Official Luthiers Forum!

I'm looking for any suggestions anyone might be able to pass along regarding removing a top from a recently constructed acoustic guitar. The series of events that need to happen seem to me to be:

- remove the neck (already done)
- rout the binding off
- remove the finish in the area around the top rim, and around the sides
- heat the rim and carefully remove the top
- rebrace the top
- with the guitar in a mold to hold the sides firmly in place, re-install the top, then continue with re-installation of purfling (a little wider, or maybe herringbone strip this time) and binding.
- finish top and sides (hopefully leaving the back finish intact)

I realize that I'll have to be very careful to get the top to fit properly, and that there will be very little room for error. I think that I can make up for any little misalignments by using a thicker binding and wider purfling.

Why am I doing this (you were probably wondering right from the start)? Well, after trying several adjustments, I simply can't get this guitar to give the sound and the volume I'm looking for. After completion of the guitar, I realized and learned through talking with other luthiers that I'd made several mistakes, and here's what I'd like to correct:

- primarily... open up the X-brace so that the bridge intersect it further out toward the ends
- shift the X-brace slightly forward as well
- scallop the braces (last time I used a parabolic profile)
- install a thinner bridge plate (I did not thickness the previous one, and it was very thick maple)
- thin the top... it's very highly figured sitka... and I think it needs to go down from .115 to around .100-.105
- thin the edges of the lower bout before refinishing... take them down to .085-.090 or so
- correct the placement of the bridge... somehow it slipped before drilling the two locating holes, and intonation on the Low E is off / impossible to correct at present.

The guitar is sitka and mahogany, slightly smaller than OM size, with a slightly deeper body (1/8"). It looks great, and plays fantastic (I got 2/3 of the equation right!). I am hoping to get more volume, and get a guitar that produces a deeper, more bluesy, thumpier sound, as opposed to the more treble heavy sound I have now (which sounds 'tinny' to my ears).

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Ken