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Hello folks, I have an inexpensive Kay ladder braced bolt on neck acoustic guitar that I wanted to use as the basis for an experiment with a different brace pattern. I am uncertain what the best approach is and was hoping for some insight. I thought I was going to remove and reuse the existing top, but so far I have not figured out how to get it off without destroying it. Is there another better approach? Since the neck is a bolt on, removing the top would be easier than on a standard guitar where the fretboard is glued to the top, but maybe approaching it from the backside would be easier? Thank you

Take the back off, then you have access to plane/chisel the old braces off.

Curious, Is removing and replacing the back a process that with new binding can look pretty much original?

I've been contemplating doing this to an old Kay. I've already reset the neck. It was a dovetail with a glued fretboard extension. The back had some loose edges so I pulled it and was able to remove the binding intact, so reinstalled it when I glued the back on. The finish was old, checked and flaky so I just went with its character and let it be.

Check out Dan's posts about rebuilding an old Kay, viewtopic.php?f=10137&t=52549.
Also this rebuild series, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3grzGLgSlnc&t=1749s.