Official Luthiers Forum!

I am a beginner at this, I have built a few basic instruments successfully including an octave mandolin but have not attempted a major repair. While waiting for them to arrive I decided to toss out my endeavor for guidance.
I won 2 Rover RM35 A style Mandos on eBay that are basically new items with sunken tops. I wish to try to remove the top
and build a new one with really good spruce. I am more worried about removing the old top with out destroying the rest of the instrument. Is there a source of guidance for me.

getting the top off is relatively easy. what may be more difficult is to get the newly finished replacement top to blend with the existing finish. are these korean or chinese? if so they would then probably have some sort of polyester or other plastic finish. you may have to strip all the existing and totally refinish.

depending on the neck joint geometry you may have to remove the fb and the fb extension support block. scribe the binding edges to break the finish and using a heated palette knife work the binding loose. heat the edges of the top and again using the heated palette knife loosen the top glue line. lift off the tp. alternatively, if you do not want to salvage the binding just route it off. some would also route off the top.

any idea why the top sank?crazymanmichael39060.6621180556

No, I don't know how or why they sank. I am buying them from a dealer of some kind. I thought maybe packed and stack wrong to place to much pressure on the top but just a guess. I just bought them really cheap for something to learn on and maybe get a playable instrument out of the process. I am not a talented musician but I do enjoy playing basic rhythm in a bluegrass/country jam. I did last night and will again tonight. Thanks for the encouragement. I think I can forget salvaging the binding it is cheap plastic. Also was thinking to just strip down the sides and new top and refinish that part in a similar color lacquer.