Belly up- acoustic guitar

DrJazzTap · May 2023

I picked up a super cheap encore for a charity I'm working with recently.
It has a very pronounced belly. Somebody has added more glue under the bridge and some additional screws to patch it. The top is super bulged though.

I really don't want to throw it away as it seems like a waste. On the other hand I don't particularly want to spend £120 on the stewmac approved tools.

Any thoughts?

WezV · May 2023

will a bridge doctor solve it, costs around £25

ICBM · May 2023

Admittedly without seeing how bad it is… there are some things that are sadly beyond sensible repair. You could try the Bridge Doctor but if it’s already got extra glue and screws in it, even that’s probably just throwing good money after bad. There’s a good chance the plywood has started to delaminate under the bridge, they do that when the bulge is severe.

DrJazzTap · May 2023

Thank you guys. I've had a few friends asking me to document what im doing.

I've done a very quick video and uploaded this to Instagram

https://www.instagram.com/reel/Cs5_vTguyPz/?igshid=MmJiY2I4NDBkZg==

I'd like to have a go at fixing it. I know its not cost efficient but I'm using it as a learning experience. I think its been sat on a stand near a window.

ICBM · May 2023

DrJazzTap said:

Thank you guys. I've had a few friends asking me to document what im doing.

I've done a very quick video and uploaded this to Instagram

https://www.instagram.com/reel/Cs5_vTguyPz/?igshid=MmJiY2I4NDBkZg==

I'd like to have a go at fixing it. I know its not cost efficient but I'm using it as a learning experience. I think its been sat on a stand near a window.

Yes... the technical description of that is fucked. For the top to be twisted up like that the ply will have come apart internally.

The only way I can think of to fix that from a functional point of view is to remove the whole bridge, make an oversized new one that extends a long way further back (or find an old Eko bridge if you can - I think I have a 12-string one somewhere, I'll look later), make a similarly oversized bridgeplate, and bolt the two together through the top. Even then I doubt you'll be able to totally flatten the top, so playability may still be compromised.

Or do what I did with my first classical guitar which I ignorantly destroyed by fitting steel strings to... I took the neck and bridge off and used them to make a solidbody 'acoustic' from a plank of Parana pine, since I'd just seen the Gibson Chet Atkins model Mark Knopfler played on the Alchemy album.

DrJazzTap · May 2023

ICBM said:

DrJazzTap said:

Thank you guys. I've had a few friends asking me to document what im doing.

I've done a very quick video and uploaded this to Instagram

https://www.instagram.com/reel/Cs5_vTguyPz/?igshid=MmJiY2I4NDBkZg==

I'd like to have a go at fixing it. I know its not cost efficient but I'm using it as a learning experience. I think its been sat on a stand near a window.

Yes... the technical description of that is fucked. For the top to be twisted up like that the ply will have come apart internally.

The only way I can think of to fix that from a functional point of view is to remove the whole bridge, make an oversized new one that extends a long way further back (or find an old Eko bridge if you can - I think I have a 12-string one somewhere, I'll look later), make a similarly oversized bridgeplate, and bolt the two together through the top. Even then I doubt you'll be able to totally flatten the top, so playability may still be compromised.

Or do what I did with my first classical guitar which I ignorantly destroyed by fitting steel strings to... I took the neck and bridge off and used them to make a solidbody 'acoustic' from a plank of Parana pine, since I'd just seen the Gibson Chet Atkins model Mark Knopfler played on the Alchemy album.

Thanks mate. I could do with some off cuts of wood for filling in dents and chips on a fretboard. Although I'm now tempted to make some sort of blues box.

ICBM · May 2023

DrJazzTap said:

Although I'm now tempted to make some sort of blues box.

Oil can guitar?

DrJazzTap · June 2023

ICBM said:

DrJazzTap said:

Although I'm now tempted to make some sort of blues box.

Oil can guitar?

That's an absolutely fantastic idea. My father is a retired engineer so I'm gonna see what he's got lying around .

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Belly up- acoustic guitar

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