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I have a 70's era dreadnought, unknown maker probably Japanese, that needs several repairs. I am unsure of the order in which to proceed. Any thoughts on what order to do these in would be appreciated.
1) the bridge needs to be replaced. Someone chopped the top half of it away to lower the action to almost playable status.
2) one of the X brace legs is slightly loose from the top right at the point where it passes under the wing of the bridge. This may be allowing some excess top bulge and bridge rotation in that area.
3) the neck will not quite get straight. It is mostly straight when not under tension except the is a notable up rise at frets 3, 2 and 1 and the nut. The truss rod seems to move but will not prevent the neck from bowing under tension. I may need to remove the fret board and reglue it with the neck flat and/or fix the truss rod.
4) very likely will need a neck reset. Even once the brace is glued it will almost certainly not have enough neck angle to hit the top of the bridge. Not sure of the neck joint type. I think it is a Hohner brand based on the unusual bridge shape but there is no label remaining.
Is there a standard order for these types of repairs or is each one different?
Thanks
Dave

Each case is a different scenario, for yours I would ,
1; Fix loose brace
2; remove neck and assess and repair truss rod/warpage problem. This may be tough to rectify and may likely require FB removal as noted.
3; once neck is repaired, reset at proper angle
4; Make and install new bridge at proper height as determined by fret plane.
Looks so simple when I write it out like that......never goes that way so
5; be prepared to throw this list out and deal with all the new problems you will find as they come up

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Brian

You never know what you are capable of until you actually try.

https://www.howardguitarsdelaware.com/

As I get deeper into doing repairs I gotta say: that's an understatement!

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

I don't want to be the guy that disagrees with the pros, but I think I'd go at it slightly different. But I would recommend that you default to Brian's suggestion. This is more for me anyway; presenting my idea that I thought was reasonable and then letting the real experts tell me why I'm wrong. (this is not sarcasm. I really want to know if my way would be acceptable and if not then why)

1. Remove the bridge
2. repair X-brace
3. install the new bridge on the properly braced (and probably closer to the shape it should be) soundboard
4. fix/reset the neck, however you need to do it.
5. Yeah, I agree with him %100 on this one.

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PMoMC

When you reset the neck you may move the frets relative to the bridge. It would be better to put the new bridge on last, so there are not intonation problems.

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http://www.Harvestmoonguitars.com

1. Locate trash can
2. Insert guitar into trash can

But seriously, if it definitely needs a neck reset I would try to get the neck off first... if you you can't get the neck angle right the rest is a waste of time unless you're doing it all for the education or for kicks.

So this is the order for this particular case? because I know you don't reset the bridge every time you do a neck reset. But what I get you are saying is that since you have to take the bridge off anyway, then go ahead and reset the bridge according to where the neck ends up after the reset.
and in this case the neck is probably going to shift downward about the distance of a saw blade kerf since it's probably a doweled butt joint with some AMG, so I see how the method is sound. Hmm... glad you got this one instead of me.

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PMoMC