Repair And Restoration
TO ADD FORUM POST USE THE DISCUSSIONS TAB OR ADD NEW TOPIC IN THE SIDE BAR
Organizer:
- Organized by
-
-
Strange(?) bellying on Martin 000-15 SM
-
Strange(?) bellying on Martin 000-15 SM
Just realized that I posted this on the main feed earlier and should have posted it here. Apologies for my poor posting skills. Will go and delete the original now….
Hello all,
I’m new around here and excited to continue lurking and learning, taking in all the great content and the knowledge of all you experienced looths. I am more familiar with building than repairing, but I am interested in learning all I can about both. I’m happy to be a fly on the wall, but I do also have some questions about a Martin with some odd bellying.
A friend of mine recently left his Martin 000-15 SM for me to look at. It has some strange (to me anyway) bellying behind the bridge. The “belly” is really more like undulations, rising and falling a few times and is the most pronounced on the bass side. Hopefully the pictures help show what I mean. The only bellying I’ve seen on other instruments has been a more even, relatively fair curve. This is more like a few waves on a pond. It rises up from the rim, peaking around where the tone bar/lower face brace ends (more on that in a second) then it dips back down before rising back up again.
I haven’t found any loose braces yet by tapping, feeling around, and a quick visual inspection with my phone camera. I plan to do a deeper dive with feelers to be 100% sure, but I don’t think it’s loose braces at this point.
He uses light gauge strings, 12s, so I don’t think it was under excessive tension. As for causes, I suggested to him that it was probably a combination of environmental changes, natural flaws in the mahogany top and what looks to me like relatively light bracing. (There’s a single short tone bar/lower face brace that’s about the length of the bridge plate and just ends out ‘in the field’. Hopefully the picture clarifies what I mean. Maybe this is normal for mahogany tops? It’s almost more like a short, slightly angled ladder brace. It’s new to me. I don’t mean to imply the bracing alone caused the issue, just wondering if you all think it played a role, or if you’ve seen issues with this model or others with similar bracing? And the rippling/bellying does seem to conform to the bracing itself in some places.
Embarrassed to say, it only occurred to me after he left that, of course, there might still be a warranty. If so, I wonder what your thoughts/experiences are with this process? Any pitfalls to avoid both for him and whoever he would find to do warranty work? (Not me, obviously.)
As for solutions, I told him some options might be 1) simply lowering the saddle to gain back some playability, 2) a bridge doctor (which neither of us liked much – would rather avoid drilling a hole in the bridge of a guitar that’s only about a decade old) or 3) various methods for trying to flatten the top (heated cauls, etc…). This last collection of options is something I told him he’d want to find someone more experienced to help with. I would love to learn more about this process myself, but wouldn’t attempt it on something other than my own guitars at this point.
And of course, if there are loose braces, perhaps some of the belly could be reduced in the regluing process. Again, from what I’ve seen, I think the braces are still firmly glued, but…
At any rate, thanks in advance for any thoughts and insights.
-
6 Replies
-
A photo of the brace I mentioned.
-
Wow! That’s ugh, interesting.
If he’s the original owner, I would strongly suggest getting those photos to Martin Customer Service. Looks like a defective top to me…
It looks like the bulges start right where the scallops start under the top. Maybe it got top stripped at the factory and it’s too thin?
-
Thanks for your thoughts. I guess I’m glad to know that I wasn’t crazy. I have to say it was a weird sensation to run my hand along the top and feels all the undulations…. Bummed that it sounds like he might be looking at a retop – assuming that’s where it’s headed.
I measured the top at the soundhole with calipers and it’s right around .125″ to slightly under. Right around the ballpark of what you’d expect, I think? But perhaps it was thinned out more closer to the rims? (As I type that, I realize there was a section right near the rim on the bass side where there’s a slight recurve before the big bump starts – as if the lining is the only thing that kept it from bulging right to the edge.)
I’m pretty sure he’s the original owner, so it sounds like we’ll be reaching out to Martin. I’m curious how that process normally works. Would they have him ship it out them or do they normally have an owner find a local repairperson to do the work? Just curious what he can expect.
Thanks again for your comments and thoughts.
-
Here’s a picture of that “recurve” I was trying to describe. Not quite an archtop, but….
-
-
-
Yeah, I don’t know. I would start by calling Customer Service. They will either direct you to a warranty operation for verification or if they let you send the pics, they might just issue a Return Authorization over the phone.
-
Thanks Dave, I really appreciate the info.
-
Log in to reply.