Seagull S-6 Project

[CedarRiverPete]

Someone gave me an S-6 Mahogany that is pretty much a basket case. The s/n doesn't seem to correlate with first 2 numbers indicating the year made. The s/n is 348322 on the inside label. I was told it's from early 90's. It is a bolt on neck. Can it be removed? I hearing yes and no, depending on who you read.

While the back and sides look pretty decent, the top suffered some serious trauma at some point. Almost like someone stepped or sat on it. There are multiple long cracks on the top. Like 4 on the bass side and 3 on the treble side. The X bracing is broken, and there are areas of the bracing that are loose. The top is caved in as a result of all this damage.

There is minimal to no fret wear on the original frets. It's like the guitar was kicked around it's whole life and barely played.

This would be a fun project to try bring it back to life. I've no timeline or $$ invested at this point. I'd like to fix it and give it back to the donor at some point as sort of a surprise. Providing I don't destroy it in the process.

Never having attempted a repair like this before, this would be a good candidate to learn on. Here's what I'm thinking...

If I can get the neck free, try to pull top intact and then repair the cracks and re-glue the braces or replace the top. Some of the long top cracks are right next to kerfling. Could be trouble...

If the neck can't be removed, try to pull the back to make the top repairs?

I suspect putting every thing back together will present a entire new set of challenges unknown to me. Should be interesting if I can get some help on along the way.

Any opinions, tips, tricks, how to's, don't do's, would be much appreciated. I took a few pics, and can post, but I think you get the idea from my description.

Thanks
Pete