WL14 belly bulge

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Carlos
Posts: 1
Joined: Wed Jan 26, 2022 11:15 pm
Real Name: Carlos Alden

WL14 belly bulge

Post: # 5224Post Carlos
Fri Jan 28, 2022 6:19 pm

Greetings Waterlooians:

I bought a Waterloo WL14 about 6 years ago and have taken moderately good care of it, hydrated in case when the weather was getting dry (hot or cold.) Great guitar, great sound, wonderful touch. A few years ago I moved to a more consistently humid and not-as-cold climate and more or less stopped worrying about humdification (but still did sometimes.) I don't live in a place with extreme ranges of temps, humidity, and that is pretty consistent.

Recently I have noticed that the belly is slightly bulging behind the bridge raising it up about 1/8". Still plays fine for me (not doing a lot up past the 8th fret or so) and sounds great as always, but I'm worried about it getting worse. I have read that this is at least in part due to the ladder bracing instead of X bracing.

1. What's the fix for this?
2. Does it, will it, stabilize and stay where it is or continue?

Thanks much in advance,
Carlos

Greg Y
Posts: 208
Joined: Mon Oct 15, 2018 7:35 pm

Re: WL14 belly bulge

Post: # 5225Post Greg Y
Fri Jan 28, 2022 8:58 pm

Carlos, in reality most guitars develop a bit of a belly. They're only called "flat tops." It happens whether they're ladder or x-braced. It's hard to tell if & how much it will continue to change. Like the guitars they're modelled after, Waterloos are lightly built and that's why they sound so good. Just keep an eye on it.

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