I’m not much of a gambler. I like, within reason, guaranteed results. The reason I took the approach I did — taking the top off — is that I have seen my own half measures fail. I am in no way suggesting that your half measures aren’t splendid, but mine have always sucked.

This guitar was a candidate for top off for the following 3 reasons.

• Cracked X Brace
• Crazy cross grain break at the bridge (although I’ve got through the sound hole for that before)
• Top cracks that absolutely refused to align with the top on due to crazy brace failure.
• Taking the top off with the binding still attached is pretty easy with wood binding and hide glue.

A look at how tectonic things had gotten. This guitar is from 1936 and the story in that it lived in an attic with string tension up between 1937 and 2022.

‘Bout swallowed my dip.

From the break you can tell this guitar was semi-doomed from the get go. For actual support against string tension, the bridge plate really needs to be forward of the leading edge of the bridge. Also pictured is the evidence as to why it was impossible to get the cracks lined up. The tone bars, and the x-brace had let go with humidity and heat and were fouling alignment.

Taking the top off started at the neck block. Working the knife in and separating it from the block and also adding two scissor jacks on either side to add slow, steady pressure against the kerfing/binding joint as well. A syringe full of warm water and a carefully applied heat lamp from the outside got it started.

Heat lamp, dampness and wiggling.

Gettin’ it on down the line.

Some of you have noticed the butchered extension area. First of all, nice work, noticers. Second, before I started the neck reset, the extension had a 1/16″ gap on the bass side. I was all like, “Sweet. This thing is already coming off.” Kinda. What had happened was the board had cupped so bad that it broke the top. It took three hours to get it off that bad and I was lucky nothing extended outside into the observable areas of the top.

Here we are working it around to the end. A frosting knife liberates the tail block from the rim’s last hold on the top. Key move: be overweight enough to use your gross belly as a second vertical bench to lever off of. Elapsed time for taking the top off: 45 minutes.

Time to disassemble.

Damp, heat and leverage. I really like taking this stuff apart with guitar picks. Metal implements tend to stain the spruce. I’m a heathen, but even I have my limits.

There were so many spots like this on the braces that taking the braces off wasn’t a super long process.

Now that all the braces are off getting the top flat and the cracks glued is a more reasonable prospect. It was still bothersome though.

Chalk fitting a tapered patch in. A taper from the underside will prevent your patch from pulling out.

Recess cut into go-bar deck floor to accept a protuberant patch.

Patch Getting glued

Patch protuberating out the other side.

I 3D printed a 60 foot radius caul for glue up. I also used it as a sanding dish to put a radius on the braces as well. This guitar has one foot in the grave and the other on a banana peel, I figured the radius might help it at least avoid the banana peel.

Gluing it all up with a heat gun mounted on my go-bar deck with some camera clamps.

Pretty much ready to go back together. Not pictured: I caved on the clubby x-brace repair and made it a little more OG dainty. I also add some more TJ Thompson cleats to the cracks in the neck block area.

The whole point of this exercise of taking the top off with the binding still attached is that you can put the top back on, if you are fast, with hide glue and not have to build a mold to push every thing around. To the point of speed, I 3D printed some kickstands and modified the Stewmac spool clamps to be at the ready at glue up time. You can find the prints here and you can find a shortie video on the mods here.

I also modelled up these groovy cauls for the quick grips which keep the clamps in racing position and also helped index the sides to the binding a little. This was all done with the quick grip boolean cutter, and my home 2D printer used as a scanner to scan and scale the top into Fusion 360. If you’d like a demo of how I did this, let me know.

You can watch the process of me gluing this bad larry up if you are a Looth Pro member here.

Got a TJ Thompson bridge on there (watch the video here), bent to a 60′ radius, gave the bridge a little bit of the old “how’s your father?” so it didn’t look so new, got the neck back on and then got paid! Don’t forget to get paid people.