Louis1112 Posted March 21, 2023 Share Posted March 21, 2023 Hi, I recently purchased a fine old ES-125 that has what appears at first to be a sunken top (due to the extreme height needed at the bridge to keep the strings off of the frets). It also has seam separation in the back (and all of the braces have separated off the back and are rattling around inside). The kerfed tonebar braces on the top don't have any cracks that might cause a sunken top; however, I suppose there is always the possibility that the heat environment that caused the back braces to become loose may have loosened the tone braces on the top enough to allow them to slip (?) before the glue re-hardened, and maybe allow the top to sink...not sure. Can the back problems such as those I've described cause the action problems (maybe causing the neck to change angle as the back flexes), without there being any tonebar damage to the top? I'll upload a few pics this eve. Thanks for any ideas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twang Gang Posted March 25, 2023 Share Posted March 25, 2023 Sounds like that guitar needs to be blown apart, all the braces (top and bottom) checked and reglued, then put back together again. A huge job, but I've seen it done with acoustic flattops so there's no reason an archtop couldn't go through the same restoration. The cost would be high though, so you need to weigh that against overall value of a 125 and how much you want to keep and play it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Louis1112 Posted April 18, 2023 Author Share Posted April 18, 2023 Thanks for your help! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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