Fingerboard starting to lift over the soundboard, what to expect?

[Satellitedog01]

Hi folks!

I have an old, all laminate, cutaway Crafter dreadnaught which as my first guitar holds some sentimental value, and also has a gutsy, bluesy tone, that is a nice diversion from my all-solid spruce-rosewood OM, so I'd love to keep it in a well playing condition for as long as possible. On the other hand it's a $160 beater, so I wouldn't want to spend too much on it.

Today I took off the strings to give it a good all around cleaning, and to oil the fingerboard, and I noticed the portion over the soundboard has lifted very slightly (0.3-0.5 mm) above the neck joint. The end of the fingerboard is flush with the soundboard.
From earlier visits to my luthier I know the neck is a bit warped in a rotational fashion (headstock twisted downward on the unwound strings' side), and has been for at least ten years. Could this be the culprit, or could it be a neck joint angle problem? I'll take pics tomorrow morning, but it's pretty subtle at this time. I also feel and hear something over at the bridge that sounds like one of the braces has let go of the soundboard at one of its ends, where my strumming arm rests on it. It's also subtle at this point, and I wonder if it can be fixed through the soundhole, without removing the soundboard?

[phavriluk]

If you're still on friendly terms with your luthier, visit him and ask your questions. I think you'll get a more accurate answer.

[Satellitedog01]

Yes I am, but I thought luthiers frequent this forum, so I could get opinions before I take the guitar anywhere. It's not my main guitar anymore, so I'm not in a rush to do anything about it, plus there are other minor issues to address about the guitar too, so when I take it to the man, I wanna have a full list of what to look into.

[Satellitedog01]

Well...

I've been looking for similar cases to find what the issue could be, and came across a thread on the unofficial Martin forum, where a very similar problem is affecting a new Martin D-28 and Howard Klepper (I assume he is the luthier building fine acoustic guitars) commented it shouldn't be a big deal.

Another commenter said it could be that the fingerboard just didn't stick to the soundboard because there was finish on the soundboard where the fingerboard makes contact. This could totally be the case with my Korean all laminated Crafter, as it doesn't sport the tidiest craftsmanship inside the soundbox that I've ever seen either, and QC was very likely not on par with that over at Martin.

So it might be a problem, might be nothing at all, I don't remember seeing the gaps, but I also wasn't looking before...

I feel no structural movement at the neck join, it all feels solid. The bracing has let go somewhere on the bass string side of the bridge plate, but I'll ask my luthier about that one.

[Bruce Sexauer]

Box of worms! Can't tell what you're looking at from your description and recommend the photos you mentioned. If you suspect a loose brace, reach inside and find it.

[Satellitedog01]

Here are two pics to show how much of a seperation there's going on. I pushed the post-it size note paper in as far as I could. The portion between the paper and the soundhole is glued fast to the soundboard.

The finish between the heel and body joint lines seems like it might be separated, but there's no distance between, so I didn't take pics of that.

So here:



And the cutaway side. The crack runs a few millimeters longer, but I couldn't shove the paper into it.

[Bruce Sexauer]

Ignore it. It won't go away but neither is it about to fail.

[Satellitedog01]

Thank you, Bruce! Is it a shrinkage of the tenon block/wedge of the neck?