Some odd top damage on '37 D18 with no explanation. What do you think?

[Kerry Krishna]

 Here we have an actual 1937 D18. This belongs to an acquaintance on a Facebook Forum that I am on.  Here is what he writes about this particular part of his axe

"About 15 years ago I had Dan Lashbrook make a new bridge and do a neck set. Before that we all figured some hack repairman did the damage, but Dan called once he had the old bridge off and said it absolutely had never been off before and the area under the bridge was pristine."

 So how about some possible ideas of what exactly this is all about? Thanks Forum!   

[RETROROD]

I am really clueless(unusual) on this damage....small rodent maybe???

[charley erck]

Well, the 1st question would be what was wrong with the old bridge.Don't suppose there are before pictures.

I'd guess the former owner(long ago no doubt) used wire cutter pliers to change strings to speed the process up

and was somewhat rough with them. Pulling out the pins and cutting the strings at the bridge.

And maybe that was what trashed the bridge as well. My first take , anyway.

Fun topic, Kerry and a nice diversion as things have been slow on the old forum!

By the way, or that is , primarily, I'll bet this is a fabulous axe!

[charley erck]

As I study the damage more, the pliers surely couldn't have done all  the damage.

I'm gonna propose that he was using barbed wire strings. 

[Paul Verticchio]

My guesses (in order):

1. WW II ;

2. The Chupacabra ;

3. Aliens (E.T.'s or E.B.E.'s) ;

4. An extremely poor job of removing (scraping) a couple of decade's worth of grungy grime that built-up around the bridge. A thumb nail and finger nails are the prime suspects.

or

5. A family pet or a child got to it when it was un-cased. Cats seem to love acoustic bridges.

There's a slim chance of it being #1, #2 or #3. 

I like #4 the best. :)

[Thomas James]

All I can think of is that: 1. Evidence of an attempted removal?  2. The original bridge was a starved joint and Dan was mistaken?  3. Some sloppy height 'shaving' was done?  I guess it will remain a mystery.

[Matt Haugen]

I suppose there can only be guesses here. My first would be that someone tried to remove the bridge once upon a time. Perhaps he/she wasn't successful, but it looks like a crude attempt was made. My second guess would be a child did the damage. I have a 6 year old and a 2 year old, (both artists) and whenever I have one of my guitars out, those little angels either want to take my pick, or capo, or even a pencil.... and rub it around on the soundboard. I have a couple of scars on my 000 from the kids. My 2 year old is always drawn to the bridge area, always trying to pull the pins. It would be interesting to see the original bridge on the guitar.

[Frank Ford]

I reckon the explanation is probably simple, but unknowable in detail.

This guitar was undoubtedly in serious need of neck resetting long before it was common practice or understood by players.

In an attempt to lower the action, the bridge was probably hacked lower by someone lacking the tools, skills, or whatever.  There are countless examples of this kind of thing.

Had a guy in to the shop some years ago with a top-of-the-line Martin D-45 he'd ordered through a music shop in Pearl Harbor,  it arrived in 1941, and he played it for the duration of his tour in the Service.  He told me that sometime after the war it was "looking kinda dingy, so I painted it over with spar varnish.  I did the job outside because of the fumes, but the wind came up before it dried."   Sad looking guitar by the time I saw it.

A fellow came into the shop and announced he had a 1949 D-28 to sell - it needed a new fingerboard and he didn't want to fix it.  We told him we'd like to look at it, and he brought it in:  

"I saved you guys the trouble of removing the fingerboard because I'm a carpenter so I just used a chisel and mallet to take the old one off.  Well, it did splinter some of the top, so I took that off, too."  What we ended up was just the back and sides, which, incidentally were stripped of finish and ruthlessly orbital-sanded.

Remember,  some folks can play pretty well while seriously "loaded," but not many can do good craft work under the influence. 

[RETROROD]

Great story Frank...When "loaded" all is well and correct with the world.....again! Great story!!

[LARRY KLOSE]

My favorite local dealer recently took in a beautiful '37 L-5.  Beautiful except for the large hole in front of the fretboard where a humbucker had been installed.  Go figure.

Larry

[Kerry Krishna]

 Thanks all. Here is the owners response:  

"When I did the closeups I really started looking at it. First, the original bridge had been sanded down to allow for a lower action, and having the strings closer to the top would allow more pick collisions. The wear on the pick guard indicates the guitar has been played a lot. If the owner was that sloppy, the guitar top around the bridge would be mangled to the point of not existing, so maybe a child of the owner did the damage while learning to play, or maybe somebody borrowed the guitar. I am now convinced a lot of it is pick wear, but not by the regular player of the guitar. Ebony is hard and most carpenter types have never encountered it. Maybe somebody went nuts with a rasp when they cut the bridge down.

[Kerry Krishna]

 If you follow the owner's story and kinda squint your eyes, you can see some of the stuff. I am thinking that the thinning of the bridge with the absolute wrong tools may be responsible for many of the 'lateral' gouges on the top on either side of the bridge.

 In looking at all the other gouges/scrapes, and the thickness of them , it looks like at least some of them were done  by strings being driven into the top. There are what looks like obvious bottom E string width marks and higher strings too. 

  Anyway, this has been super interesting to see and to talk to all of you (and the Facebook thread) too. I appreciate the possible explanations.

 Thanks!