someone's home. They then sat there in the heat for several months until the customer's friend retrieved them & shipped them here ( A lot of Katrina refugees turned up in Florida. They had thick poly finishes & I think this saved them. I removed the hardware, the electronics. The stock Bartolini's were OK. I loosened the truss rods & let them sit in my shop for 1 year to dry out. I cleaned everything spotless. Put new pre amps & controls in, All new hardware. I was amazed that the necks were straight, did not need fret dressing!. They both set up perfectly. Who ever designed those necks really knew what they were doing. When I first opened the cases, spiders crawled out. It reeked horribly, the cases went into the trash. But the 2 Basses turned out great. I think the Gretch will be the hardest to repair. Strats are strong as hell.

[FlamingTop]

Thanks for all the inputs fellows! At least I can sigh a bit of relief!

At least the strat can be salvaged!
At least the amp can be hopefully saved except for the speakers

On a sadder note, i think the Greta is gone cos he mentioned that it was a hollow body

[Boris Bubbanov]

I never want to see another Katrina guitar as long as I live.

The type of filth in the bad water may have varied one neighborhood to the next but I don't have the strength. Don't waste mental strength on them; you'll need all of that you can get, for the coming years.

[newswede]

That Katrina is an inspiration. Love it.

[Simto]

Yeah, that pink Les Paul was the first thing i thought of, that is just amazing.

[Franklin]

Pulled from 12" of frozen ice:



I thought it was a goner, but plays really well!

[NativH]

Don't give up on the Gretch yet. This '51 Martin D18 spent a week in water in Galveston, TX following Hurricane Carla in '61. When my dad brought it home the top and bottom had come loose from the sides and rolled up like a scroll. He put it in the bathtub full of water and once totally soaked again (and the salt leached out from the salt water soaking) he glued the top and bottom back down to the sides. I learned to play guitar on this Martin.

I go off to college in '73 and dad decides to send the Martin back to the factory for reconditioning. And what you see here is that same "destroyed" D-18 after a factory reburbish. This D18 plays great and has the deep full sound of a vintage Martin with aged wood. Besides the fact that my father gave it to me when I was 5, I'll never sell it because it sounds and plays killer. Plus collectors would consider it damaged goods. I consider it to be one lucky guitar.