Took my new addition to the shop today for some minor work. Looking around, I saw this terrifying sight [url
Very old Martin D18. I've never seen a guitar that had been worn so badly. Frets were mostly worn down to the fretboard. And this mess where a bridge used to be was nuts. I asked how this could happen and my luthier had no clue. We could see that the top grain on the top was very close together from the bridge out to the sides, but the top grain where the bridge was supposed to be attached was not nearly as close. He guessed that the wood at that point was much weaker and that gradually the bridge was ripped of the top. Crazy. Sorry for the bad cell pic.
Very old Martin D18. I've never seen a guitar that had been worn so badly. Frets were mostly worn down to the fretboard. And this mess where a bridge used to be was nuts. I asked how this could happen and my luthier had no clue. We could see that the top grain on the top was very close together from the bridge out to the sides, but the top grain where the bridge was supposed to be attached was not nearly as close. He guessed that the wood at that point was much weaker and that gradually the bridge was ripped of the top. Crazy. Sorry for the bad cell pic.
) I thought maybe something had hit the house. I looked out the front door, looked in the backyard. Nothing. The next morning, hanging on the wall was the Harmony with the bridge pulled cleanly off.