Humidity issue with an old Harmony Soveriegn?

[Blue in VT]

Howdy all!!!

First Post here!! glad to find this place!

So I'm just starting down the slippery slope of getting into guitar repair and have purchased a couple of old Harmony's to work on first. One of them is a nice Soveriegn 1203...but it has some issues. The center seam on the top has seperated a little and there is a considerable dip at the end of the fretboard...in front of the sound hole. Fairly typically Dryness damage right? I guess I'm wondering if these "older" guitars ever stabilioze to the point where humidity is no longer a huge issue....I'm hoping that a couloe of days in a "humidity chamber" will do some good....I'll keep you updated.

Cheers,

Blue

[FRANK]

IF IT IS A SOLID TOP YES IF NOT NO CHECK IN THE SOUND HOLE

[FRANK]

GO BETWEEN 30%AND 50%HUMIDITY .HUMIDITY IS ALWAYS THE FACTOR IF YOU HAVE A SOLID TOP

[Blue in VT]

It is solid wood...all these old harmonys are...some other have suggested that the crack may be related to dry wood but that the fretboard dip maybe do simple to string tension. If thats the case will a neck reset relieve the tension here enought to allow it to return to its proper shape?

Cheers,

Chris
aka Blue in VT

[Eron Harding]

You might wanna check the bracing under the top by the fretboard and make sure they haven't came loose. I've seen some that have gotten hot from being left in cars in the summer and the glue melts and therefore the neck wants to pull up and eventually cracks the top of the soundboard down each side of the neck clear through to the soundhole. *ouch* Might wanna try rehumidify it with the ole sponge-in-a-baggie trick for a couple weeks to resolve the top seam issue. I've had that work a lot on dry guitars. Just keep the sponges moist...

[Simon Bancroft]

Blue, I have a few 1260's and they have varying amounts of dip in the tongue of the fretboard. It's definitely part of the aging process of ladder braced Harmonys. As the tongue dips, the soundboard forms a wave on either side of the tongue to make space for it. The Sovs I have, all about the same age, range from 'mill pond flat' to 'surf's up'. Yeah, I'd love to know the life story of those guitars to understand why they have aged so differently.
My guess is they'll keep moving forever, but check with me in twenty years.
Simon

[Blue in VT]

Have you found that a neck reset helps to rectify the situation?

here are a couple of pics to illustrate my situation:

Over all shot...nice looking eh?
[IMG]http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k285/csabick/Suzie-01reduced.jpg[/IMG]

Fretboard dip:
[IMG]http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k285/csabick/Suzie-03reduced.jpg[/IMG]

Neck angle:
[IMG]http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k285/csabick/Suzie-11reduced.jpg[/IMG]

Center seam split:
[IMG]http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k285/csabick/Suzie-14reduced.jpg[/IMG]

Thanks for all the advice!

Blue