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Old 02-28-2008, 04:22 PM
Chazmo Chazmo is offline
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Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: Central Massachusetts, USA
Posts: 2,770
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lilphitz,

I damaged two mahogany guitars by negligence here in the northeast. They dried out over a period of a couple of years. Major cracks.

I humidified both guitars, and my luthier cleated the cracks, as Tommy described. Humidifying the guitars all but closed the cracks on one of them, but the other was misshapen and remains permanently damaged although completely playable.

The answer to whether a cracked guitar is OK is twofold. First, can it be restored to playability -- a luthier can help you answer this. Second, assuming it can, can you live with the cosmetic effect of visible damage -- that of course depends on the extent and location of the damage.

I will say that you'll be amazed what humidifying a dried out guitar can do (take a look at the Taylor website for a couple of great videos on this subject). I would *not* use the method that Tommy described as the danger of getting the wood actually wet is too much. Just buy a few dampits and store them in the case. Or, get a room humidifier and leave it out.
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Guild: 2006 F-512 (Tacoma), 2007 GSR F-412 (Tacoma), 2010 F-212XL STD (New Hartford), 2013 Orpheum SHRW 12-string (New Hartford), 2013 GSR F-40
Taylor: 1984 655 (Lemon Grove)
Martin: 1970 D-12-20 (Nazareth)
Ibanez: 1980 AW-75 (Owari Asahi), 1982 M310 Maple series, 2012 AWS1000ECE Artwood Studio (MIC)
Favilla: ~1960 C-5 classical (NYC)
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