Official Luthiers Forum!

Hello, I am new to the forum.
I have a Harmony Marquis J-77A, didn’t pay much for it (ebay). The guitar is a Martin style dreadnought and actually sounds pretty good. When I received it, the bridge was pulling up in the back with a slight bulge to the top. The bridge had warped on the wings and I saw little scorch marks around the bridge, so I was going to repair it with a slightly oversized bridge and check for loose braces. I took the bridge off with an artist’s spatula and found that the top was actually laminated (seller said it was solid). Somewhere along the line, someone did a lot of sanding under the bridge. There were small scorch marks underneath the bridge too. The bridge plate is made out of plywood and feels like it has started to delaminate.
My easy bridge replacement has potentially turned into a larger project. I would like to do a lasting repair, but must temper the repair against the value of the guitar. Any recommendations for how to proceed with repairs? Thanks.

Hello Derek welcome to the forum
from the sounds of it i think you might need to make a patch for underneath the bridge
since you found out it was a laminate top the hard way

Know for again if suspicius and ask to see a pic of the soundhole showing the end grain
theirs articles on FRETS.com ... top failure

If i were you i wouldnt touch the bridge plate its all plywood anyway
by the way it proberly needs a neck reset too
that could be the reason you see scorch marks
good luck