Well, we have a resolution.

I just got the Hagstrom back from the luthier underneath Andy's in Denmark street and Graham is wonderful. He put in a new trussrod, and got a load of patches off the inside (and the old plywood bodge inner bridge plate that had all been put in with evostick(!) - a very time consuming process - fixed the cracked ladder braces, put in some light longitudinal braces to straighten the top (almost) and did the nut and bridge slot, re-made the saddle (still notched, but now the right depth), installed an inner bridge plate, buffed the finish back up all over. He was so embarrassed by the delay he grossly undercharged me ( it would not be fair to him to say just how little he charged me) and would not take a penny more.

So I've been able to say to the seller that he does not need to pay me as much as he did agree to refund me when I showed him my receipt for the repairs.

The Old Hag now sounds very new - possibly down to the Martin 12 strings, in part, which are light enough in colour almost to be steels, not bronzes. A bright sound. Settling down slowly as the strings age. Now I need to play her for half an hour a day for a couple of months and then go back to get those new struts shaved (I guess mostly at the ends, not in the middle) to try to get that old bottom sound back.

She looks - well, not new, but nicely re-polished (old marks still show, but she's shinier and nicer than I thought possible, and there is almost no bulge in the front (the sinking in front of the bridge is completely gone).

After I get the reduced refund I'll have an interesting old guitar, not in museum condition, and not original, but nice, for about the right price.

If you want restoration work done on a guitar, I highly recommend Graham, underneath Andy's, Denmark Street, London.

When I get a digital camera, I'll send some pix of the two side by side to hagstrom.org.uk.

What I need now are some original Hagstrom machine heads (not the steel-covered ones off the electrics) - and to complete the set, a Hagstrom J45-12 pegbridge. Oh, and some playing skill would be nice too!

Here's to dreams.