I think both you repair guys should start a sub-thread entitled 'Weird S**t Found in Guitars on the Bench'.
 
Joey

Why not? I'll go first. =)  
 
I found an 8-track tape of the Eagles Greatest Hits Volume 1 inside a bass fiddle one time. I figure one of these days I'll find Volume 2 and maybe a player.  
 
I found a $5 bill in another printed in 1964.
 
I have basically removed the entire bolt and screw aisle of the local hardware store from basses over the past 30 years. I have been known to leave notes inside instruments for some future hack like me to find.

Thanks, Dave - at some point I realized that I had, in fact, misspelled both of Ms. Davies's names (well, 2 out of 3; got Bright, if ex-names count), but hadn't had a chance to confess my shame.......
 
Peter (WHo hopes no body will tell her, for fear she'll think I'm not totally enamored of her)

Here's one that needs some TLC. I wonder what the ball park value is as it sits, any guesses?
 
ebay 30's gibson

I'll check Spann's book this evening, but if memory serves, that FON (factory order number) should date that guitar to the mid-1920's. The headstock stencil supports that guess as well. Looks like an L-body flattop... given the extent of work it needs, I'd be surprised if it fetched much more than $100. I'd definitely do a fixer-upper on it.

Thanks,I might toss a bid out. I have projects galore, still I can't resist looking at others .
 
I have a Romanian classical that was rescued from the trash, I heard it before it's demise so I know it has potential. I'll post some pics as I start.
 Summers over; I see more time in the woodshop soon.

Elwood, I think this is an earlier model of the same guitar.
 
http://www.mandolincafe.com/ads/90336#90336  
 
In the ad, it says that A-frame bracing was in use until 1926-27. With Gibson of course, that doesn't necessarily guarantee anything, but that inked FON is good as it gets for dating them.
 
Good Luck! I have a soft spot for cool old stuff like that too.

There's a clip of that one being played:

 
Do you think the ebay guitar had a birch back?
I'll have to look closer at the sides.

That could pass for birch though it looks more like mahogany... I've seen a handful of lower-end Gibson mandolins with mixed wood sides/back, but I'd guess they matched. It wouldn't be too hard to find another old guitar to salvage the back off of.  
 
FWIW, I have a 1914 carved-top L-1 with this same pattern... as far as I know, it's back and sides are birch, but it's hard to tell through all that purple varnish. =)
 
I'll post that one here sometime... it actually belongs to my childhood sweetheart, and has been in her family since new, but I've had it since 1999. She just leaves it with me.

Edward - Loved the story about Peggy, the trash can guitar.  My wife wondered if it was for Peggy Sue?  LOL.  But seriously, such a cool story.    
 
Stephen

Yeah Caveman, Peggy's a special little guitar. =) Barring anything unforeseen, I should be restringing it tonight. Dressed and crowned the frets last night, still have to make a new bone nut and saddle, but everything else is done.  
 
Elwood, I loaned that Spann Guide book to my Dad. I tore the house up looking for it yesterday evening, (hate when I can't find stuff) then suddenly remembered I had given it to him a couple months ago to look up an old Gibson banjo number. I texted him the guitar's FON, so he'll look it up for us this evening.

I appreciate that...thanks.

Okay, here it is according to Spann's Guide...
 
9317 is an L1. The next FON verified is 9323 Nick Lucas Special, both are 1929 manufacture. This guitar falls right between them, and I tend to think it's an L-1 as well. If you look through the lists, you see they usually made these in batches of even numbers.  
 
Good luck Elwood... hope you end up with it! I'll post some pictures of my old L-1 later today.

Elwood?s ebay find made me think of this one; here?s a 1914 Gibson L-1 carved top guitar.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  This little gem belongs to a lifelong friend, who left it in my custody back in 1999. It needed some minor repair? back when we were kids (and sweethearts? :blush-blush she used to play the guitar, but gave it up in college in favor of choir. It?s been in her family since new, her great-grandmother?s actually. Her Dad also played it, and it?s rumored he was the guilty party behind the telltale holes through the rosette where a pickup was mounted. Anyway, we met up in Lexington, Kentucky one time while I was on the way to play a show in Louisville another hour and change away. I brought the guitar home and fixed it up? I remember fitting a new bridge as the original one was sagging badly. Maybe there was a loose side seam too. Next time we got together, she sang and played a tune on it, then handed it back to me? I?ve had it ever since.

Oh my, I do like that!  
 
Peter