How not to repair

[mirwa]

First lets link Franks site on how to repair.

http://frets.com/FretsPages/pagelist.html

If you are unsure on how to do a repair, research / read ask questions.

I have tutorials on my website as well, but this is not for promoting, hence link to Franks.

This is not how you repair.

On my bench today is this mess, this was done by another, no names, but even I am stunned.

If you the customer pay to have a repair done to your guitar, always use a mirror afterwards and have a look at the work carried out yourself.

It is the most dead sounding guitar you could imagine.

[John Arnold]

As bad as that looks, I don't believe it is the reason for the dead sound. The outer lower bout on the top is not nearly as critical as the bridge area. I have seen a lot worse on guitars that sounded fine. I am not justifying the repair, however. It is a mess.

[mirwa]

Agreed, that was just some of the repair. The most densely populated collection of mmm let's call them cleats that I could capture in my mirror

Steve

[Looburst]

Lol, should'a been called "how a farmer repairs a guitar" Cleats are usually very tiny indeed and you have to look pretty hard with a mirror to find them most of the time.

[jonfields45]

Martin DX1?

[fazool]

I love the way they chamfered the cleats with those jaunty angles to make them seem like elegant braces or something.

2x4's would have been just as good

[HHP]

An old gunsmith I used to deal with had a sign in his shop stating his rates. He charged $20 an hour or $100 an hour if you tried to fix it first.

[mirwa]

Originally Posted by jonfields45

Martin DX1?

Yep

Steve

[mirwa]

Originally Posted by fazool

I love the way they chamfered the cleats with those jaunty angles to make them seem like elegant braces or something.

It's comical except for the fact, this person paid to have it repaired, and those are the said repairs.

I can guess how bad the damage originally was, but the thought process that went into the "cleats" leaves a lot to be desired.

Steve

[murrmac123]

Brook Guitars in Devon had a somewhat similar situation to contend with recently ...

[tahoeguitar]

Some people have no pride in their craftsmanship, or no ability to recognize their limitations. Or something....

I don't charge extra if you try to fix it first, but having to undo the bad work and then re-do it properly, it usually works out to quite a bit extra anyway. I do charge extra if you want to watch or help...

I worked on my own deer rifle once. I didn't like the trigger pull and there were these three screws you could adjust. So I did... and then I was way out in the mountains, chambered a round and the rifle fired without pulling the trigger (thank God I pay strict attention to muzzle direction so nobody got shot). I was at least smart enough to jot down how much I'd turned each screw so I put them back and the gun was at least safe to use for the rest of the trip. I took it to a gunsmith for a proper trigger set-up and I no longer work on guns at all. The penalty for screwing up is too steep.

[murrayatuptown]

I laughed too, at the funny parts.

Chainsaw Willie the luthier?

[Truckjohn]

Originally Posted by Looburst

Lol, should'a been called "how a farmer repairs a guitar" Cleats are usually very tiny indeed and you have to look pretty hard with a mirror to find them most of the time.

Nah... They would use nails instead.

This reminds me of a lot of repair posts on the old MIMF forum. They loved to lampoon a popular "repair" technique dubbed "pour and shake"... People trying to stabilize an old hide glued instrument (where all the joints were coming apart from a few years in the attic) would mix up a quart or 3 of fiberglass resin and pour it right into the soundhole and then slosh it all around. When they were convinced it had been properly "repaired" - they would flip it back over and pour out (some of) the excess....

[LouieAtienza]

Originally Posted by mirwa

Yep

Steve

As in Formica guitar?

How did the top look?

[Truckjohn]

From the looks of the pix - I would say the top looked cracked.