Knowing how to evaluate the seriousness of a crack will allow you to determine whether to call a repair person immediately or whether it might be OK to leave it alone for a little while. Low humidity causes the wood to shrink—we see a lot of these types of cracks in my Minneapolis shop during the dry winter months.
Many guitar tops crack if the instrument is placed only halfway in its case and the lid slams shut; watch out for those latches! The pickguards on these guitars tend to shrink a small amount over the years, but due to their extremely strong adhesion, the top often cracks just behind the soundhole. How serious is it? The first thing to ascertain is whether your guitar is cracked all the way through the wood.
Any crack in the wood is serious and can upset the delicate structural integrity of the instrument. One way that cracks can frequently be identified is that they tend to follow the grain wood cracks that cross the grain usually come from a severe blow, and this will be obvious.
Basically, the top of the guitars is constructed with an arch or a radius. So, as the guitar tends to dry out, this particular radius or arch starts to widen and the washboard-like appearance of the top starts to get prominent.
Apart from this, if the humidity of the environment is very low and the guitar starts to dry, the arch-like structure tends to widen out and starts to acquire a concave shape when the entire structure becomes extremely dry. So, if you find that your guitar is starting to acquire a dip and concave like structure, but, without any signs of cracking, it is time for initiating the humidifying process.
There is a very common pattern for cracking of the acoustic guitars due to dryness. The instruments which are dry will tend to crack at the top end initially, and the instruments which are completely dried out will crack at the seam or sidelines of the equipment. Following are some of the most common indications of dryness of an acoustic guitar:. To be precise, the initial step in order to repair any kind of cracks on your acoustic guitar is to identify and assess the extent of the crack on your guitar.
Most commonly, the problem appears due to the uneven separation of the central seam line because of excessive stress and strain. Hence, in such cases, both the housing of the guitar, which forms the top land of the equipment tends to become loose and consequently, leave a disturbing clearance. Such kind of damages is most commonly found between the bridge of the equipment and the rear end block.
During this step, it is very important for you to assess whether the crack can be repaired by yourself or if you need expert assistance. Determine the location and severity of the damage.
Simple cracks and splinters that do not affect sound or playability can be fixed at home. Reach inside the sound hole and gently press the cracked wood upward toward your body so that the wood is level again with the rest of the guitar. Using your other hand, slowly insert glue into the crack until the length of the crack contains glue. Wipe away excess glue with a wet cloth and repeat this step until enough glue has been placed in the crack to be level with the surface of the guitar.
Apply glue to one side of the cleat. It can take a lot of time, especially for a crack as large as the one you have. Potentially hours. Once you have finished polishing to your satisfaction, you can apply carnauba wax to protect the guitar to give it a showroom quality look. Thank you!!! Tony Done Member. Messages 7, The finish is apparently poly, so CA glue should work fine, but it won't be invisible.
Just a warning for lurkers, CA shouldn't be used on nitro, nail varnish is a good option for that. Tony Done said:. Last edited: Aug 28, I found a local luthier who thinks he can fix the crack, or at least minimize it. Thanks for the advice! Howard Member. CA alone will leave a white line in that burst!
Papanate Member. Messages 19, Messages 6, If you put color in the bottom of the groove, the clear CA adhesive will fill and hide it. You must log in or register to reply here. Trending Topics.
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