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  #1  
Old 11-24-2014, 08:31 PM
murrayatuptown murrayatuptown is offline
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Default DIY crack repair on 'worthless' guitar.

Need to figure out pic-posting options again.


Meanwhile..

I have an Old German (classical?) guitar, estimated age between WW I and WW II (German vintage dealer guesswork), looks like spruce top, mahogany sides/back, probably a student grade, no label or ID inside, plastic tuner buttons, aluminum open geared tuners. 'Stauffer/Hauser-style' tapered fingerboard end (similarity ends there).

Previous owner put steel strings on it which may have been major factor in neck loosening and top/back splitting.

Got three opinions that it's a project guitar...not worth cost of anyone's labor to repair...except maybe mine...what else do you do in a case like this? I don't need or want to buy something to replace it - it was given to me as a project, and it looks like a worthwhile cause, to me, and my time...

As a first DIY repair project, can such cracks be fixed without removal/disassembly of the top/back?

OK, I figured out the Image Gallery is 'outside' the forum login, and uploaded some photos to the Vintage Acoustic area. Maybe it should have been Classical. No idea how I 'group them' so I can post a link here.

Meanwhile, they are pending approval...don't know how long that takes. I assume I need to tell viewers where they are with a link instead of 'go look in the Vintage Acoustic area'. I'll improve my reference as soon as I fogure out how.

Thanks

Last edited by murrayatuptown; 11-24-2014 at 08:58 PM.
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  #2  
Old 11-24-2014, 09:47 PM
printer2 printer2 is offline
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If you post the pictures on someplace like Photobucket you copy the direct ink to the photo, such as

and when you click post reply here, you select the sixth icon from the right on the bottom row (beside the text box) and you post the link to the picture in it.
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  #3  
Old 11-25-2014, 04:55 AM
murrayatuptown murrayatuptown is offline
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Thank you. I was only partially clueless. I put them in the AGF Image Gallery, but aside from them pending approval (which is fine, not complaining), linking to just the recently uploaded and not everything I previously uploaded is the part I have to figure out.

If I can remember my Flickr password I could do that too, but having started down the first path, I'll see how it works out.

Thank you.

Murray
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Old 11-25-2014, 05:13 AM
murrayatuptown murrayatuptown is offline
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Default pics

This was easier - I should have gone this route first.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/murray...57647136318793
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  #5  
Old 11-25-2014, 07:25 AM
YamaYairi YamaYairi is offline
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I see the cracks in the top in the inside view but not on the outside. Do they go through?
Have a look at the neck angle before you do anything else. If the neck needs to be reset from having steel strings on it, the guitar is beyond repair. From what I have read, classical guitar construction does not allow for the neck to be reset.
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Old 11-25-2014, 08:25 AM
LouieAtienza LouieAtienza is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by YamaYairi View Post
I see the cracks in the top in the inside view but not on the outside. Do they go through?
Have a look at the neck angle before you do anything else. If the neck needs to be reset from having steel strings on it, the guitar is beyond repair. From what I have read, classical guitar construction does not allow for the neck to be reset.
Classical guitars can have the neck reset though it's a bit of work. Basically you loosen the back and binding from the waist to the upper bout loosening the back from the neck block heel, which allows the whole neck to "hinge" so to speak. The neck block and back are then reglued at a more favorable neck angle, and the bindings replaced. Some back trimming may be necessary.
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Old 11-25-2014, 09:55 AM
arie arie is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by LouieAtienza View Post
Classical guitars can have the neck reset though it's a bit of work. Basically you loosen the back and binding from the waist to the upper bout loosening the back from the neck block heel, which allows the whole neck to "hinge" so to speak. The neck block and back are then reglued at a more favorable neck angle, and the bindings replaced. Some back trimming may be necessary.
fortunately the op's guitar doesn't have traditional spanish construction. were it to have it though, slipping the neck block would be much harder because of the foot.

it's probable that the cracks can be cleated.
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  #8  
Old 11-28-2014, 04:32 PM
punkybub punkybub is offline
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Even without a label, the top purfling and rosette to me look like not necessarily a student-grade instrument. Interesting fingerboard extension too - seems WWI-ish or maybe earlier, like a Stauffer Martin or something.

First thing - get those steel strings off there. As others have pointed out, cracks can be cleated to stabilize them pretty effectively. The neck angle is another thing - if it's bad a reset would fix it, but there's another technique used sometimes in classical repair.

Instead of a reset, I've read of some luthiers removing the fingerboard and shimming it with a wedge-shape piece of wood to raise the fingerboard nearer the sound hole but not much or at all near the nut - this effectively raises the angle enough to make it playable, and using the same wood as the fingerboard would make the repair less noticeable. Cutting the shim to the exact dimensions would be something better done by a luthier I'd think, after having them determine the size needed to make the angles work.

You might want to pick up some other free beater to practice on first - this one might end up being a very nice sounding instrument if repairs go well, so maybe let a practice guitar absorb the inevitable mistakes that could come from major surgery like this.

I love acoustic guitars !
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