Sunken Sound Hole

[Rich Middendorf]

I could use some advice. I have an 1946 Harmony 165. It's all mahogany, one piece top and back. I rescued it a while back, resetting the neck, resetting the bridge, gluing loose braces and lightly French Polishing the body without removing the original shellac. 

It sounds great, but the action could be lower. I don't want to reset the neck again. The attached pics will show how the sound hole is sunken. It has constant humidification now, so I know dryness is not the problem. Maybe in the past is got so dry the top deflected and is permanently warped. It is ladder braced so that doesn't help. 

My question is, would it be heresy to add two braces on either side of the sound hole running from the upper transverse brace under the fingerboard to the brace in front of the bridge? I know old Martin mahogany guitars have sound hole bracing similar to this.

Any advice would be appreciated.

[Eric Steven Johansen]

Adding soundhole reinforcement is an acceptable solution even in the vintage community but use hide glue so it's easily reversible. I'd let her sit for awhile without tension and light clamping to allow that top to flatten a bit first.