Area 51

Well, the rainy weekend was a nice time to listen to the rain hit the roof, but that's about all I accomplished. I did think about the guitar though, and I guess that's worth something.




This morning I took a few pictures of what I am calling "Area 51" due to the fact that it's a hornet's nest of unknowns. There is a long top crack which has been repaired, but I think the repair can be/should be improved upon. That means ungluing what has been done, cleaning it out, and re-gluing it. This will be a job.

There is another crack which needs to be closed up and glued.

There are a few small cracks which should close up easily, and may not even need cleats.

The huge fabric patch on the side covered a crack which is missing some wood. But before I can deal with that, the piece I do have must be put back in place.

The question is, in what order should I proceed?

I think maybe a "go-bar" deck could be the best method to flatten the top, fix the cracks, glue down the braces, and to insure things get back where they belong. Maybe this should come first.

Then the side chunk can go back in place.

Then the missing wood in the side can be replaced.

Part of the whole process will be the repair of and or the replacement of a few top braces. One small finger brace is missing completely. The other--one diagonal of the X--is broken. It'll need to be lengthened toward the damaged lower bout, and then glued back in place. However, this can't be done until the top is flat, crack-free and has the missing piece on the lower bout replaced.

It's a set of dominoes, and I have to determine in exactly which order I want the dominoes to fall before I set them up.