Repairing a Crack

[Alexrkstr]

So, my Larrivee's crack got a little bit bigger and I wanted to see how to prevent it from spreading further along the back. So, two main questions:
1) How do I stop the crack? (currently, I am re-humidifying the guitar with 2 dampits i the sound hole)
2) The frets are a little sharp on the bottom - what type of file do I need to fix that?

Thanks guys

[Corky Long]

Is the crack in the wood itself, or in a seam?

Your two comments together make me think you've got a humidity issue. When my house gets very dry, I find that my fretboards seem to literally shrink as they dry out - and the frets feel sharp.

Since you're rehumidifying the guitar, I'm not sure I'd do anything until it's humidified. If the frets are still sharp when it stabilizes (hypothesis might be that as the fretboard takes on some humidity, the sharp ends may "back into" the fretboard again. If not, I'd get a fretfile and carefully round the sharp edges. I'd take a look at frets.com - Frank Ford's got some great step by steps on doing a neck reset - with a good section on dressing frets.

[Alexrkstr]

Originally Posted by Corky Long

Is the crack in the wood itself, or in a seam?

Your two comments together make me think you've got a humidity issue. When my house gets very dry, I find that my fretboards seem to literally shrink as they dry out - and the frets feel sharp.

Since you're rehumidifying the guitar, I'm not sure I'd do anything until it's humidified. If the frets are still sharp when it stabilizes (hypothesis might be that as the fretboard takes on some humidity, the sharp ends may "back into" the fretboard again. If not, I'd get a fretfile and carefully round the sharp edges. I'd take a look at frets.com - Frank Ford's got some great step by steps on doing a neck reset - with a good section on dressing frets.

Hey Corky Long, thanks for the reply. The crack is in the direct middle of the guitar's back, so I am guessing it's on the seam.

Should I stop re-humidifying the guitar and let it dry, then apply glue and then re-humidify it?

I'll take a look at the files at frets.com

[Corky Long]

Originally Posted by Alexrkstr

Hey Corky Long, thanks for the reply. The crack is in the direct middle of the guitar's back, so I am guessing it's on the seam.

Should I stop re-humidifying the guitar and let it dry, then apply glue and then re-humidify it?

I'll take a look at the files at frets.com

no, I wouldnt do that - for a couple of reasons. You want to keep your guitar at 40% plus relative humidity. Letting it get lower than that was the cause of the issue. Also, the glue would dry far faster than the top would rehumidify.

I'd keep it humidified, get it back to equilibrium, then work a little titebond into the seam where it's separated. Wipe the surface clean with a damp cloth. You dont want the titebond to dry on the suface of the back. Make sure you take a reference of where the seam is,though. (removable blue tape alongside the crack?) Once it's humidifed, you may not even be able to see where the separation is.

Frankly, I've got the same crack in my taylor and I haven't bothere to glue it - I dont think it's getting any worse, either.