Martin d 45

Martin D 45
Question About A D-45 Martin..?

My dad left me his. There is a crack in the bridge. I’m having a hard time trying to find someone to fix it. Until I do should I loosen the strings? Or remove them all together? And does anyone know how a bridge cracks? This guitar was daddy’s most prized possession, he was always so careful with it. Is it just drying up from lack of use?(It hasn’t been played in about 10 years)
Sorry, I menat a D-35. A 45 was daddy’s dream but unfortunately it never came true.

You should probably loosen the strings. A bridge can crack in a variety of ways; lack of adequate humidity, a fault in the wood, abuse, and so on.

You have several options. One is to take the guitar back to the Martin factory (Nazareth, PA) for repair or ship it there. Expect to pay hundreds of dollars for the repair, especially if it also needs a neck reset, which on Martins is a very strong possibility. Last time I checked there was a nine month wait for repairs so I hope you’re not in a hurry.

Another possibility is to take the guitar to a master luthier or to a high end store like Mandolin Brothers, Elderly Instruments, Buffalo Brothers, or McCabe’s. These stores either have a luthier on staff or can direct you to one. Martin has a dealer locator on their web site (see link) but not all dealers have luthiers qualified for a job like this.

A used D-45 depending on condition and year of manufacture can be worth a great deal. If it’s one of the 91 that were made before World War II then it’s worth well over $100,000. You can date your guitar by finding the serial number on the neck block and then using the handy chart at the Martin web site (see 2nd link). Good luck.

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