It was missing tuning pegs and bridge. The neck looked straight and top looked flat enough. Neck joint seemed firmly attached.
There are no fret markers on this guitar so a previous owner painted the entire frets white. I took this off with a combination of acetone and alcohol, but it also removed some of the rosewood stain, I will probably address this with the next string change but I first wanted to make sure it was worth putting more work into.
I went to Parkway and bought some used 3+3 tuning pegs; $10 for the pair. Only problem was the holes in the pegs did not exactly clear the headstock thickness, so I had to drill out string holes further up the posts. I think I found a proper bridge on eBay but for now I am using a cheap plastic adjustable bridge I already had from a newer project parlor guitar (a Gremllin) I picked up from another yard sale last year.
So anyways, with a set of Martin Silk and Steel Marquis, I now have a whole $20 into this guitar. I love it so much, the action is a little high but nowhere near as bad as some of these Stellas I've seen, also with the light tension strings it is totally playable. Just wish I took a "before" picture...
