Fixing caved in top

[Jay Peterson]

I have this beautiful old Korean Made Harmony. It is caving in above the sound hole. I showed it to a few luthiers/repair techs and I was surprised to find out it has a laminate top. The reason I was surprised about the laminate top is that it doesn't sound like a laminate top. my guitar afficionado friends love the way it sounds and were also surprised when I told them about it. Anyway I heard you can't fix a caved laminate top, only solids. I was wondering about replacing the top. Any suggestions?

this first set of pics is to show you how nice it looks.

[Jay Peterson]

what is BEARS SLAW?

[FRANK]

BEARS CLAW

[Jay Peterson]

here are pics of problem.

[Jeff Highland]

Looks like the Upper Transverse Brace UTB above the soundhole has either failed or become detached.
Should be a reasonably easy job to replace but needs inspection with a mirror to see what is happening

[Pierre-Antoine Roiron]

I agree. Loosen the strings and try to see witth a miror or feel with your hand if the big brace at the end of the fingerboard, across the top i still glued to the top.

[Jay Peterson]

I looked inside and took some pictures with the help of my Stew-Mac mirrors and I can't see anything loose. These are not the best pictures, but, tell me what you think. Thanks

[Tom Krebs]

IMHO. That guitar is at the end of it's life. Not worth replacing the top.

[Pierre-Antoine Roiron]

If every brace is weel glued up (you can try to reach your arm in the guitar and shake them to see if anything is unglued), I'm afraid that the top is dead. I'm not sure you can do anything easily. It will probably cost several times the price of the guitar.

[Jay Peterson]

Thanks for the input. I was worried that it might be a hopeless case. I realize the guitar might not be worth the top replacement, but it was a project that I could learn from and I don't have much to speak of invested in this beater.

I will try humidification first, as it is cheap. what would be the best kind of humidifier to use?

Thanks again.

[Pierre-Antoine Roiron]

Make holes in some plastic box, put a piece of foam in it, pour water on the foam. Check once or twice a week to see if there's still water.

[Jay Peterson]

Ok, sounds good, should I lay the guitar face down in the case?

[Jay Peterson]

And, just one more thing and then I'll stop. Would it be a good idea to use a couple brace jacks like this? (very carefully, a little pressure at a time, of course.)