Wild Violet
Artist / Performer
Posts: 3,642 
My main instrument is: Symonds OM-14
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Post by Wild Violet on Sept 2, 2023 17:25:02 GMT
I suppose this is a question for the luthiers!
I have a guitar that has a crack on the back (you can barely see it, it's running along the grain of a solid back) and lots of cracks in the wooden binding. As the guitar isn't worth much (but I do like it a lot) and I don't have a lot of spare cash, I wondered if there was something I could do myself to stop the cracks from getting worse. I will have it fixed properly at some point in the future so don't want to do anything that will make the guitar harder to repair.
Do you all have any advice or should I just leave well enough alone until I can have it fixed properly?
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colins
Luthier / Guitar Maker
Posts: 2,396 
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Post by colins on Sept 2, 2023 19:45:42 GMT
Lynn if you could post some photos of the damage I'm sure that we can come up with a plan of attack.
Colin
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Wild Violet
Artist / Performer
Posts: 3,642
My main instrument is: Symonds OM-14
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Post by Wild Violet on Sept 2, 2023 19:51:55 GMT
Thanks Colin, I'll try to do that tomorrow!
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ocarolan
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Post by ocarolan on Sept 2, 2023 22:07:57 GMT
... you haven't been playing guitar conkers again have you Lynn?  Keith |
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Wild Violet
Artist / Performer
Posts: 3,642
My main instrument is: Symonds OM-14
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Post by Wild Violet on Sept 3, 2023 8:27:40 GMT
... you haven't been playing guitar conkers again have you Lynn? Keith I can neither confirm nor deny that statement...  I'll try to post photos this afternoon! |
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Wild Violet
Artist / Performer
Posts: 3,642
My main instrument is: Symonds OM-14
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Post by Wild Violet on Sept 3, 2023 13:37:35 GMT
Here is the crack on the back:  and here is the binding:  |
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colins
Luthier / Guitar Maker
Posts: 2,396
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Post by colins on Sept 4, 2023 9:58:37 GMT
Hi Lynn, the cracks on the back look like fairly common rosewood cracks caused by the wood drying out over time, you see this mostly in guitars stored out of their cases.
A bit of rehydration first then ideally a couple of small cross grain cleats would be glued inside over the crack, I used clamps made from rare earth magnets glued to pieces of wood both inside and out to hold the cleats. This, however does not look too serious and would probably become quite stable by wicking in some wood glue (HHG or fish ideally as they contract on drying, but Titebond/Gorilla wood glue would do) and the application of some masking tape pulled tight across the join until dry. it is often helpful to run some tape down both sides of the crack before applying the glue just to keep everything protected. If I was doing the repair I would drill a very tiny hole at the end of the cracks to stop them spreading further, but that may be a step too far for a DIY repair. I probably have a bottle of ready mixed HHG I can send you if you want.
For the binding gaps, again just common drying out. If not separating from the rest of the instrument, then a little colour matched fine sawdust mixed with HHG or wood glue put in to fill the gaps would work. If separating from the rest of the guitar then wick some superglue in and tape tight until set before doing the fill.
Hope this helps.
Colin
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Wild Violet
Artist / Performer
Posts: 3,642
My main instrument is: Symonds OM-14
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Post by Wild Violet on Sept 4, 2023 10:24:23 GMT
Thank you so much Colin for the advice and kind offer! I'll send you a message  |
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Jo whoever he is.
