|
|
.jpg) |
1870s Martin
2-34-This guitar arrived with many old
repairs that were stable, but cosmetically poor. the back had 2 old
repaired cracks, the top had 2 also, and there were some hairline
side cracks. There was a very large bridge plate added at some point
to stiffen the top. The original bridge was replaced with a
correctly sized, but improperly shaped, straight ebony bridge and
much of the old ivory binding was replaced with bits of plastic here
and there. The neck needed to be reset and to properly undo the old
repairs and clean up the inside, the back needed to be removed.
|
| Once the back was removed the
replaced bridge plate could be seen and the various crack repairs as
well. Many of the crack repairs were poorly cleated and misaligned,
requiring that they be loosened with steam, the old cleats removed,
old glue cleaned up and the repair redone. In addition, there was
old glue slopped around the inside and swatches of old glue soaked
cotton fabric that were put in to reinforce cracks. |
.jpg) .jpg) |
jpg.JPG) |
Though there were various old
and sloppy repairs, the replaced (and grossly oversized) bridge
plate was of greatest concern. It can be tricky to remove an
oversized, thick bridge plate from the very thin top of a 19th
century guitar that already has a few cracks. |
| The plate was heated and
slowly removed as the glue loosened. Once removed, the original
footprint of the old bridge plate was revealed, along with the old
pencil line marking of it’s proper size and position that was made
when the guitar was built. A proper size, bridge plate was made and
installed to return the structural configuration of the guitar to
it’s original state. |
 |
  |
Once the interior repairs were
completed and the back was reattached, the plastic binding that was
patched in here and there was replaced with proper ivory binding
from another similar period guitar. At this point, a new pyramid
bridge was fashioned out of ivory. The bridge was just slightly
oversized (1/16th” all around) to cover the footprint of the bridge
that was previously on the guitar. In addition, to insure proper
intonation, the saddle slot was pushed back just slightly closer to
the bridge pins than would have been the case originally. The guitar
was set up for play with nylon strings.
   
 |
|
|
