[NeptuneBlue]

Sorry for abandoning the thread, I've had a busier couple days than expected.

Originally Posted by phavriluk

Well, some framing carpenter (re)installed that bridge...

If this was mine. I'd locate the bridge, remove it and clean up the bridge and the soundboard, and reattach the bridge after local finish repairs. I've done it and it's easy enough to do being careful (I needed to replace a pinless bridge that departed the scene) and the belly bridge I replaced it with was smaller; I found it was no big hassle to mask off around the bridge footprint and scrape/shellac/lacquer the bare spots and rub out the area, Can't tell where I refinished it. And I'm nobody's idea of a finish expert.

Enjoy the guitar!

Thanks for the tip! I definitely don't mind most of it, but it's good to hear that the process is relatively straightforward. I don't mind the checking or scratches and scrapes, but do admit to being bothered by the sloppy glue job.

Originally Posted by TheGITM

If you would want to fix it up, my only concern would be not knowing what kind of adhesive was used to glue the bridge. As long as you can heat it for removal, it would be a fairly easy fix to remove, touch up the finish, and reattach, as was already suggested.

But again, if you like it as-is and you're getting a great deal then do it.

That's the part I'm most worried about. I know it's not a normal practice to remove the bridge unless it's absolutely needed, but I have zero idea of what was actually used. I do love the tone - it has that lovely thing going on where it has the warmth and clarity of a D-18 but with pretty rosewood overtones, kind of like a D-18 and a D-28 had a kid. Or like there's less of a scoop than normal in the EQ, for a 28 anyway. IDK if I can talk about actual dollars so for now I'll just say the price is good for what it is, a few hundred below what one in good condition might be. But whatever is going on with the bridge does have me worried for longevity.

Originally Posted by TheGITM

An additional thought or two... if possible, I'd want to see the bridge plate and braces to see if there are any big issues hiding on the inside. And then I wonder if the reason for the over-glue on the bridge is because the previous bridge removal was done poorly and ripped out a good amount of the top wood. In other words, if you remove the bridge will you find that there is little top wood left to bind to?

And then why so much finish crazing around the bridge? It makes me wonder if there was some kind of impact trauma, or if the guitar had previously bellied up really bad?

Lots of questions that can't be answered unless the guitar is in your hands...

Those are good points. I haven't been able to get back to it but next time I check it out I'll bring along a mirror and a ruler. There's not much to be done about checking for wood chunks missing under the bridge, but it would set my mind at ease a bit more to have more solid information about anything else going on inside the guitar.

Originally Posted by redir

It appears to me that what you are seeing is called cold creep along with a botched reglue. The guitar may have been over heated which softens up the glue holding the bridge down and due to string tension the bridge slides forward.

It's evident by what looks like the bridge being up against the pickguard and that trailing edge behind it.

The bridge needs to be removed and reglued.

On a side note this is why many luthiers still like to use HHG because it will not cold creep like that.

I was wondering about that. I couldn't tell if it was just some oversized non-original pickguard or if something else was going on. I can't figure out why that might be the case but the guitar still intonates, though.

In any case, thanks for the info!

Originally Posted by Bruce Sexauer

A D28 with a rosewood bridge? Is the PG tucked under the bridge somehow? And the finish checking is unusual. Looks off-brand, to me. Problem remains the same, of course.

Good eye on the bridge - that definitely looks more like rosewood than ebony. I wonder if it is even original... although a cursory look around the internet shows some other D-28s from that year having similar features.

This one in particular has a streaky looking bridge and a serial number less than 50 digits from the one I found: https://www.chicagomusicexchange.com...al-1998-936487

And Jake Wildwood had one at one point with a bridge that also has a rosewood look from the same year: https://jakewildwood.blogspot.com/20...ht-guitar.html

On the other hand, it could be a replacement bridge? I feel fairly confident about the guitar itself being a legit Martin because everything else looks right, and sounds right too - I played it against new Martins in the same room. Although perhaps I should be more wary of the Dunning-Kruger effect - after all, while the bridge repair set off alarm bells, the material it's made of did not until you pointed it out.

Maybe the weird finish checking could be a result of either the cold creep redir talked about? Or from a sloppy bridge removal, someone who didn't think to protect the rest of the guitar when they started to heat the bridge to loosen it to take it off?