bridge cut into the top!!! Martin 1983 D28

[Fritz Froeschner]

Has anyone run into anything this, augh, stupid before? The owner said he took it to someone to have the action lowered, the “repair person” instead of doing a neck set evidently chiseled out a hole in the top to lower the bridge… this stuff really upsets me… anyway, as you can image, there is just a wisp of the spruce top left and he actually went all the way thru to the plate in one area, you can see the grain lines of the plate on the treble side in the bridge footprint. I told him I would take the bridge off and see what I found. There is also a pronounced belly behind the bridge…duh,.. well I just had to vent a bit and see if anyone has possibly run into something similar. I guess any specific questions would be
1. should this guitar just be re-toped?
2. If it is to be patched would you just cut a patch to fill the hole or would you feather out the edges of the hole to make a scarf type joint?
My first thought is to patch and then make a slightly bigger plate and bridge to cover all this stupidity. I guess my main concern is the belly. Honestly I’m too bugged to think it thru right now.
Many thanks in advance for any priceless experience.
Fritz

[Fritz Froeschner]

OK Paul... will do

[Kerry Krishna]

 Mark, as to your last post: If I understand correctly, they are 'somewhat' copying what Colling started doing a while back The reasoning of corse, is taking the lacquer off so it is a wood/glue/wood joint. 15 thou seems awful deep though.  Can someone here say for sure what the thickness is of the lacquer on these guitars? 

 On Collings, I think they only dust the top with the router at  4 though ( I would have to go check threads to be sure though). 

 It also may be of interest to some that the first few highly sought after Larrivee guitars ( in Canada anyway!) all had the bridges glued straight onto the lacquer!  

What a chance to take for a beginning Luthier eh? 

[Mark A. Kane]

It's deep. It's not simply taking off the lacquer. The bridge is recessed into the top such that starting a palette knife under it will be a real challenge when the time comes to get it off. It self-aligns for glueing. I inspected the tops and bridges the last time I was at Martin.

[Fritz Froeschner]

well I'm taking my time with this one..  but thought I would update if anyone is interested. 

I heated up the bridge plate and carefully eased it free from whats left of the top. All went good and I was able to get it separated without causing any more damage to the top. The spruce is paper thin to none existing in the bridge footprint. While the top  was still damp and warm from plate removal I clamped it between a heavy flat steel plate I use for such things and a flat wood caul on the inside. Left it clamped overnight and the top flattened out nicely and seems to be staying that way. It's been setting for a few days now while i work on some other projects and think about is some more. here's some pictures.

[Fritz Froeschner]

a few more

[Luke Single]

Awesome! Can't wait to see it finished keep us posted. Looks great so far. I guess the next thing to do is replace the bridge pad and then patch in the spruce?

[Kerry Krishna]

What an incredible job you have done here. I can't believe the paper thin wood. What is next step for you?

[Fritz Froeschner]

most likely something along the lines of what David Farmer outlined in an earlier post... wonderful work , basically reenforce the top from the inside via a spruce plate or otherwise just an enlarged maple bridge plate again to stiffen up the top. Then a spruce filler on the top side to fill the hole. wish me luck

[Fritz Froeschner]

well I have the new bridge plate installed and two smaller " wings" ala David Farmers repair.. cleaned up and leveled the bridge footprint, cut, glued and clamped the spruce patch for the top... leveled the patch, made and glued on a new slightly larger bridge, let it all set up for a few days and tonight put in a temp saddle, some strings and tuned it up. All looks great at the bridge and top. No bellying up behind the bridge other than normal. I'll leave it strung up for a few days to test all the glue joints but I think It's going to be fine.

[Fritz Froeschner]

pics of the patch ect..

[Fritz Froeschner]

few more

[Fritz Froeschner]

few more