1937 Martin 0018 with sunken top

[John McDonald]

A friend dropped by with this old Martin wanting to get a fret dress but as soon as he opened the case it was obvious that this old Martin has more pressing issues. I was able to get some pretty good pictures of all the issues I noticed and wanted to see what you all thought.

I believe the only work the owner has had done in the last few years was to have the bridge and bridgeplate replaced.

I checked for loose braces by both tapping and inspecting inside and the only thing I noticed was that there is a small split in part of the x brace. You should be able to see it in one of the photos. I can't imagine that this little split would contribute much if any to the deformed top, but....

There is also a little surface damage on the scalloped part of the x brace, but it appears to be just a little shallow nick on the surface. I think it looks a bit worse in the picture than it is.

I was planning on rehumidifying for a week or two and seeing how well that does to raise the top and hopefully close up the back center seam as well.

[John McDonald]

A few more pictures..

[John McDonald]

Few more...

[Eric Steven Johansen]

John, I don't see any shots of the forward X bracing and by looking at your other photos my guess is that they are cracked or loose near the edge of the top. The bubble behind the bridge is normal but the X looks damaged there too. Post some more pics of the inside, especially the X from tip to tip if you can.

Great guitar worthy of proper restoration for sure.

[John McDonald]

Looks like your right about the damage to the X. Now I see that the X was damaged when the repair person removed the old bridgeplate. Unfortunately, it looks like the X is showing cracks on both sides on the inside of the brace when it contacts the bridgeplate. Not sure if I can get a good picture of it but I'll give it a shot.

[John McDonald]

Here are some pics of the damaged x brace on both sides in the area of the bridgeplate. I had a hard time getting a good angle for the pictures.

[Greg Mirken]

Wow, that's a dry guitar, John. Probe under the back braces, too; they often pop loose at the ends when the back shrinks that much.

[John McDonald]

Thanks Greg. I'll check that as well.

[John McDonald]

You were exactly right. Couple of spots where the back braces are loose in the upper bout.

[Eric Steven Johansen]

John, My guess is your looking at a back removal to make the proper repairs. The original bridge plate was notched into the X and the previous repairman obviously had some trouble removing it. Without a doubt back removal would make saving the braces possible, critical on a prewar Martin.

[Tim Mace]

Go w/ Eric about removing the back...should be a breeze to fix that way ....since the seam on the back looks to need rejoining too.

[Mark Pollock]

That bridge plate - curly maple? An interesting choice. I wonder if it was put in REALLY moist, and then shrank after being glued in. Replacing it, while doing other repairs, might really help matters. At least removing it and cleaning up the mess, and then replacing it properly.

[John McDonald]

Maybe I should recommend that my friend bring the guitar back to the repairman that caused the damage in the first place and see if he will fix the problem he obviously caused. The owner of the guitar is a young full time touring musician who doesn't have alot of extra money to throw around.

The reasons I hesitate to advise him to do that is because 1) I'm not too impressed with what he has already done. 2) I can tell he used titebond when I would have liked to have seen hide glue used. 3) It sounds like Mark isn't even impressed with the piece of maple the repairman used for the replacement bridgeplate.

Bottom line...if this were my guitar, I don't think I'd be inclined to trust the previous repairman with any more repairs.

What to you guys think?