Cracked around tuning key Ibanez

[London Mike]

Hello everyone, I have just bought an Ibanez roadstar 2 and got it home to find out that there is a crack in the tuning key closest to the neck, it is pretty deep, it came noticeable as soon as it was in tune, is there anyway of fixing this? the crack isrunning the same way as the strings, not from side to side, I have pics but im sure I can not put up here, I am new to this as you have easly noticed by now so any help would be greatly appreciated...................Mike

[202dy]

This is not an unusual repair but requires some unusual tooling. The idea is to open the crack enough to inject some wood glue into the crack and clamp the crack while the glue sets. You will need a syringe to inject the glue and some custom made clamping cauls.

1. Remove the tuner(s).
2. Open crack with a small wedge through the tuner hole carefully so as not to make the crack bigger.
3. Inject white or yellow glue thinned 10% with distilled water.
4. Apply clamps. Tight enough to close the crack but not so tight to starve the joint.
5. There should be some glue squeeze out. Clean with a damp cloth.
6. Leave it alone for at least 8 hours.
7. Remove clamps.
8. Reinstall tuner(s).
9. Clean it and perform a setup-might as well since the strings are already off.

The cauls are cut to enable the clamp(s) to tighten on parallel surfaces.

[jrfrond]

It sounds like a simple stress crack. You can stabilize that very easily by using water-thin Super Glue and saturating the crack with as much as it will take. Any overspill can be removed while it is still wet with acetone. Don't worry, acetone will NOT affect the polyester lacquer on the neck. Once the glue is cured, the crack is stabilized. I usually hit these with a spritz of accelerator.

The cracks are pretty common. They are caused by flexing of the headstock, and are generally harmless. You just don't want it to spread.

[London Mike]

Thanks for the responce, I will try these methods out and post results...Thanks 202dy jrfrond....