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#1
05-17-2020, 01:30 PM
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Where to put cleats
Tried to get my badly cracked early 70’s Gibson J50 repaired by several local luthiers and only one responded saying that it wasn’t worth fixing. So after watching many YouTube videos I have taken it on. There were several cracks but only 4 that were separated enough that I could see the glue going in. I used Titebond glue and forced it in using the suction cup thing then clamped working one at a time. All were closed and are staying closed so far (fingers crossed). I have put some cleats on the major cracks that I could see inside but the minor cracks I can’t find or see. So do I estimate where the crack is and put a cleat or do I just rely on the bracing? This thing has a ton of bracing and most of the cracks crossed braces. Couldn’t see any separation where the cracks crossed the bracing on the inside.
Next I had to pull both the bridge and pickguard – cracks running under. Got the bridge back on but the original pickguard was glued to bare wood. Most info here and other internet say double sided tape for the pickguard and I am not sure it will work on bare wood. I was able to salvage the original pickguard so the question what glue to use? Since I am a rank armature I need lots of time to position this thing so I don’t want to use super glue. I have some Titebond Melamine glue that is intended to glue wood to plastic. Anybody have any opinions – think it could work? 
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#2
05-17-2020, 05:30 PM
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If you left the wood fibers on the back of the pickguard, you can glue it back with wood glue.
Using pressure sensitive adhesive (aka 'double sided tape') will only work under these conditions: 1) The guard is not curled (common on old celluloid), and 2) the bare wood is sealed. Some seal the bare wood with lacquer, but I prefer sealing wth Titebond or hot hide glue. A curled pickguard can be flattened between two pieces of glass in a 200 degree (maximum) oven. Celluloid will burn furiously if you get it too hot. A wealth of reliable repair information from Frank Ford: http://frets.com/FretsPages/pagelist.html#Luthier From that site, a treatise on regluing under finish pickguards: http://frets.com/FretsPages/Luthier/...glueguard.html
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#3
05-17-2020, 07:11 PM
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Quote:
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#4
05-18-2020, 08:07 AM
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Don't worry about the small cracks that you are having a hard time finding. The bigger cracks with lots of space between the braces should be cleated imho. Some don't even do that but I like the extra measure.
You can use shellac to finish the area of the pickguard foot print and then use the tape method for the pickguard. If wood fibers were torn up then fill with CA, level everything off. You can buy sheets of double stick tape, the 3M stuff is best, that fit the whole shape of the pickguard and have a backing that you can peal off. If you Google around you can find videos on mounting a pickguard. In fact I though John Arnold above had one? Basically you use masking tape to make a hinge so that when you peel off the tape backing on the pick guard you can just swing it shut like door and it will fall into place. This tape is STRONG stuff so once it hits it's pretty much stuck there.
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