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Hi all, I'd like to get some input on how to address this top blowout. For starters I own this, I got it as a project guitar, 71 D28. I'm not as experienced with acoustics as electrics and this is a big project but I got it to learn new skills and I'm confident I can do it with guidance. It had been stored in the case for many years under tension and was way too humidified. The bridge had pulled up I assume in stages. The center seam se…

I am repairing a damaged Stella parlor guitar. The original top was birch, plain sawn at 0.100 inches thick, ladder braced with multiple beefy braces and irreparably split, warped and generally separated from the sides. I want to keep the instrument ladder braced with a movable bridge and upgraded tailpiece, all firsts for me. I would be grateful for input on 2 issues. 1. The new top is Adirondack spruce that I’ve reduced to about 0.110…

Good afternoon all. I have started the process of removing all the binding from the old Country Gentleman and it's going well. I did discover after removing the strings that the neck is pretty loose and moves around quite a bit (no surprises there). I removed the black plug on the back side of the body then removed the large regular (slot) screw that holds the neck in place. I thought the neck would just slide out considering how loose…

Hey everyone, I wanted to do a bit of a follow up on a repair I'm doing. A customer brought in a Seagull acoustic guitar that had been dropped, causing the heel block to separate. I managed to get that glued back together with pleasing results, however I did need to take the neck off by removing the two bolts which thread into the heel block, and unglued the fretboard extension. All went well here, although I'm left with a situation whe…

(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…

I had a very unique instrument come into the shop yesterday. It's an American built Weissonborn/lap guitar (*spelling). The top has separated from the kerfing and sides on the lower left bout, and was raised significantly while under string tension when the customer dropped it off. I have a two fold problem as I see it. Applying horizonal pressure to a very light and fragile instrument, and getting enough glue into the separation where…

So, I've seen people having to deal with crappy binding glue on newer Martin's. I have a D35 at 50 (2015) and the purfling has separated from the guitar body all the way around both the top and bottom of the guitar due to heat. Not only that but the binding has separated from the purfling in spots. The glue is still tacky and it's almost like a thick stain as it has impregnated the top and sides, making it impossible to completely rem…

In the process of evaluating the repairs needed on this guitar I checked to see if the truss rod was working. There is hole in the transverse brace where you would normally insert a truss rod, but all I see is the end of a metal bar with a smallish hole in the center. I tried several allen wrenches that would fit in the hole, but nothing seems to grab. Did they really eliminate the adjustable truss rod on this vintage reproduction? Here'…

I have 1988 Gibson ES-335 with a broken headstock. It was poorly glued before and is broken again. I can't get the broken faces of the wood to close up due to the mess of glue or whatever is in there. The headstock overlay is the only thing holding it together. I have a couple of questions: - Any idea what glue was used to attach the headstock overlay? Is it easy to remove cleanly? I'd like to at least loosen the part of it on the neck…

Glue between the neck heel and body, ply sides and top make this a tough one even with 4 heaters. This is one where you spend several hours repairing ply separations before you can even think about doing a reset.

Hey Looth Group, A customer brought me a Gibson 2015 59' Reissue ES175. In addition to the normal setup/maintenance that needs to be taken care of, the customer complained about an issue with the bracing. The three pictures below are what he was referring to. There's obviously a break in the wood and appears to be some separation in the glue joint. This is located right underneath the edge of the bridge on the bass side.