Hi Publius!
((((HUGS))))
I feel like the Queen of the Luthiers Tonight.
I was so scared to work on the Vintage Gibson, and SO careful to do the right thing, to only replace essential parts with fabricated rosewood replacement parts that were closest to the original (which are now unattainable), using only pure olive oil on the fretboard, and filling the scratches in the finish by matching the paint and applying it with a toothpick. I cleaned between all the frets, installed the new parts, and let each new installation sit for a day before adding the strings. Then the strings had to be installed, and slowly brought up to pitch, allowed to rest, and tuned again. The tuning pegs were very old, but I didn’t want to replace them, in order to maintain the integrity of the Vintage Gibson look. So I cleaned and polished them instead.
I cleaned the potentiometers and knobs so that they turned freely without that dusty crackle.
I also did some research and was able to give an unofficial appraisal of between $1200 and $1800 for the finished guitar.
Finally, the strings all installed and tuned to a digital tuner, I plugged it into a Peavey 150 Watt Amp and cranked it. it was one of the sweetest sounding guitars I have ever played.
The customer paid the bill and gave me a $75.00 tip on top of that!
I feel SO validated! :-)
You have progressed past apprentice and journeyman (journeywoman) to master (or mistress) luthier.
...using only pure olive oil...
Um-m-m-m-m, you're making me hungry.
I told you you knew your stuff!!!!
And so you should be!