MIMF

It looks like a compression fracture, and probably happened in the tree. Had it been caused by bending technique, the surface we see, being in tension, would show long splinters at the break instead of the squiggly little line of a hairline fracture.

Tulip poplar appears to have been the wood of choice for low-end archtops in the first half of the last century. The plates were formed in a mold with some combination of heat and moisture, rather than being carved, and the wood evidently responded well to this treatment. Since these intruments were...

Why would a pin bridge peel off the top from the back? Mark, we have discussed this in great detail above. I think if you go back though this thread, looking carefully at the diagrams and pictures you can see the answer to your question. Bottom line, since the strings are pulling on a lever (the sa...

Why would a pin bridge peel off the top from the back? On several examples brought to me for repair the ball ends had chewed through the (usually soft or thin, or both) bridgeplate, then through the soft topwood, and were bearing directly on the bottom of the bridge itself.

Mark

Because glued cloth seems to me fairly insubstantial for a brace--more like wishful thinking, maybe?--I always use wood. I tuck the ends of these braces, which come to a broad point, into triangular pockets in the linings: easier to cut and fit than rectangular mortises, yet prevent stress concentra...