Repair advice - Alvarez Yairi DY38

[Greg Rappleye]

Yes. I am sure you are right.



Greg Rappleye

[skido13]

That guitar is worth repairing but not spending a lot of money to do it. And you don't have to. And you can do it yourself. If it gets messed up, what do you lose? If it succeeds you can be prouder than a hen at hatch time!
First you have to make sure the bracing and bridge is 100% or it's all for nothing. Try to get straight lines at the edges of the breakage and fit a replacement. It's not going to be perfect, don't worry about it, you can always fill any gaps with filler.
Glue wood strips (grain running lengthwise) on the underside edges of the hole about 1" wide and maybe 1/8" hard or 3/16 not so hard wood so that 1/2" width is visible for the replacement piece to rest on and be glued to. These will be cut in pieces because of the braces, they don't have fit precisely by any means, there can be gaps, no problem. Let that cure well. Then apply glue to the 1/2" exposed part of the support strips, exposed tops of the braces and edges of the patch piece. Put the patch in and wipe excess glue. Don't press down on the patch or the support strips might get loose. Let cure. Fill any gaps. Cleanup. Done.
You would have to get a piece of matching binding to fill in the missing segment.
This is not for aesthetic purposes, only to get the guitar repaired and playable.
I wouldn't even worry about trying to match the patch appearance or wood type to the original top wood, if you can, so much the better. A guitar with a story and a unique character. If it really bugs you you can sand it all out level and paint the top a solid color but I wouldn't recommend it, finishes affect the sound significantly. Bridge and pickguard complications. A sunburst might be ideal for what you have, the outer repaired section might be completely covered leaving natural toward the center but that's a developed skill.

[PlottHound]

Thanks for the tips with this skido- you're absolutely right about nothing to lose if I wind up messing it up, but a lot of pride to gain if I succeed. Might give it a try when I head home for the holidays and can access my dad's tools and spare wood supply.