An old Busato archtop?

elianu

Hello everyone, yesterday I bought this old archtop for less than 100 euros. Comes out it is a Busato, or at least it has the small tag behind the headstock and the BB tuners. I would like to know If someone has more infos about this model.

As you can see from the photos the major problem with the guitar is in the back, beacuseit has woodworms holes. The previous owner started to fill them up with wood plus shaped like the holes ( kind of meticolous work, but I guess it is worth?).

The tuners miss two knobs and one is chipped, do they make replacements?

Also I wouldlike to know what kind of tailpiece and bridge It might have had ( this had a round sicilian one, the aluminium casted you all know).

I hope you could help me with more infos about it and some tips on how to repair it.

billyshakes

I have nothing but admiration and gratitude to those other members who take some of these old project guitars that look hopeless and return them to playing condition. How does this guitar sound by tapping on it? Good resonance? It is indeed unfortunate for the woodworm damage. Makes me wonder if it was just hanging in a garage or attic or some other inhospitable place for a guitar to allow that to happen. It does seem to be a little more cosmetic than structural so hopefully that is ok. How about the upper bout though? Looks like it had a significant crack that has the start of a repair (and a lot of adhesive tape residue!)

As to the buttons on your tuners, it would probably be hard to match the ageing look of the other 4, but I do know some people keep a bunch of old tuners around for parts. You might get lucky and find ones with similar color either that way, or from another old/hopeless project guitar that you get for the hardware.

Best of luck. Please do keep us posted with photos of your work. I never tire of admiring the process along the way.