[Bob Branstetter]

"Restoration" is a word that I've come to despise when I see it used by people who think that restoration consists of buying a can of paint stripper and a can of varnish at Lowe's or Home Depot and then completing the job over a weekend.

Real professional "Restoration" can mean different things depending on who the restoration is being done for. A true restoration, the kind that a museum would want, would be returning the instrument to near the condition that it left the maker's hands or at least as close as is practical considering the modifications that might have been made over the life of the instrument. (Just try to find a Stradivarius violin with the original neck.)

Restoration for an instrument that is going to be played by a professional player is an altogether different thing. You won't find too many 3 string basses being used today. Neck grafts to change the string length and modifications to change the neck angle and over-stand are the norm. Even cutting down the body is considered acceptable. The emphasis is on making the instrument structurally sound while making the instrument meet modern playing standards and retaining most of what the original maker created. In truth, most of the time, we do what the owner wants done even if it is not necessarily the way we would like to do it. (Few luthiers are so well off that they can afford to turn away big money making jobs.)

Refinishing is something we all try to avoid for all but the most extreme cases, but there is disagreement among luthiers as to the type of varnish that should be used for "restorations". On old basses, the goal for most of us when doing retouching or when refinishing MUST be done, is to use a varnish that is as close to the original appearance as possible since it's anybody's guess as to the actual composition of the original varnish. On some of the modern factory produced basses, like the Kays, we may know the composition of the finish, yet some try to "improve" them by using oil varnishes. I still enjoy taking an old Kay or King and doing my best to return it to near-mint appearance using the same Nitrocellulose lacquer and aniline dyes as were used when they were made and even reproducing the painted purfling. To me, that is a restoration even though the bass may not be considered old by some purists.