D50 Bridge Separation

[MrSteveOB]

I got my Larrivee D50 in 1995 and was a joy to play and hear every time I picked it up.  It was loud and sounded great. The bridge has separated from the top 3 times however, most recently in 2015...when both the bridge and the top cracked. Washington Music Center's Drew (the late, senior Drew) said the top was too thin and that a 4th repair would be temporary, i.e. it would happen again.  The top which made it loud was/is, sadly, a fatal flaw.

I'm not seeking repair advice. I'm interested in any "recall" that might have been issued or any accommodation that might be available.  The serial number is 15369.  In lieu of that, I'd appreciate any advice about how to dispose of it.

Thanks in advance.  Steve

[mike in lytle]

If you are the original owner, contact Larrivee at service@larrivee.com, or call 805-612-0326.
Only Larrivee can inform you of any accomodation.
Mike

[MrSteveOB]

Will do. Thanks Mike.

[mike in lytle]

Will do. Thanks Mike.

Great. It should take you no more than a day or two to get back with us with the result of your contact with Larrivee. And we do expect a report. Thank you in advance.
And since we do not know anything about you, but only your 28 year old guitar, some of us may be intrigued by a 4 time failure of the bridge. I do not think we have ever heard of such multiple failures in the past, and I would not want to pursue such general issues as humidity, temperature control, etc, at this time.
But the bridge area is a well built-up area, what with the bracing immediately adjacent, and a fairly durable bridge plate under the bridge and it "may" be possible that the string ball end have worn through the bridge plate to expose the bridge itself to stress not normally encountered. If the bridge plate has been chewed through, the bridge itself would be exposed to stress it was not designed for. Repetitive gluing will not solve the problem.
We don't know anything about the crack. You need 10 posts to PM or post photos, so maybe you could just hurry up and waste 8 more posts on something general and we can get to it.
Mike

[Rockysdad]

Wowser, I've not heard of bridge coming off that many times unless the area wasn't properly prepped, ie: old glue not being totally removed before regluing.
Something is horribly wrong here, hope it gets resolved.

[B0WIE]

Since this is a topic on a public forum, I'll add some thoughts.
First, I think the advice about the top being too thin was likely incorrect. Larrivee are remarkably consistent about such things and I've never once heard of this issue in their instruments or this model. Larrivee tops are thin enough that they require proper humidity, but not so thin as to be problematic.

The bridge and top both cracking is typically a symptom of another issue. I've seen that in cases of RH issues and also aggressive gluing where the bridge wasn't allowed to lift (lifting is sort of a safety mechanism that protects the top when pressure is excessive).

Without seeing see I won't speculate as to what actually happened but I hope it all gets resolved for you.

[Silence Dogood]

Count me in as someone who wants to see how this plays out.  I've never heard of this issue with a Larrivee.  If the top was indeed made too thin, and you really loved the guitar and your history with it, isn't it possible to get the top replaced?  Big job for sure but it's amazing what some luthiers/repairmen can do.