Top Crack: Repairable?

Danley · #1 08-02-2015, 01:25 PM

It's a sold top guitar that was given to me. The flash bulb gives some idea of the "fold" of the crack horizontally; my dirty finger shows the extent of the vertical split.

Could a luthier fix this? If I were to make an attempt, would it be necessary to reinforce from the back with a flat piece of wood, or employ some other strategy?

HHP · #2 08-02-2015, 01:31 PM

Sure they could. Depending on how much you want to invest in the repair, it may not even be that visible when properly fixed.

Kitchen Guitars · #3 08-02-2015, 05:23 PM

What is the finish? Or brand of guitar? Some finishes repair better than others

fazool · #4 08-02-2015, 06:25 PM

notice how the crack crosses the grain lines ? Thats a clear finish crack only not through the wood at all.

Kitchen Guitars · #5 08-02-2015, 07:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fazool

notice how the crack crosses the grain lines ? Thats a clear finish crack only not through the wood at all.

I don't agree. That looks like a classic OOPS it slid in my hand and bounced off the floor. If you look at how the light hits you can see the hump from the top being pushed out.

Danley · #6 08-02-2015, 07:27 PM

Yep it's definitely an accordion style, 100% perp. to the grain crack, and if there's string pressure it threatens to blow the guitar apart.

It's got a few "pitchfork" lines, one on each side of a couple mm apart from the central long one I've demarked with my finger. These appear to be through the wood.

It's a Mitchell MD100S 12 string, so paying over $100 to fix it wouldn't make sense. But it's a nice, like new guitar otherwise, and was apparently purchased this way from GC by someone who didn't know better. Don't care about the finish being perfect, just stability and sound.

Any idea how much I should pay? More pics req.d?

mirwa · #7 08-02-2015, 10:16 PM

It would cost close to $100 to fix without doing any lacquer work

Steve

stuw · #8 08-03-2015, 07:59 AM

I'm guessing by the picture this is near the tail block?

I would be checking that also to make sure it's not loose....

YamaYairi · #9 08-03-2015, 08:21 AM

Is the top solid or laminate?

redir · #10 08-03-2015, 08:57 AM

I think the extension is as fazool stated just a finish crack but the damage near the binding could be a crack in the wood. That crack line is probably right along the stress riser created by the lining on the interior of the guitar ans the crack propagated right along the edge of the lining. The linings themselves could have become dislodged as well. The difficulty there is reaching that far back into the guitar. I would probably inject some CA in there and clamp it then if you wanted to pay for it do the finishing work.

It's always hard to tell with just a pic though but I bet if you press on the top to either side of that crack extension under good light you will not see movement in the top wood that is indicative of a crack. IT looks like a finish crack to me.

Danley · #11 08-03-2015, 09:52 AM

Top is solid. Thanks everyone for the good info.

I need to take some better pics; the horizontal crack is definitely not a finish crack. It's buckled and sticks out. There's movement.

YamaYairi · #12 08-03-2015, 11:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Danley

Top is solid. Thanks everyone for the good info.

I need to take some better pics; the horizontal crack is definitely not a finish crack. It's buckled and sticks out. There's movement.

Somebody needs to have a look inside the guitar with a mirror and light. I would remove the strings immediately. I think that the narrow portion of broken wood is going to be supported by the kerfing when it is re-glued, but the other part needs to be supported by something and that may be problematic because the kerfing is in the way. It may be that some of the kerfing could be removed and replaced with larger kerfing to support both sides of the break.

ocmcook · #13 08-03-2015, 11:33 AM

perfect example of a do it yourself clamping with support wood and playing until it fails if it ever does.

YamaYairi · #14 08-03-2015, 01:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ocmcook

perfect example of a do it yourself clamping with support wood and playing until it fails if it ever does.

To me, the crack appears to be right at the edge of the kerf, so there is no place to glue support wood unless you replace the kerf.

Danley · #15 08-03-2015, 10:00 PM

So I've reached out to a few area luthiers and will probably drop this off at one or the other tomorrow. With luck someone can do Master Luthier Wayne F. Mitchell's creation justice

In the meantime, some pics; it does indeed seem to be split along the kerfing from what I can feel, but unable to verify with a visual.

Is that a loose brace?