Ovation Top

[Zen]

Just hoping to get some advise on repairing this old ovation top. The guitar has been badly abused and as you can see theres several cracks in the top although after checking inside none seems to go through so its just the laquer thats cracked as far as I can see. but , the big problem is that the top has sunk on the right hand side of the bridge. Its probably not obvious in the pics but the high E and b strings are sitting low on the frets because of whatever caused the top to cave in.
The owner wanted me to try some sort of fix but as far as I can see its not possible but I waned some expert opinions before i give up on it.
Many Thanks
Rusty

[MaineGeezer]

Have you inspected the bracing? Are any braces cracked, or loose? Knowing absolutely nothing :) about what the "correct" procedure might be, I'd be tempted to jack up the top and add a brace, or (better) remove the brace that apparently isn't doing its job and replace it.

[tippie53]

Yes on bracing first.

you may have some loose stuff to content with

[MaineGeezer]

Frank Ford wrote this article about fixing a sagging mandolin top:
http://www.frets.com/FretsPages/Luthier ... opsag.html