Info on Wilson Guitar?

[DGPea]

Recently I went to a garage sale where I found a beat up old guitar. The
bridge was off, the nut missing, the tuning pegs rusted and frozen, and the
pick guard had been pried off, taking with it a bit of the spruce top, and
leaving a large ugly blemish. The tension rod nut was heavily rusted (and,
indeed, is non-functional). It apparently had been stored in a damp basement,
because it has a strong moldy odor. Despite these negatives I decided to take
a chance--the neck was straight, the boody and top were uncracked, and it
appeared a simple glue job would (at least temporarily) reattach the bridge.
And the price was right--$5.00. I figured if it sounded OK I'd use it as a
beater guitar for camping trips and keg parties.

I bought some cheap tuning pegs, slapped on some woodglue, juryrigged a clamp
on the bridge, and made a new nut from blank stock. I have about $20 total
invested in it, and its still ugly and smelly.

I put a set of Elixir lights on it last night and waited to play it til this
morning to let the strings set.

It is awesome! Powerful bass, bright treble, smooth and near perfect action.
It blows away my 25 year-old Alvarez-Yairi, and my 30 year old Sovereign (which
was rebuilt by Master Luthier Don Teeter).

So here are my questions. (1) Has anyone ever heard of a Wilson guitar? Who
made it? What happened to the company? The word "Wilson" is printed on the
headstock. The number "WF-115" is printed on a brace beneath the sound hole.
Otherwise, there is no identification on it at all. I would guess it was made
in the mid-to-late 60s, but I could be off by 10 years either way. The neck
appears to be maple, the back and sides are mahogeny, and the top appears to be
spruce (it may be a plywood top--hard to say).

(2) What did this guitar sell for new? It has elements of a well-made
instrument, but some features are clearly those of a low-end guitar.

(3) Given its totally unexpected wonderful sound and playability, should I
have the bridge fixed by a professional? Or should I let well-enough alone (at
least until my shade-tree repair fails)? Is there any way--short of replacing
the fingerboard--to free up the frozen tension rod nut? I don't want to start
squirting Liquid-Wrench into the headstock or put too much torque on the neck.

(4) Is there any reliable way to rid the guitar of its moldy odor? The
outside cleaned up nicely, but the mold is inside the soundbox.

DGPea

[Midgaard]

In article <19990823113158...@ng-cm1.aol.com>, dg...@aol.com
(DGPea) wrote:

Mebbe fill with Cat litter and let sit for a few days then dump it out,
just be sure to keep the kitty well away lest you get some new aromas

--

Golden Bear

[gerry garavaglia]

DG you can buy a product called "Mildew Gas" at your local
harware. It comes in a small bag that you hang in areas of your
house where there is mildew or moisture, it smells kinda like
ammonia and it will kill the mildew that is present. I don't know
of any long term effects of the odor but it should get rid of the
problem.

Good luck, Gerry

[MMGGUITARS]

I might try that on a case of mine. Thanks Gerry!
marty

[Warren]

Midgaard wrote:

> In article <19990823113158...@ng-cm1.aol.com>, dg...@aol.com
> (DGPea) wrote:
>
>

> > (3) Given its totally unexpected wonderful sound and playability, should I
> > have the bridge fixed by a professional? Or should I let well-enough
> alone (at
> > least until my shade-tree repair fails)? Is there any way--short of replacing
> > the fingerboard--to free up the frozen tension rod nut? I don't want to start
> > squirting Liquid-Wrench into the headstock or put too much torque on the
> neck.
> >
> >
> > (4) Is there any reliable way to rid the guitar of its moldy odor? The
> > outside cleaned up nicely, but the mold is inside the soundbox.
> >
> > DGPea
>

> Mebbe fill with Cat litter and let sit for a few days then dump it out,
> just be sure to keep the kitty well away lest you get some new aromas
>
> --
>
> Golden Bear

(I'm an amateur, so you might want to see what others say, but here's my shot at
it.)

If the neck is straight and the guitar playable, maybe to leave the nut alone is a
good idea. Dan Erlwine's book notes that lots of problems for tuners could be
eliminated if people didn't squirt oil all over them...he says it soaks the wood and
makes it soft, something that could adversely affect a nut. I doubt if you could
pull the rod out easily unless it was designed to do so, so the only resort might be
to leave well enough alone. Replacing a truss rod would require a good repairman.
Alternatively, the nut might strip before the rod because of using soft brass for
the nut, but it's chancey.

For the mold, seems to me the first thing you want to do is dry the guitar out
well. Probably should do this slowly to keep from cracking the wood?. If it's been
that wet, then seems the glue joints might start popping as they dry. In addition,
I would think the mold on the unfinished inside is not just on the surface. I don't
know if this will work, but baking soda works wonders at getting rid of odors. I
would think eventually the odor will go away...why not just play it like it is?

Warren

[Bens Guitare Repair Shop]

>
>Mebbe fill with Cat litter and let sit for a few days then dump it out,
>just be sure to keep the kitty well away lest you get some new aromas
>
>--
>
>Golden Bear
>

OH OH:I gonna try these one when Jacomo(my crazy redish cat) is away! For
some smelly old guitars.
ben

[unclet...@gmail.com]

I notice that this was originally posted in 1999, but I just saw it today (1/22//2015). You probably got rid of that Wilson a long time ago, but I still have one and thought I would respond in the event you still have it. I bought my WF-115 new in 1968 (I think)for somewhere around $600. These guitars were made in Japan by the company that makes Wilson pianos. Not sure they are still in business. After almost 40 years it still has great tone, particularly the low end, although it has gotten a little hard to play as the fret markers have worn down considerably. I agree that Elixir light gauge strings work well, although currently, I have a set of SP lights on it. I only play it rarely and tend to use it primarily tuned in open D or G (saves having to constantly retune my other guitar).

I have never fooled around with the truss rod, neck is still pretty straight, and I can't help you much with the odor problem, which by now has probably resolved itself by either time passing or you no longer have it.

Anyway, thought you would be interested.

[GRAND...@yahoo.com]

My father gave me the same guitar in 1966, or earlier. He traded for some work he did on a guys car. The man told him it was made by gibson (or martin?), but that could have been a story just to get his transmission going?

[Nick Odell]

On Sat, 15 Apr 2017 16:47:48 -0700 (PDT), GRAND...@yahoo.com wrote:

>My father gave me the same guitar in 1966, or earlier. He traded for some work he did on a guys car. The man told him it was made by gibson (or martin?), but that could have been a story just to get his transmission going?

Over here in the UK the Wilson name is firmly associated with Watkins
and WEM.

Have a browse through this site http://www.watkinsguitars.co.uk/ and
see if this is the Wilson you are looking for.

Nick