In all my years into guitar repair, I finally met the guitar that refused to be treated and was as obstinate as only it could be.
You will recall that I had put this F310 into three types of vices and for 14 days.
But, I am sorry to report that it spurned all my advances and its belly sprang back to where it was, as soon as I put on a single string.
You will also recall that I had decided to put on .010″ – .046″ (ultra light) strings but still…
Sadly, it left me with that awful belly that leaves the action a mile high. I didn’t even bother to measure it. You can see that in the photographs.
However, there is still one treatment that can be given, which will be like a permanent fix and one which can be adjusted too, should the belly start sprouting after a few years. It’s called the JLD Bridge Doctor.
It is a little wood contraption that screws on to the underside of the top through the bridge and the bridgeplate. It has a wooden dowel that extends through this device and rests against the end block of the guitar.
A hex screw in the unit allows you to dial in the amount of tension required (working through the soundhole) in the dowel which pushes against the end block, pulling the top down flat.
BUT…I wouldn’t have recommended it on THIS guitar, or any guitar below 25-30K – or – if you are not totally, completely, sentimentally attached to your instrument. On Amazon, the contraption retails for around Rs 8K!!!! And then, there is the cost of having it installed.
For those of you who would like to understand how this functions, here is a good link:
Complicated process sir.
That’s where I come in.
The idea was to familiarise people with the concept, not ask them to do it themselves.