My Taylor has a crack. Now what?

[sloar]

I just noticed this crack today, I have now idea how it happened. I keep it in a hard case at work in my office. I also keep it hydrated at all times, I totally baby this thing. Now what’s my next step?

[fazool]

That's the most common place for a humidity (drybess) crack to occur. Fortunately it can be fixed without degrading the tone. but the UV cured polyester finish Taylor uses is not something most can fix cleanly. I suggest sending it to Taylor and paying for a repair.

[sloar]

I know it wont be pretty, and I'm fine with it. But can this just be filled in with glue so it doesn't get worse?

[DavidE]

Originally Posted by sloar

I just noticed this crack today, I have now idea how it happened. I keep it in a hard case at work in my office. I also keep it hydrated at all times, I totally baby this thing. Now what’s my next step?

Send it to Taylor for repair. Their rates are surprisingly reasonable and they do great work.

[mirwa]

The guitar needs to be stabilised first in a correct environment, not too wet not to dry at the right temp, after this a repair can be completed.

Even after repair a scar will exist, this is because the guitar is painted with UV paint, not many people carry the equipment to spray UV, most will simply do a super glue drip fill which is fine

Steve

[maxtheaxe]

Originally Posted by DavidE

Send it to Taylor for repair. Their rates are surprisingly reasonable and they do great work.

+1 on this. Great customer service, great work and they're pretty fast with turn-around...probably throw in a set-up while they're at it, too...they have for me in the past.

[ChrisN]

Originally Posted by maxtheaxe

+1 on this. Great customer service, great work and they're pretty fast with turn-around...probably throw in a set-up while they're at it, too...they have for me in the past.

Agreed, but fyi it's been a 2-month turnaround for me, at least it was a year or so ago. And mine was a warranty repair (they do not get moved in front of non-warranty maintenance/repair).

[DavidE]

Originally Posted by ChrisN

Agreed, but fyi it's been a 2-month turnaround for me, at least it was a year or so ago. And mine was a warranty repair (they do not get moved in front of non-warranty maintenance/repair).

That’s still pretty good.

[rmp]

I've used Taylor repair too, absolutely outstanding results!

UPS shipping TO Cali was brutal though, (+$120 to get it there, about $45 to get it shipped back)

that's not on them though.. that's the shipper..

I wouldn't hesitate to use them again.

[redir]

That's not a difficult repair for any competent repair tech and unless you live in the boonies there is probably someone near you that can do it without the wait and shipping costs of sending it back to Taylor. What ever you do don't just inject it with glue or else you will make the real repair cost 5 times as much.

[fazool]

Originally Posted by sloar

I know it wont be pretty, and I'm fine with it. But can this just be filled in with glue so it doesn't get worse?

do not do that. Not only will that look terrible and degrade the value considerably, it will actually harm the tone.

You see the would is under stress and if you leave it artificially like this it will be different. And it will move around when conditions change the other way. This is part of what Steve (Mirwa) said is "stabilizing" the wood.

The perfect repair would be to rehumidify everything, glue the crack, clamp it shut while the glue sets, cleating it underneath for strength, and then (the most expensive part) perfecting the finish top coat.

If you do all that professionally, you will barely (if at all) be able to tell and the tone will be essentially back to perfect. Once you mess with the joint it's over and will never be perfectly fixable.

[charles Tauber]

Originally Posted by fazool

The perfect repair would be to rehumidify everything, glue the crack, clamp it shut while the glue sets, cleating it underneath for strength, and then (the most expensive part) perfecting the finish top coat.

The less-than-perfect repair is to do all of that but for the expensive part, the finish work. Having that done professionally, without the finish work, is not expensive, less than the cost of one-way shipping to Taylor.

Once you mess with the joint it's over and will never be perfectly fixable.

It certainly becomes more difficult.

Don't just squeeze glue in the crack unless you don't mind devaluing the instrument.

[redir]

I find Glu-Boost finishing CA stuff to work exceptionally well on the UV finishes fwiw. That crack will probably come together needing minimal finishing touchups.

[fazool]

Originally Posted by redir

I find Glu-Boost finishing CA stuff to work exceptionally well on the UV finishes fwiw. That crack will probably come together needing minimal finishing touchups.

+1 for Glu Boost. CA will finish nicely. There will be a refraction at the interface so you will see it at certain angles but it will be minimal.

[Tracerbullet]

As a newbie I am more concerned and curious how this happens with a guitar that is always hydrated. Especially since I just bought a Taylor