J200 bulge

[ponty]

Just gave a look in a 1993-

 

Top/tail block:

 

Learn something new everyday - just looked at my 93s and the blocks are the same.

[Jesse_Dylan]

Bermuda here - 90% humidity last week!

My j45s are in cases (Hiscox), and on the whole have done very well here.

Recently i had a concave area anove the sound hole on the bass side.

Discovered the X brace had lifted about 2' in length. No luthiers here so

Youtube and I fixed it (awesome result, top now flat, brice firmly fixed, neat and tidy job)

Your guitar looks to be in normal condition. A flat top guitar isnt really flat, neather is the back.

there is a built in arch top and back. Check for bridge lifting and get a mirror and a light

and check the braces.

 

90%! Wow. Hiscoxes are fantastic, but if it's 90% humidity inside your dwelling, it will eventually be 90% inside your cases too without intervention. I'd have no idea what to even suggest, though. Air conditioning works (works way too well here, drying the air out too much, so I never use it)--

[Hall]

Appreciate the post myself, Hogeye. Always something more to learn. We don't see enough of the essentials here anymore.

 

steve

[Hogeye]

Just gave a look in a 1993-

 

Top/tail block:

 

 

 

Back/tail block:

 

 

 

... Dimple-free in '93.

 

 

A picture is worth a thousand words. Thank you. Ren was looking out for us with his little touches.

[Hogeye]

I will tell you a funny story. I was on vacation in Salt Lake City and was visiting Leonard and Kenard in their fine store when the Martin rep was there. The Martin rep was showing a guy that was going to buy a J-45 that Gibson made the tail block to small and it didn't support the top or back properly. I told him and the customer that this was a planned design. It kept the top from stressing and also freed the top to vibrate more freely. He smugly pointed out that Martin just didn't glue the top to the top of the tail block and that eliminated to whole issue. I mentioned as the top on a Martin rises and falls due to changing humidity levels the top can drop and contact the top of the tail block and cause some pretty strange sounds to happen. Anything from a rattle in the top to wolf tones.

 

The guy bought the J-45

 

Several months later I found myself in Salt Lake City and stopped in to visit. Leonard took out his inspection mirror and showed me a new Martin he just got in and the tail block had been relieved just like Ren's design. It was pretty funny. I don't know if they still do this but they did it for a while.

[Martin 1940D28]

hogeye, i enjoy your comments. I first met Lenny Coulson when he was in partnership with Michael Allison at Providence Guitar and Banjo, in the late 1960's. It was a pleasure to visit them in Providence back then. Anyhow, I'd never had a problem with humidity until last winter, in this area, with the sub zero temperatures and tons of snow hereabouts. I'm just hoping the planet waves D'Arrdario will keep it steady this winter,with no unexpected surprises!

[j45nick]

hogeye, i enjoy your comments. I first met Lenny Coulson when he was in partnership with Michael Allison at Providence Guitar and Banjo, in the late 1960's.

 

Now there's a name from the past! Michael Allison restored my O-sized 1870's Martin New Yorker back in about 1970. He did a superb job. He must have put 20 or 30 practically invisible splices in the Brazilian back and sides of that guitar, not to mention the top. He was an incredible craftsman.

 

His apprentice did the ebony, ivory, and abalone headstock binding and inlay on my 1948-1950 J-45 a year later. That's the headstock you see in my avatar.