Acoustic Guitar Construction

Hi guys,

Call me crazy but a bought a Martin X Series 12 string that the top had pulled completely off from the back from setting in a hot car for 75.00.

I got the neck off. The top was toast. So I am thinking of using only the sides, and replacing the back and top with Mahogany. 12 strings are normally so "chimey."

So for a little of nothing and another project, I can have a nice 12 string for cheap..... I thought the neck an fingerboard alone was worth 75.00. But I got the bridge, electronics and all of it.

What do you guys think?


Thanks,

Maybe OP drops a dime on Martin and sees if there's a usable orphaned body available in the surplus shop (Guitarmaker's Connection). Sure would save a lot of work and he could even leave the decal on the headstock, with explanation.

Enjoy

The simplest approach would be to ladder brace it, in the manner of the Oscar Schmidt Stellas. According to Neil Harpe, 12-strings were braced the same as 6-strings. You can see a Stella ladder braced top here:

http://www.stellaguitars.com/about/snap ... n-process/

Neil's comments about ladder bracing in general can be found here (#5):

http://www.stellaguitars.com/about/stel ... -factoids/

I also left a long response in Dave Bagwill's discussion about building a 12-string: viewtopic.php?f=32&t=2417

Hope you find something helpful for your project, which sounds interesting.