reattach x-brace (Epiphone FT-135)

[phavriluk]

I've scratch built seven guitars of my own, working on #8.

Today my guitar teacher (Jeff Snow), who has watched my whole building experience, came up with an opportunity I couldn't refuse. He discovered he had in his guitar archive, much to his surprise, an Epiphone FT-135, which is a plywood import fighter Gibson imported from Japan in the mid-late 1970's. The best this guitar could draw from the marketplace is a couple-to-three hundred bucks, which I think means any repair expenses are wasted. And an x-brace leg ain't attached no more.

But Jeff knew I love to learn lutherie, and here's a chance to work out some repairs. I don't have a clue what to do about getting this wandering x-brace leg back to work. The other 'x' leg below the bridge is still attached. I have no idea about clamping things and getting an appropriate adhesive (which is?) on the brace. Building guitars is its own skill set that doesn't have much relationship to the surgery required to attend to braces inside a closed body.

Any comments and suggestions will get me to offer the suggester a beer next time we meet.

Thanks!

[TEETERFAN]

I replaced the top on my 70s Epiphone FT-550 years ago and the original soundboard looked to be glued up with polyvinyl or a cloudy hotglue.

[phavriluk]

Thanks - - - time to put a mirror on the scene of the crime.