Rebuilding a crushed Martin Backpacker guitar

I bought a broken Martin Backpacker guitar off craigslist for $40 that had been crushed in checked baggage on an airline. People say these guitars sound terrible to begin with so I thought what better opportunity to try doing a major repair/rebuild? Even with the repair I think the guitar sounds just fine for what it is and I had a great time tearing it apart and putting it back together.
At first I considered repairing the spruce top, or replacing it altogether. It seemed to make the most sense until I considered all the different processes involved. Then I looked to the Mahogany back that had a permanent concave shape and could use a complete replacement. The back was unobstructed by bridges or fingerboards and could be quickly removed. Replacing it wouldn't require precise repositioning of all those components as well.
I'm not a trained or practiced guitar builder, or luthier, but I am a woodworker who believes in fixing and improving before replacing the things I use everyday. Nearly everything I buy is used and in need of refurbishment, and from working on these objects I learn more about them than I could by only using them.

[@badtimmee]

I did a similar repair a year or so ago for a missionary who had been working in South America. The humidity had compromised all the glue joints and the top and bridge had lifted. I performed a complete structural re-glue and a installed a new bridge and bridge plate (one I believed of better design than the original Martin.) The preacher then traveled to a new mission in Ecuador. He was such an amazing player. I charged him nothing.

[@timadams9119]

...Martin should hire this young man.

[@kenbullard2120]

It's good to see a person work with their hands. You did a great job and show a calmness /confidence about yourself. I have a backpacker sitting beside me now that has been set on. Somehow it still stays in tune. Maybe I'll get up the courage to fix it. I couldnt hurt it any more than it is. Nice work young man. Stay with it.

[@dave_makes_magport]

Ken, you're very kind. Thank you!

[@LouSpowell]

Shop-envy. Nice work!

[@Hetismijmike]

Great work on the guitar. Mighty shop you have.

[@RockStarOscarStern634]

Dave Moore Replacing the back on these Guitars is actually easier than you may think because all you had to do was to trace the shape of the Body on a new piece of Wood.

[@melodiousnotes9096]

Good work

[@JoeCubicle]

Brava! Nice work.

[@dave_makes_magport]

Thank you!

[@ZiddersRooFurry]

I have one of these and this both made me happy to see one repaired but sad as mine is broken the same way and I could never afford to get it fixed. I bought it in 2001 the week I moved to Cali to be with my fiancee after we'd been together long distance for six months. I have a lot of happy memories associated with it but I sat on it by accident when we moved to Texas in 2011 and it's got a big crack in it. Thanks for sharing the vid tho as others have pointed out you really ought to wear eye protection. Btw I liked to think of mine as being like the sort of thing a bard would carry on their journeys.

[@Flapjackbatter]

It worked. Congratubrilliance.

[@Kevtron9000]

bad ass !!!

[@thecatladytm7172]

Got a backpacker in with a crack below the bridge and a concave area under the soundhole that Im looking to repair and I think the best course of action would be pulling it together with tape and gluing it up with titebond, then patching a seam strip or cleats over it. I was thinking about trying to reinforce the area under the soundhole, maybe with just a perpendicular brace or cutting an x brace sort of thing? I think replacing that weird block with that might help it out. Would that restrict too much sound on an already small instrument? It looked like you just clamped the area under the soundhole back, did you wet it down or steam it first? And why did you replace the back? I couldnt see any damage, or I just missed it. Thank you for the video!

[@melodiousnotes9096]

Which glue u r using for wood joint.?

[@DrJGang]

Hey, that was nice to watch. Sound may not have been your main concern but I have the feeling that thinner, smaller patches could have been better to avoid dampening resonance. Was the back piece you made the same thickness as the original ? Couldn't the patch be smaller ?

[@dave_makes_magport]

Hey Gang, yes, the back was thicker than the original. I wanted to be able to shave it down afterwards if I thought the tone was too dead, and strike the balance between strength and sound. As far as the patch, there were many smaller cracks associated with the broken area and so I did only one patch instead of three small ones. My overall goal was to beef up the guitar so I could worry less about it when packing it places. I probably should have made a mahogany ply backing as humidity is not friendly to this little thing.

[@calligan777]

What is the tool called that you used to remove the back face?

[@dave_makes_magport]

Hello, it's a marking gauge fitted with an exacto-knife blade. google "marking gauge". Thanks!

[@Purple_911]

Crushed mine too

[@TheRealWolfmaniac]

I think making a new top would have been more wise.

[@dave_makes_magport]

I don't know about you but I don't have that kind of time.