The Hub

Hello, I have on my bench and es-125 with a concaved belly in the top where the bridge sits, I was able to fit a feeler gauge under one of the braces in the area, the brace above the bass side. The back of the guitar is loose for a stretch of roughly 5 inches. My thought was to take off the back and address the braces and somehow address the warp in the top. Any thoughts on how to unwarp it or better approaches to the whole job?…

The COE reviewed this bridge disaster in January, a Tanglewood acoustic given to me that had the bridge ripped off as well as some of the underlying top, and an attempted repair with spruce veneer (COE video link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AlpOIWQrAlw&t=2685s). The general opinion was to install a bigger bridge plate. However, once I removed the existing bridge plate, I found that the underlying repair had not been fully done,…

Hi folks, I thought you might be interested in this approach to having easy height adjustment for a GoBar deck. I learned this tip from my buddy, Don Parker. He lurks around here too from time to time. :) The basic idea is rather than having a booster platform on the base for use when gluing braces to plates you bring the roof down lower. There is a 3D printed spacer in black in the pics. I linked to a downloadable STL and 3MF of…

The photo shows the x-brace in a Seagull SMS guitar (predates the S6 model I think). I've reglued the loose brace end and want to add some reinforcement. Normally I prefer a wood cap over the joint but you can see the top of the braces is pretty narrow. I have some muslin cloth I can use, but not sure I can get it to form tightly over the two braces. Looking for some suggestions.

Hello Friends, I've had a vintage Epiphone acoustic stored at the shop for almost two years and it's about time to wrap it up. That never happens, LOL. It has a few loose braces, which is a repair I've done in the past. The problem with this one is that no matter how I jack up the loose braces from the inside, some parts of some braces simply do not move enough to come in contact with the soundboard. This is happening in a couple…

I just read a small note in a new OM plan (GenOne) I'm using that suggested maple as an alternate wood for the inside center strip between the back braces. Wondering what would be the downside of that (passive back). A curly maple strip would certainly be attractive, and the mass/ stiffness difference is virtually negligible for a passive back. Thoughts? I'm cutting braces this week...

Speaking of Trevor Gore... I've started using falcate bracing on my ukuleles and in making the braces, 3 strips of .0625" spruce are bent and then put in a bent lamination glue up rig using epoxy. Bending spruce is no fun on a hot pipe. It's slow, fussy, the fibers want to delaminate. I have been thinking about building a small dedicated steam box. Pulling all 3 of the strips out at once and bending them over a form with a metal back…

I'm reading the Design book of the Gilet/Gore set (2nd Edition) and ran across something that surprised me. Under "Top bracing layout - guidelines" (Section 4.4.8, pp 4-52) Gore writes, "Brace ends that are housed into the linings stiffen the edge of the soundbard considerably and so constrain its mobility. Unless you are chasing a particular effect, it is generally not very beneficial to house the lower bout braces into the linings." My…

(Just to set expectations, I bought this for the sole purpose of learning. Not a client project) I got this Martin D28-12 in destroyed condition, after an airline did something awful. As I see it: - Top cracks - Back cracks - Top & side separation with some broken off kerfing - Brace ejected When I was looking at the pictures online pre-purchase, I thought I might take the neck off and re-top it, or at the very least, take the top off and fix…

So, I made a modular clamp based on the split clamp idea. Started on a prototype about two months ago and finished it. What I was aiming for was a clamp that I could use on the BOTTOM of acoustic guitars as well as tops to clamp cracks, cleats, braces, patches etc. Especially a clamp that would access small openings like "F" holes, small sound holes etc. Essentially a way to get a clamp to areas not accessible to jacks, wedges etc.,…

Before I hack into the Yamaha, I would like to get the opinion of the experts on a method of steaming the upper end of the guitar and ‘pressing’ the neck down to adjust the angle back to factory. There are several you-tubers that have tried and recommend it. My novice intuition is that even though it may work, wont the steaming of other areas of the body such as upper braces, etc, end up weakening the construction (glue stability) to…

Technically this is a repair, but I thought there would be some crossover with building, so I posted here as well. A 1950s Gretsch Town & Country Rancher 6021 is missing the two braces on either side of the sound hole (see photo). Because this is such a wide instrument (17” lower bout), I’m thinking that installing those missing braces will help with the stability of the top in addition to repairing the cracked/loose ladder braces. The…

A customer recently brought in a 1950s Gretsch Town & Country Rancher 6021. In addition to two main ladder braces being loose/cracked, it’s missing the two braces on either side of the sound hole (see photo). Because this is such a wide instrument (17” lower bout), I’m thinking that installing those missing braces will help with the stability of the top, which is pretty sunken right now. Does anyone have any photos or measurements of or…

I am looking for new ideas on tools or methods for cleaning under partially loose braces to insure a good glue joint. In the past I've tried flossing with sandpaper, using the metal cutting edge from a wax paper box, maybe some extra thin files. In this job, one of the loose braces is up against the bridge plate, so it's impossible to pass something all the way through. The loose parts are marked with the red ellipses.

So, like an idiot, I got well into the installation of an Anthem pickup system when I realized that the soundhole braces on this guitar are effing Lincoln Logs. They're easily a quarter inch thick (and feel like basswood). Because the Anthem preamp is designed to straddle the soundhole brace, I can't fit it as-is. Anybody got any experience with this? OPTIONS THE CLIENT WOULD NEVER GO FOR (and wouldn't thrill me either): 1. Replace the bra…

I watched the Guild F-20 video (https://dev2.loothgroup.com/groups/repair-and-restoration/forum/topic/cracker-x-braces-on-guild-f20/#post-60310) with great interest since I've been working on a Gibson L-3 with a similar problem. A little back story - The original repair request was to address a small pickguard crack on the sound hole side. After peeking inside, I saw 5 loose brace ends on the treble side. Still a pretty standard repair…

Looking for some advice on a repair for a 1966 Guild F20. The guitar top is significantly depressed (bowl shaped) around the sound hole. This is due to both upper x-braces being cracked as they tuck under the purfling. Also, the bridge is starting to pull off. Any suggestions on sequence of actions? Specifically, should I try to flatten the top area above the bridge and around the sound hole prior to fixing the x-braces? Would it be…

I would really appreciate some advice on this repair that I need to do. I've built a number of (classical) guitars so far, but this is my first repair job. I have already set the expectations with the customer that I can probably fix it structurally but the repair will be visible. The guitar is modestly priced and of no historical significance so it seems like an ideal project to take on as a first one. The guitar suffered a blow on the…