This 1964-1965 era Martin came into my shop last week. The bridge was not glued to the top. As you can see in the photo. the guitar has been used and abused. The creme area is wood filler and the bridge has been re-glued more than once it appears. The Rosewood bridge plate is not original because someone named George signed and dated it in May, 1974. The plate is very thin and dished out where the pin holes are located. The Spruce under the bridge is heavily damaged and appears to have been repaired with a hard clear glue, maybe epoxy? There are areas where the Rosewood plate is visible and much of the Spruce is missing. Due to the very thin plate and missing top wood, there is a bulge in the top just behind the bridge.
The owner is elderly and merely wants the guitar restored to playability so that he can play for his grandkids.
I've repaired guitars like this in the past with damaged tops by routing down to good wood and then gluing in a Spruce patch before re-gluing the bridge. But I haven't dealt with one this heavily damaged. If I remove the plate there will be a bridge-shaped hole in the top. And there is that bulge to deal with.
I'm thinking about removing the plate and making a new, thicker, and larger replacement. Hopefully this will help flatten the bulge. But I don't want to alter the tone substantially. I may not have a choice. After the new plate is in, I would route out the rest of the damaged top and glue in a patch before re-gluing the bridge.
Any experienced repair guys have thoughts about this? Thanks!
