aggravated_alien Posted June 4, 2010 Report Share Posted June 4, 2010 (edited) I acquired this guitar its all solid wood over 30 years old everything else is structurally sound except for the the top. The discolored area is the bridge plate. Edited June 4, 2010 by aggravated_alien Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RDub Posted June 4, 2010 Report Share Posted June 4, 2010 Looks like someone sanded all the way through the top to the bridge plate???? If' that's the case I'd say new top time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aggravated_alien Posted June 4, 2010 Author Report Share Posted June 4, 2010 Looks like someone sanded all the way through the top to the bridge plate???? If' that's the case I'd say new top time. I couldn't patch it up ? it's a 30 year old top. I can't imagine how good it would sound providing I got the guitar working again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaycee Posted June 4, 2010 Report Share Posted June 4, 2010 (edited) If it was mine I would get a bridge with a larger than normal footprint, make sure that all the varnish has been removed from underneath the bridge then glue it with Epoxy. As long as you use enough epoxy it will fill in the void where the top has been sanded away, but not to much so that you minimise squeeze out. Also some tempoary pins could be placed in the holes to stop them filling up with glue and aid the placement of the bridge. The reason why I say epoxy rather than titebond, is that it has better gap filling properties and is more cohesive. Edited June 4, 2010 by jaycee Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodenspoke Posted June 4, 2010 Report Share Posted June 4, 2010 The question is is the sand through level with the top or lower. If it is level why is it level, most likely something under the bridge is seperated or not glued any longer and the top has pulled up. The reason is more important than the cure. It is possible the idiot who did this did not realize tops are curved on good instruments and nothing is wrong inside? If its level and everything is tight inside then make an oversided bridge to cover the mess. If the inside is loose or braces hanging you have a real mess on your hands and a new top and braces are probably the only fix. You can also stablize what you have and make a new bridge. Honestly unless the guitar has any value it looks like a loosing situation anyway you do it, other than to practice your repair work. If the guitar is worth money only a new top will do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soapbarstrat Posted June 4, 2010 Report Share Posted June 4, 2010 From the photo, I'm going with plywood top, top layer got pulled off when the bridge either popped loose or was purposely take off, then someone figured they'd feather in the damaged area with the rest of the top. Or something along those lines. At least I don't think that's the bridge plate rising from the grave. You should be able to verify if it's a plywood top by looking carefully at the edge of the sound hole. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RDub Posted June 4, 2010 Report Share Posted June 4, 2010 I'll go with the possibility of plywood. But even at that, how thick was the top layer? .020"-.030" That's pretty significant amount of wood taken off a structurally critcal area of the top. Who knows? profile the bridge to match the top and slap it on there. Worse thing that can happen is it'll deform badly, leaving the action horrible, and then you'll know you should have retopped it. Could be a fun project... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aggravated_alien Posted June 5, 2010 Author Report Share Posted June 5, 2010 (edited) It's definitely solid you can see it if you look inside the guitar. I don't know the guitars history but looking inside the guitar with a mirror it's definitely not plywood. Edited June 5, 2010 by aggravated_alien Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soapbarstrat Posted June 5, 2010 Report Share Posted June 5, 2010 Umm, yeah, well, all the plywood acoustics I have sitting around here, if I put a mirror inside it looks like solid wood. I mean what the heck else would the inside look like ? It's not like they're required to rubber stamp " PLYWOOD" all over the inside. Plywood acoustic guitar tops look like solid wood on the faces of either side. Only an exposed edge or sand-through of one of the thin ply layers reveals what it is made up of. Gotta check that sound-hole edge. You pretty much see the growth rings all the way from top to bottom (solid wood), or you see lines running the other direction (plywood). Sometimes it's hard to tell if there's a heavy finish rolled over the soundhole edge. Sometimes you can see the ply layers in the bridge pin holes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aggravated_alien Posted June 5, 2010 Author Report Share Posted June 5, 2010 Umm, yeah, well, all the plywood acoustics I have sitting around here, if I put a mirror inside it looks like solid wood. I mean what the heck else would the inside look like ? It's not like they're required to rubber stamp " PLYWOOD" all over the inside. Plywood acoustic guitar tops look like solid wood on the faces of either side. Only an exposed edge or sand-through of one of the thin ply layers reveals what it is made up of. Gotta check that sound-hole edge. You pretty much see the growth rings all the way from top to bottom (solid wood), or you see lines running the other direction (plywood). Sometimes it's hard to tell if there's a heavy finish rolled over the soundhole edge. Sometimes you can see the ply layers in the bridge pin holes. Sorry I meant to say you can see if you look inside with a mirror that the whole sound board is spruce the grain orientation is exactly the same as it is on top. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aggravated_alien Posted June 5, 2010 Author Report Share Posted June 5, 2010 Damn it the top is plywood. Could the back and sides be the same? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soapbarstrat Posted June 5, 2010 Report Share Posted June 5, 2010 You can be pretty certain a plywood top means plywood back and sides too, but plywood is not the end of the world. I think it makes very little difference with the back and sides. And as far as the top goes, being plywood does not mean it sounds worse than every solid wood top acoustic. There's likely plenty of solid wood top acoustics out there that will sound worse. Let your ears be the judge. Make some of those hollow screws like stewmac sells, which allow you to bolt a bridge on and string up the guitar and play it. If you want a guitar to take camping or store in less than ideal conditions, a plywood top can take the abuse. I have been fooled before, using my ears before using my eyes. I found a curbside acoustic and after I got it home, started picking on it and thought it sounded pretty good and then figured it must be a solid wood top. Later found out it was plywood, and yeah, of course after I knew that, it didn't sound as good to me, but there was no doubt that I had liked what I heard before I "knew too much" about the guitar. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aggravated_alien Posted June 5, 2010 Author Report Share Posted June 5, 2010 You can be pretty certain a plywood top means plywood back and sides too, but plywood is not the end of the world. I think it makes very little difference with the back and sides. And as far as the top goes, being plywood does not mean it sounds worse than every solid wood top acoustic. There's likely plenty of solid wood top acoustics out there that will sound worse. Let your ears be the judge. Make some of those hollow screws like stewmac sells, which allow you to bolt a bridge on and string up the guitar and play it. If you want a guitar to take camping or store in less than ideal conditions, a plywood top can take the abuse. I have been fooled before, using my ears before using my eyes. I found a curbside acoustic and after I got it home, started picking on it and thought it sounded pretty good and then figured it must be a solid wood top. Later found out it was plywood, and yeah, of course after I knew that, it didn't sound as good to me, but there was no doubt that I had liked what I heard before I "knew too much" about the guitar. It looks like a big chunk of mahogany with a spruce veneer 0.25mm thick. Does the sand through look like mahogany to you ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodenspoke Posted June 5, 2010 Report Share Posted June 5, 2010 First with a few minutes looking at the label Kiso Suzuki and doing some searching on the web the guitar is not worth all that much. In great condition maybe $350. In the condition you show maybe $50 if you are lucky enough to unload it to some sucker. Looks like this was one of the martin lawsuit D28 copy guitars that were all plywood and exported to the US the give away is the martin like logo on the HS. They did make solid guitars but this is not one of them. The fact that it has screws to lift the saddle is not a good sign on most acoustic guitars Maybe if you post some full length and close up pictures we dont have to guess what wood and what model it was??? Honestly the more I hear and find out about the guitar the worse it gets.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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