1890 Martin restoration

[robbie o'brien]

I recently had an old Martin guitar come into the shop for some work. With John's help we were able to determine that this is a model 2 from 1890. It was string with steel strings which is way to much tension for this little guy. Maybe that is why the left part of the x brace was completely broken in half. Someone has tried to repair it but improperly. With John's help we determined that to do it right the back needed to be removed so that we could get inside the guitar. The bindings, tuner knobs, heel and end caps and rosette rings are ivory. The bridge pins appear to be plastic. The back and sides are Brazilian rosewood and the top spruce. On a scale of 1 to 10 the pucker factor was a good solid 12 as I removed the back. It took me at least 2 hours to remove it. Care was taken to keep the ivory bindings and the dark/light back purflings veneers intact. Now tht the back is off I can get into the restoration of the braces.

[robbie o'brien]

more pics

[robbie o'brien]

still more pics

[tippie53]

I will follow this with interest , getting these apart is the only way to do the right. This will be an educational thread for sure.

[Darryl Young]

Thanks for these pics Robbie. Valuable for learning!

[Ben-Had]

Robbie, I asked this question on your forum as well but i think folks here would be interested as well. Do you know when and who installed the popsicle brace? Upon closer examination it appears the were some cracks along the fingerboard edge of the top. I didn't think that brace came into being until around 1940 with the Martin D's.

[Kevin Sjostrand]

This is very cool. What a treasure Robbie. I take it is for a client, not for you?

Kevin

[tippie53]

The Popsicle Brace started in the 1939 to 1940 range. it was added because of a change in the neck block. Pre 1939 the neck block was heavier at 1 9/16 in thick after 39 the block was 1 3/8 in and this caused the top to fail at the neck block. The Popsicle brace was added to help with this shearing force.
Also the transverse brace was changed from 3/9 wide 3/4 high to the 1/2 by 5/8.