Martin D-35 side supports missing?

[Luke Single]

I am working on a D-35 on inspection I found that the side supports appear to be missing... I think... there are these black/grayish strips where the supports would be and in some locations the expected rosewood pieces. I can't find any problems with the sides. They aren't cracked or warped. This was my grandfathers he had a bunch of old beat up guitars that he left me and I am repairing them. I have no idea if these were there orginanlly. Should I just leave it the way it is? Should make new supports and glue them on top of the grayish pieces? Should I remove the grayish pieces and replace with new supports?
Thanks I advance there should b pictures and a video attached let me know if there is not.

[Kerry Krishna]

 Howdy Luke, and welcome to the Forum!

 So why would you be interested in fixing something that is not broken would be my question? You have several guitars in need of repair, go and do that work instead.

The grey strips (whatever they are) were obviously done at the factory, and there is nothing broken. How about some pics of the repairs that you need to do if you have any questions about those?

There are plenty of Folks/Repairpeople here who have worked on these axes, and I am sure someone will chime in and say what they are. 

[Eric Steven Johansen]

The side reinforcement strips are woven fabric used in hemlines in sewing and are original. They get glued onto the sides before the kerfed linings with hid glue. It aint broke so don't fix it. What year is it?

[Kerry Krishna]

 Young Eric,with the one rosewood insert there, I can easily see what Luke was asking about. What was Martin's thinking about this odd placement do you think?

[Eric Steven Johansen]

Young? Couldn't begin to explain the placement, or the reason for one rosewood strip. This is from the seventies, so maybe that work was done after the lunch break ride in the smoke filled Pinto stationwagon, anything was possible then.

[Luke Single]

Ok cool I didn't know if they were original or not. That's all I wasn't going to do a repair that was not needed. I'm new at this and don't have a lot of experience so that's why I was asking. It's a mid 70's D-35 L that my grandfather strung up right handed. I replaced the nut and saddle they were loose and falling off. The pick guard was shriveled up I replaced that. The binding falling off and I repaired that. However it did shrink and left a small gap and was wondering if I should leave it alone add some binding to the end or replace the whole strip. The other thing is the left sided pick guard there is obviously no finish under it an I can't decide what to do about it... Put another one on? Leave it alone? Try to add some finish? Thanks guys you are always a wealth of knowledge.

[Eric Steven Johansen]

I usually remove the guard, clean the top underneath, seal it with shellac, and remount the original guard with glue sheet. Removal is difficult at times, so be patient. If anything, to repair the binding, I'd patch in a sliver of binding or make a paste filler to match.

[Luke Single]

Is sealing it with nitro ok? Here are some picks. See I'm trying to decide what to do or maybe what I want to do about the left handed pick guard. What would be the best thing to do? Seal and leave it alone or put another pick guard on it.
Like Kerry said the strips kind of look original but they are randomly placed. That is what had me concerned. Any idea why it is so random.

[Luke Single]

I'm trying to upload some more pictures. The last one is an old photo I have already replaced the right handed pick guard.

[Ned Knepp]

Personally, I'm not too crazy about the cloth "reinforcement" Martin used. I've seen quite a few of the strip that have fallen off.  I've also seen a lot of martin guitars, including my own,  with long side crack repairs and can't help but wonder if they may have, at least, been shorter if the reinforcement were actually wood. That said, replacing them with wood isn't such a quick easy job so I'd leave them.

If the wood strips on this guitar are original, perhaps someone in the factory was concerned that some areas of the sides were more at risk of splitting so they put in some wooden strips to reinforce them? 

[Kerry Krishna]

Ned Quote

"perhaps someone in the factory was concerned that some areas of the sides were more at risk of splitting so they put in some wooden strips to reinforce them?"

 That is a terrific deduction Ned.   

I would guess the person to ask would be the premier 70s Martin rebuild guy Bryan Kimsey. He would know all about this I would guess. I'll ask him... 

[Hesh Breakstone]

Side tapes are standard fare for many Martins going way back and Gibson Guitars too.

They are not intended to be side supports instead what side tapes are used for is to slow or arrest a side crack... that is... when properly installed.  By properly installed what I am addressing is when the tapes are in place and not loose as Ned has noted.

Side tapes are part of an overall style/method of building where it's believed that side thickness is sufficient as to not require additional supports such as side supports.

I've seen countless guitars that are far older than I am... with side tapes and no side cracks.  I've also seen guitars with tapes with cracks too but they seem to stop in the vicinity of perhaps the next tape down the line.  I've also see guitars with side supports with cracks too or loose supports.  Different strokes for different folks.

In any event side tapes need to be properly bonded to the sides.  Back in the day and currently too for many custom/individual builders side tapes are basically saturated in hot hide glue, not to be confused, ever..., with the bottled stuff, and bonded to the sides.  Interestingly when Martin stopped using HHG in favor of modern glues they still employed tapes.  It would be interesting to learn/know if the tape failure rates remained similar even with the glue transition.

Anyway side tapes add minimal weight and mass, have a broad surface/gluing area, and at least to me and probably millions of guitars out there/here that have stood the test of time seem to work very well while adding very little undesirable anything including complexity, process, cost, and mass.

Lastly attempting to understand what guitar manufacturers where thinking in terms of the intentionality of this or that never need be complicated.  It's often what they did because it's what they had...