Totally agree with Mike, your tree owner clearly cares a lot about this tree, I'd combine both the static cable system above the DIY set up with a dynamic system higher in the canopy, hard to tell from your pics but looks like the branch structure of the upper canopy is a little elongated?
Weight reduction on the seperating limbs is probably desirable from the point of view of reducing the loading on that weakened union....however removal of any live canopy is not going to help tree health and vigour too much....less is definately more with trees in this condition; prune very lightly don't take off any more than 5-10% of live canopy, ensure that you treat each limb as an autonomous unit.
I would also be looking to treat the soil, boost the microfauna and the soil environment for them decompaction (if needed) increase the mulched area of the root plate out as far as possible, soil drench with antogonistic fungi and diluted compost tea, sugar water and seaweed extract, I'd also be thinking along the lines of organic silica (all of the previous after a soil test to establish what the soil food web is around the root system of course!)
Its definately a specimen worth devoting much time and energy too.
__________________ Sean  Trees are poems that earth writes upon the sky,
We fell them down and turn them into paper,
That we may record our emptiness.
- Kahlil Gibran
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