In the process of scanning all my "good" books so I can trash the paper and make a path through the rubble in our home, I just came across a small "booklet" titled Restoration Clinic by Michael M. Dresdner ©1984.

The booklet is a reprint of articles by Dresdner originally published in "Guitar Trader's monthly Vintage Guitar Bulletin," and includes a variety of short pieces on Guitar Refurbishment. While this booklet doesn't answer the question from the OP, it's likely an answer applied in some of his other stuff (?).

I haven't been able to find any indication of whether he is still active, but advertisements for numerous of his books indicates that he has published quite a lot on instrument finishes, as well as several on more general kinds of wood finishing materials and methods.

There is a website at http://www.michaeldresdner.com/ but it appears to be an "archive only." In the "last post" dated 02 Feb 2011, he refers also to www.woodanswers.com where he claims to have posted "more than 8,000 answers to questions" over several years, but this site seems to have disappeared.

The short biographical note in the booklet I just destroyed claima:

Michael was born in a log cabin in the woods, and one of his earliest recollections is of carving a tiny guitar out of a piece of floor board at the age of three, using only a sharpened spoon and the jagged edge of a cracked teething ring. While only five years old, he astounded his family one day with an impromptu concert on the sackbut, an archaic instrument, during a visit to a local museum. Unfortunately, the only witnesses to these early attacks of genius (ie. his family members) steadfastly refuse to verify these stories. In spite of a lifelong desire to be a pig farmer, he agreed to pursue luthiery as the result of losing an election bet while traveling through Bhutan, a tiny country either east or west of Nepal.

Michael's verifiable association with guitars began in college in the late '60's, and by 1970, he was confirmed in the conviction to become a luthier, in spite of a growing suspicion that it was to be a remuneratively thankless endeavor. Unable to secure an apprenticeship in luthiery, he spent most of the seventies working in the furniture field, first apprenticing as a finisher and cabinet maker, and then holding a succession of jobs doing fine furniture work, decorator finishing, and antique restoration. He credits working in the trades with his obviously sound background in the traditional arts of finishing and woodworking. As with so many others, he spent much spare time during these years variously tampering with guitars and such for different friends as an outlet to the frustration of doing something other than that which he desired. Ironically, his first guitar was built during this period after hours in the back room of one of the finest decorator finishing houses in New York.

By 1978 he had left furniture to work exclusively on instruments, sharing a small shop in New York with a harpsichord builder, a pipe organ builder, and another small instrument luthier. From the beginning of 1980, he ran the prestigious Guitar Trader repair shop, building it from a typical guitar store back room operation into a large, comprehensive high quality restoration facility. He has recently taken over as general manager of Guitar Trader.

In lieu of a photo, an embarassingly accurate rendering of him appears on the front cover.

Sounds like my kind of expert, and his replies to questions (that I've seen) seem excellent [he mostly agrees with me] but I'm curious as to whether he is still active and/or how recently he has published anything new - - - (?)

Does anybody know something more about his stuff - especially anything worth stealingbuying?

John