Cracked my archtop
 

I was moving my archtop when I inadvertently swung it against the arm of a sofa. The was a disconcerting crack and I now have a split on the side of the lower bout - the split goes all the way through (I think) but there is no hole as such. I'm not so much concerned about the cosmetic side (although of course I'd rather it didn't have it) as I'm not looking to resell and it hasn't affected the tone. I was wondering more about the long term risks - what would be the best thing to do to ensure the structural integrity - short of an expensive trip to a luthier. Just put dab of wood glue in it? Leave it? I've put some masking tape over it in the mean time.
http://i.imgur.com/ybtVOZe.jpg

As long as you get some glue massaged fully into the crack you should be fine. Different pros espouse different types of glues, but many choices will work fine. My choice would likely be titebond, but I would want to see it directly before making an absolute determination. Main thing... don't panic. You're guitar should be fine!

You will need to make a tool so that you can push from the inside through the F-Hole. You want message the glue in there and then level the crack by pushing and pulling till it essentially snaps in place. Get in there with lights and a mirror to and be sure the crack goes all the way through. If it's a laminate side then you are even better off as far as preventing crack propagation.

Great thanks!

Based on that one photo, the crack looks level now.

The specs say the sides are solid.

Check frets.com for how to use a super glue and a pipette to fill and stabilize the crack. This is Frank Ford's site and he demonstrates how to make it look invisible.

Myself, I am not a fan of CA for crack repairs such as this, since the glue is brittle when cured. I know some people prefer it because it makes the finish repair more seamless as well, but if it doesn't hold, then no other glue will hold well on top of wood previously saturated with CA. That said, it is a "go to" glue for many venerable repairmen.

CA works well for certain things, but it is unforgiving. If I didn't want to have this professionally repaired, I'd use Titebond or HHG worked into the crack and wiped clean with a damp cloth.

The specs show this to be a lacquered guitar so touchup of the finish should be possible too. Finish repair, good finish repair, is not a simple thing. However, if you're handy and want to tackle this, I think you could make it look pretty good and protect the edges of the broken finish from further chipping. A home repair on the side finish will be much less noticeable than trying to fix something on the top.

I still think you will need to push from the inside. You really want to work the glue in there well. If the specs say it's lacquer then that's great because it's a lot easier to repair. Where are the specs on the guitar I must have missed that?

As for glue, I never recommend anyone without experience to use CA just because the F-up potential is so great. I would recommend Fish Glue or TB for such a crack because of it's open time and ease of clean up. CA is great though because once you set the crack and level it you just wick it in and you are done.

As Todd says, being on the sides like that it will be much less noticeable and easier to get to a good enough state.

Thanks all for the advice. As for specs, sorry it's a Loar lh-700, all solid, spruce top and maple back and sides.

I just looked at the guitar list in the OP signature and assumed it was the LH-700 listed there. Here's the manufacturer's site.

Another vote for Titebond. You can run a bead on top of the crack and work it in with your finger, and push on either side of the crack, gently, wiggling the wood up and down to help work the glue in. After the glue dries I would scrape it flush and then run a thin bead of Super Glue into the crack to fill it. Allow that to dry then scrape it flush. You can make a scraper by drawing a straight edge razor blade across the edge of a metal ruler with a clean hard edge. It sets up a little burr on one side of the razor. Then you put 2 pieces of tape on the blade, leaving the width of the crack un-taped. The tape protects the finish so you only work on the raised portion over the crack. After you scrape it until nothing comes off, the raised portion will be the thickness of the tape. Then you polish it with rubbing compound.