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Im looking for a top for this guitar.
Nearly all of the mahogany B&S sets I see are "figured" in some way which im not sure is appropriate for a top. The top here is pretty straight grained. Im wondering if it could be sapele?
It seems to be more readily available in a straight grain.
Any advice please
Thanks
Steve

Oh man what happend? Why was the bridge cut out? The bridge must have seperated and had some really bad tear out to have to cut it out like that. Also noticed (though hard to tell) there appears to be no bridge plate either. BobC has some back and side sets of some Cuban Mahogany that is mostly straight grained It is sorta striped lile Sapale but woule make a nice top.

LMI also has sets of just plane old mahogany no sides to be used for tops.

LMI also has sets of just plane old mahogany no sides to be used for tops.

Thanks for that just found it under the Tops/Tonewood section and not B&S.
Perfect.

Thats exactly how the guitar broke no cutting involved. Really thin top not QS and thin spruce bridgeplate...with the saddle right on the front edge of it. The hole is the exact footprint of the bridge

Steve, we have a lot of nice straight grained, QS back (or top) sets of genuine Honduras mahogany available. They are $25 each (not including s/h), and $20 for widths less than 8".

Feel free to send me a PM or reach me at agribble _at_ hibdonhardwood.com if I can help.

Yours, Andrew

_________________
Hibdon Hardwood, Inc.
http://www.hibdonhardwood.com
1410 N. Broadway
Saint Louis, Missouri 63102
314.621.7711

For originality's sake, and if you like challenges, this top can be repaired.

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Laurent Brondel
West Paris, Maine - USA
http://www.laurentbrondel.com/

I've fixed a couple like that: it's 'fun', but do-able. That does seem to be a failure mode for mahogany tops. If you do fix it, make the bridge plate so that it extends beyond the outline of the bridge. In fact, that's one key to the repair.

Laurent, for educational purposes, (mine), could you post a brief explanation of how you would go about repairing a top like that?

Thanks,
Joe

From what i see this top is plywood and not solid. At least it appears that way to my eyes. I find it very odd that it just ripped out like that. It also looks to be maybe nato or sapele. I'm thinking when they scored the finish to clean it off for the bridge glue job they scored a little to deep. You can actually see the veneer on top and it looks like it was scored right through.

From what i see this top is plywood and not solid. At least it appears that way to my eyes. I find it very odd that it just ripped out like that. It also looks to be maybe nato or sapele. I'm thinking when they scored the finish to clean it off for the bridge glue job they scored a little to deep. You can actually see the veneer on top and it looks like it was scored right through.[/quote]


+1

new solid top

hardest part get neck angle right imo

if not much faith in construction add flying brace.


here is somthing to look at while you ponder how to brace it
scroll about 3/4

http://theunofficialmartinguitarforum.yuku.com/topic/847/t/MARTIN-BRACING-LIBRARY.html?page=19

_________________
"It's a Tone Faerie thing"
"Da goal is to sharpen ur wit as well as ye Sgian Dubh"
"Sippin Loch Dhu @Black lake" ,Kirby O...

The top looks like solid, genuine, Honduran mahogany. What is visible in the pic is the maple bridgeplate (what's left of it) sheared along the grain on the pinholes line.
Not a totally uncommon issue with mahogany tops. Spruce has much better strength along the grain and would not break like this. Those M-20s are lightly constructed.

There are probably a few ways to repair this, a look inside would be good. But, as Alan points out, it starts with removing the remnants of the maple bridgeplate and replacing it with one that overlaps the bridge footprint by at least .100" on all sides. I would also use rift or flat sawn maple, and skew the grain direction a few degrees (like, 80º). Before that I would clean out the break on the mahogany, and fit a patch, lap joint from the inside, without exceeding the bridge lines on the outside. And making a new bridge. This repair is much easier with the back off, but doable through the soundhole.
I am pretty sure Frank Ford has it covered at http://www.frets.com/

Steve, are you sure the mahogany is not 4sawn? Not that it should matter with mahogany anyway… The top looks thin though.

_________________
Laurent Brondel
West Paris, Maine - USA
http://www.laurentbrondel.com/

it was late saw what I thought was voids : didn't look at label

_________________
"It's a Tone Faerie thing"
"Da goal is to sharpen ur wit as well as ye Sgian Dubh"
"Sippin Loch Dhu @Black lake" ,Kirby O...