curiosity question - - - major rework?

[peter havriluk]

Folks,

There's been some discussion lately about Alaskan yellow cedar being used for soundboards, in some detail. Idea for my question being that if someone's building experiment using yellow cedar turned up more experience than satisfaction, and our builder decided to remove that yellow cedar soundboard and replace it with, for example, Sitka spruce. Do folks do this, swap soundboards, if the original one seems to be the reason the guitar does not offer an enjoyable voice? I've seen mention of doing a soundboard swap as a repair technique on higher-end instruments, but I don't recall seeing a discussion of doing that on a home luthier's project gone awry. Just wondering about that sort of major remedy, or is the remedy usually to hang up the guitar as a wall sculpture and go build another one? Is there a threshold which, once passed, the guitar becomes a sculpture?

Thanks for thoughts and comments.

[ken cierp]

I'd say if the sound quality did not meet my current expectations there is no limit as to what I'd do to correct the problem -- These are musical instruments to be played and heard.

[Kyle Barbour]

I know of one builder that likes to punch ukuleles in the face (his words) before replacing with a new top. His name escapes me at the moment, but I believe he is from NYC. Haha.

[Tim Benware]

Depending on what stage the guitar is in will dictate how much work it will be, if you're not trying to save the top it could be carefully routed off but I think it still would be best to release the glue joint over the blocks with heat and a palette knife.