Replacing a Classical Guitar Top, Part One
Few realize the influence of the luthier on the life and career of the artist. Andres Segovia, In Memoriam of Hermann Hauser, The Guitar Review, 1954 Recently, a classical guitar made by a well known, highly respected Spanish maker came into the shop for evaluation. The current owner had removed all the original lacquer finish from the top and sanded so much that areas of the top were less than 1mm thick. The first day it was in the shop I spent over an hour scrubbing the top to remove remaining finish remover and other chemical crud that was leftover by “a home repair”. The top after a one hour scrub with NAPTHA... The bridge with remnants of finish remover... The next day I spent some time with the guitar to learn more about the damage with the hopes that all I needed to do was to re-finish the top. With the aid of an inspection mirror I found a repair completed at some point in the guitar’s life, a “floating brace” was installed to prevent the top from further collapse and an u