Loose brace and sinking top

[Ben_H]

I have an 8 string tenor with a sinking top. Investigating through the sound hole I have found there is a loose bit of bracing, which has become detached at the end nearest the sound hole. I can move it from side to side quite easily.

Is the loose brace likely to be causing the sinking top and is it easily fixable?

Ben

 

[dhoenisch]

That loose brace is almost definitely causing the sinking issue. It isn't a difficult fix if you have the tools. Basically, you would need to scrape glue residue off of the brace and top, add some new glue (I try to use the same glue that was used when originally built), clamp it up overnight, string it up and go to town with it. Also, before you do all that work, make sure the top will go back to being flat without any cracking of the wood. If it doesn't want to go flat, there's more work involved. If it's plywood, that shouldn't be a problem. I had an Oscar Schmidt OU2 with that issue. Being thin plywood, the top had no problem being flattened.

Dan

 

[coolkayaker1]

DH, what clamp does the one-time repairer use? A C-clamp? How to protect the topwood? Thanks for your answer below.

 

[dhoenisch]

I usually use a piece of wood with cork to protect the top. I also have different sized C-clamps that I use for this type of repair.

Dan