Johnny Cash Guitar

Johnny Cash guitar

This Johnny Cash guitar is one of the most fun projects I have done in a while.

I spotted this old guitar in a dumpster near work, and knew that I couldn’t let it end up in the dump. I pulled it out and headed home, hopeful that I could repair it and get a little more music out of it.

When I got home, I saw how extensive damage was. There was a big hole below the bridge, and the bridge itself started to come unglued from the top of the guitar. the strings were rusted, the fingerboard, though clean, was bone dry.

I did a little investigating, and realized that it was beyond my repair skills. and that a brand new Johnson guitar could be had at jcpenny.com for about $120.

A guitar painted with Johnny Cash.

Sooooooo what to do with a guitar that can’t be played? Well, if you’re me, that’s easy. Paint it!

I glued a couple of braces inside the guitar and filled the hole with wood putty. I removed and Re-attached the bridge as well. It may be worth noting that the pegs broke when I tried to remove them. This thing had been neglected, to say the least.

Johnny Cash guitar

I found a nice pic of a young Johnny Cash that (from my experience) has not been plastered all over a thousand web pages.

This was a new type of project for me, so I kept it simple. I used regular acrylic paint and a clear sealer to lock all of the colors in when I was done.

This instrument it is not playable by any stretch of the imagination. I plan to put new pegs and strings on it, but I don’t plan on getting it anywhere close to being in tune. I am afraid that it will pull apart under that much tension. If it could be tuned, I suspect that the top will not resonate at all, since the braces I installed are so crude.

This is, of course, for sale, though I haven’t set a price. If you are interested, don’t hesitate to contact me.