Official Luthiers Forum!

I have a Martin Archtop in for repairs. Model C-1 serial #58670. It had belonged to a local musician who died recently. His widow wants it fixed to make sure it is structurally sound and can play (to be passed down to grandkids). She doesn't want it refinished or anything as she wants it to keep it's "character" Toward the end the owner was very unsteady and actually fell on the guitar once, as well the top and sides have cracks from low humidity. Their house had a humidity level of 18% when she brought it over so it is badly dehydrated. I also have some question about the top where the neck/fingerboard meet it. There seems to be a bulge in the top but this could be just sanded flat under the fingerboard and then transitioning to the arched top. I have very little experience with Arch Tops so this is new territory for me. We are also wondering what the possible value of this guitar might be. Here are some pictures showing the guitar and the damage

OK, I am having difficulty uploading pics so will try again.

When I try to upload the pics I get the following message

rara avis indeed. archtops were not one or martin's modern success stories and to the best of my knowledge none of the "modern" ones have anywhere near the attractiveness to collectors that the flatops have. that may still leave a fair bit of headroom to make repair worthwhile. wouldn't have cfm the first's signature in it would it? story might be different then.crazymanmichael39102.5579282407

Th repairs will be done for nastalga, value is for our personal interest. Still can't upload images. no idea why not.

Since I can't post pictures I'll describe the condition of the guitar and ask for sugestions for repair. The Top has 8 cracks that start at the tail. One goes all the way to one of the F holes another goes up to about the bridge and the others are from 1-3" in length. When I first got the guitar the two biggest cracks were open slightly but with humidity have now closed. Normally I would just go in through the sound hole and repair from inside but with F holes I wonder how to repair this. The back has two cracks in the lower bout. One goes from the waist to the tail and is open about 3/16" at the waist end of the crack. The side has some cracks and a few "ripples" in it in this area as well, probably from when the previous owner fell on it. The second crack in the back is open only slightly and goes right across the lower bout. both of these cracks were repaired in the past with daimond patches but the cracks opened back up. There are a number of other small cracks in this area but they were repaired previously and seem to be holding. The braces in this cracked area are also loose. I can't see how I would repair this without removing the back. Any suggestions would be welcomed.

The picture uploads haven't been working for a number of days. Lance
and Brock are aware of it and are working on it. Seems to be a lingering
symptom of the hacking the forum went through last week.

As Michael said, these arcthops were not one of Martin's shining
moments and often have little appeal to players or collectors in terms of
tone. They are actually regarded lowly enough that it is still (somewhat
debatedly) acceptable to retop them as an OM flat top. Of course the
severe change in neck angle often leads them to become 13 fret body
joint guitars. There are resepctable luthiers who still have no problem
doing this and the market generally doesn't seem to mind much either.
Being one to err on the side of preservation even over restoration in some
cases, I don't know if I would go this far myself.

As to restoring and preserving it, just hang on to it until the picture
uploads are working here again and I'd be happy to take a look. The
shape of the top under the fingerboard extension sounds right, but we'll
see when we can all see it.

_________________
Eschew obfuscation, espouse elucidation.

Simultaneous posting again...

See if you can find the postings from JJ's recent dropped guitar repair. There
are some photos of the glue syringe / butterfly needle that I use for things
like this. I also have a number of violin repair clamps that I use for getting in
to mandolins and archtops, and if you have the right tools it is rare that
either the top or back would require removal for repair.

Mirrors, magnets, small clamps, butterfly needles, alligator clips,...
There are a lot of simple tools and tricks that can make jobs like this much
less daunting.

_________________
Eschew obfuscation, espouse elucidation.

Thanks. When pics are up again I'll post. I'm so busy these days with my new political responsibilities as well as trying to keep up with the business (building and repairs) that I am not on the forum as much so didn't know there was a problem. Unfortunately I am not doing as much building as I would like these days so I am really getting behind.

david, weren't the retopped archtops the basis for the martin jumbo or 0000? seems as though i read that somewhere or another...

You may be right Michael. For some reason I was thinking OM, but now that
you mention it that doesn't sound right.

_________________
Eschew obfuscation, espouse elucidation.

The C-1 which this one is is closer to a 000 in size and only has a 24.75" scale. I know martins later Arch tops were much bigger though so they may have been the inspiration for the 0000 model. The one in the shop has the body shape and size of an 000

Colin, i looked for JJ's thread but couldn't find it