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#1
02-21-2011, 04:54 AM
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Horror story and advice needed please
A nightmare story really - I had planned to remove the pickguard from my recently aquired 000X1, as I normally do to my 000 sized guitars. I feel the tone benefits from the removal. I have removed many pickguards from both gloss and satin top guitars using the hairdryer on low heat method to soften the glue. All was going very well, a bit slower than normal I noticed, but it was still coming up well enough and leaving little glue residue behind. Then!! (and this is where my heart dropped into my stomach), the pickguard gave way and brought a small chunk of the top off with it. I could have cried. Yes, I know this is by far an expensive high end Martin, but I still like it very much all the same. The chunk that came off is about half the thickness of the top (approx.) and about a 1/4" wide. So after gather my worries back together, and after a woe glass of wine to calm the nerves, I figured I would remove the remaining glue residue and try to smooth out the rough edges with some fine grit sandpaper (I went down to 400 grit). Well, I got everything all smoothed out but I am concerned about two things - the thin area on the top, and the sanded bare wood. The guitar already has what Martin notes as a hand rubbed finish but I would imagine that there is still some kind of finish on it. Is it safe to leave the bare wood alone without any finish? I mean, you see many well played guitars where the finish has been played off. More importantly, should anything be done to the thin spot on the top? Perhaps take it in to a luthier to have him put some reinforcement in that area from underneath?
One thing to note is that the removed pickguard improved this guitar's tone ALOT!! Moreso than any of my other guitar's removed PG's. I don't mind the weird look that this has all left behind, but I am concerned about that thin spot and the bare wood. Should I perhaps put another PG back on it for strength and forget about the improved tone? Please advise. Below are a couple picks of the remains of this horrid tale. It looked much worse before sanding. It is hard to see where the thinned wood area so I circled it in Paint (not on the actual guitar  ) 
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Bryan Last edited by bfloyd6969; 02-21-2011 at 05:24 AM. 
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#2
02-21-2011, 06:08 AM
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Are you near SW Pa? I will put some Shellac on it to seal the wood from dirt. If it will make you feel better you can re-enforce from within but its likely not necessary. Unfortunately refinishing the top would leave it splotchy and uneven in color.
Name her Trigger II and get on with playing!
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#3
02-21-2011, 06:15 AM
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I wouldn't worry about it from a structural standpoint. Maybe the new thin area is contributing to the ehanced tone ? Wille Nelson wouldn't worry about it.
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Taylor 610 (1989) Taylor 514CE (2002) Larrivee OMV-05 Taylor GA3
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#4
02-21-2011, 07:04 AM
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Thanks folks! Not too close to PA, but thank you very much for the offer. Yeah, the first thing I thought of was Willie's Trigger
I guess I could always use a smaller OM style PG to protect the thinner area. Here's a print out of a Greven OM style:  Do you guys know if the Tor-Tis Greven material resonates more than plastic or vinyl? I don't want to hinder the guitar's new tone, but if the Greven is better than plastic, I would feel more at ease knowing there is some protection there again. Here's some larger Greven's:   I thought about have a small piece of popsickle stick (actually, high quality wood) glued directly under the thin spot by a luthier. I just didn't know if the thinner area was more prone to crack now...
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Bryan
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#5
02-21-2011, 07:51 AM
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I really wouldn't sweat the chip out. If you go pickguard I liked the last one
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#7
02-27-2011, 12:59 PM
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Sealing the bare wood is probably the minimum that needs to be done to the guitar - especially if it's a new one that you would like to keep around. No finish on that area is going to leave it more susceptible to the "elements" (humidity, finger oils, fingernails, picks, etc.) Without some finish, you will rapidly speed up the deterioration of that area. Obviously, matching the colors of the finish from Martin with whatever you try to put on it will be tough. I would rub some kind of padding finish "Qualasole" or shellac to seal that area.
If you were to add a pickguard and you were concerned about tone, I would go with thinner over thicker. LMI or Stew-Mac sell thin PG material in whatever color. I have limited experience with the tonal differences in Tortiss, but its thickness is what we concern me. Good luck.
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