Best way to repair a body crack

erochelle77 · #1 09-24-2007, 06:54 PM

I just recently bought a Peavey T-40 off of ebay, and it has a crack/separation in the body on one of the piece joints (3 piece body). The crack isn't bad enough to get a syringe in there to inject some glue, so I don't really know what to do.

Would just smearing some glue along the crack and letting it seep in the crack work? I'm probably going to end up painting it anyway, so sanding off the excess glue won't be a big deal.

I also thought of maybe separating the section and just re-gluing the whole piece, but I have no idea if this is possible.

I can hopefully get a picture of it tomorrow to post.

62bass · #2 09-25-2007, 05:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by erochelle77

I just recently bought a Peavey T-40 off of ebay, and it has a crack/separation in the body on one of the piece joints (3 piece body). The crack isn't bad enough to get a syringe in there to inject some glue, so I don't really know what to do.

Would just smearing some glue along the crack and letting it seep in the crack work? I'm probably going to end up painting it anyway, so sanding off the excess glue won't be a big deal.

I also thought of maybe separating the section and just re-gluing the whole piece, but I have no idea if this is possible.

I can hopefully get a picture of it tomorrow to post.

You may not be able to separate the pieces without splitting the wood and causing more work for yourself. If it looks like it's sound enough to hold together for a while, you can inject some cyanoacrylate glue into the crack until it's filled. I did this with a Fender P bass that had the same problem. I had stripped the body finish with a heat gun and got a bit carried away and one of the glue joints opened up a little bit. I could have done it the right way by sawing out the crack and gluing in a strip of matching wood, but I figured the crazy glue fix would suffice. It's held up for 6 years so far and hasn't opened up. The repair is invisible, because I refinished the bass at the same time.

Another slightly easier fix than gluing in a strip of wood would be to drill in from the side of the body at right angle to the crack with a long enough 1/4" drill bit, then gluing in a hardwood dowel. I also did this one a bass body that had a larger crack. It was harder to mask the repair however. But that joint never opened up again.

fresh128 · #3 09-25-2007, 06:58 AM

ive jus bought a jackson pro off of ebay aswell but on the bottom by the output valve there is a crack which runs round into the cavity could i just inject some glue into this would it work or shud i get some wood filler?
cheers
fresh

fresh128 · #4 09-25-2007, 07:04 AM

i dont know how to put pics on here so heres the link http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...MEWN:IT&ih=011

erochelle77 · #5 09-25-2007, 09:21 PM

I took some pictures of the crack tonight, so you can see how bad it is, or it isn't.

The bottom cutaway, from the back.

Farther down the same crack, also from the back.

Looking into the bottom cutaway.

Scott in Dallas · #6 09-25-2007, 10:41 PM

Wow. It should have a nasty ding in it to cause a crack like that. If it won't open up enough to force any glue in, then it should be stable enough to just seal up on the surface and sand. Considering that diagonal crack along the grain in the third picture, I don't know that I'd want to try pushing it apart with too much force anyway. If it were my bass, I might consider cutting the piece off, cleaning it up and re-gluing it, but I enjoy giving myself extra work.

erochelle77 · #7 09-25-2007, 10:53 PM

Not really a ding, it just seems to be separating at the seam. Honestly though, I haven't tried pulling on it. I hadn't even noticed that diagonal crack until just now. I'll have to check that for myself tomorrow, with my own eyes.

62bass · #8 09-26-2007, 09:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by erochelle77

Not really a ding, it just seems to be separating at the seam. Honestly though, I haven't tried pulling on it. I hadn't even noticed that diagonal crack until just now. I'll have to check that for myself tomorrow, with my own eyes.

Looks like the glue failed for some reason. That'll continue to open and close as it reacts to the changing humidity and may eventually fail completely though probably not. Just putting a cosmetic cover up won't handle it as it'll continue to work and crack any new finish. You could try getting some cyano glue to wick down into the crack. After there's enough soaked in and it's hardened you can clean up the finish to hide it. You should mask off the crack as best you can.

I'd go with the permanent fix if the bass is worth it to you. Saw out the crack, fill the saw cut with a matching strip of wood and reglue. But unless you have the tools and skills to do it yourself it'll be expensive.

#include <MK> · #9 09-27-2007, 05:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by erochelle77

I just recently bought a Peavey T-40 off of ebay, and it has a crack/separation in the body on one of the piece joints (3 piece body). The crack isn't bad enough to get a syringe in there to inject some glue, so I don't really know what to do.

How wide is the split? It looks like there is no need to do anything with this yet. It won't affect playability. The majority of the sound comes from the neck through part anyway (nut to bridge), so it's really not a great issue. Is it structurally solid and not feeling like it will fall apart? If you can cleanly get some non-viscous super glue in there than that would work, as you can build it up. But doing this can get really messy if it's not done right.

I've seen this kind of thing before on the glue line of some guitars which becomes apparent after shaping. Usually, the rest of the glue line is solid and will hold no problem. But you need to monitor it.

erochelle77 · #10 09-27-2007, 07:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by #include

How wide is the split? It looks like there is no need to do anything with this yet. It won't affect playability. The majority of the sound comes from the neck through part anyway (nut to bridge), so it's really not a great issue. Is it structurally solid and not feeling like it will fall apart? If you can cleanly get some non-viscous super glue in there than that would work, as you can build it up. But doing this can get really messy if it's not done right.

I've seen this kind of thing before on the glue line of some guitars which becomes apparent after shaping. Usually, the rest of the glue line is solid and will hold no problem. But you need to monitor it.

It's not that bad. It actually looks worse in the pics than in person. I will eventually paint it though, so I have to figure out how to fix it.

#include <MK> · #11 09-27-2007, 08:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by erochelle77

It's not that bad. It actually looks worse in the pics than in person. I will eventually paint it though, so I have to figure out how to fix it.

You may want to contact a luthier in your area to do the job properly. If I were doing it, I would not saw it but try to unglue it, clean it up, then reglue. However, this process would probably damage the finish.

Keep in mind that if you saw, you loose wood by the width of the kerf which means you loose the flush contact of the edges. You also need to saw straight and true through the thickness.

Chasarms · #12 09-30-2007, 06:51 PM

If you have an air compressor, you can probably blow enough carpenter's glue into the crack to get it to hold. Just pour it on the crack and use forced air to work into the crack. If clamped and allowed to dry, it won't go anywhere.

Also, water-based hide glue like that used in stringed instrument luthiery can be mixed to be nearly as thin as water. You could mix up some, pour it into the crack, work it in with your finger, clamp it, wipe the excess and you are done.

I definitely WOULD NOT think of sawing, prying, seperating or otherwise messing with the crack. Just glue it, clamp it and let it go.

My guess is the crack opened when the bass was dropped. In truth, it will likely never go anywhere if you do nothing.