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Acoustic crack

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I cracked my acoustic. Taken the paint off and slightly split the top wood. I was thinking of using some kind of wood filler and then painted over it would work, since it's not an actual hole. Would this work and if so does anyone know what brand to use?
 
provided the wood isn't damaged underneath, get in there with a mirror and a light and look for cracks from the inside and check the kerfing as well. tap around the area and listen for buzzing and looseness.

for a quick fix:

-first pick out the chips cleanly leaving nothing loose behind.
-blow it out clean. (optional museum-grade pro tip: use DI water to flush it out as well)
-drop fill with medium tinted black CA glue leveling between coats. like this stuff:

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-use a razor blade to scrap down to flat between coats. tape off the corners of the blade to avoid gouges with one layer of scotch tape.
-repeat to build thin layers up to required thickness.
-use buffing/polishing compound to suit.

for the lifted clear finish on the binding, wick in thin, clear CA to re-attach it.

don't try to fix it all in one session and work carefully and cleanly and you should be ok.
 
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found it:

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it's a repair to a small chip-out but the technique is the same for something larger like admh1972's project. there is also a bit about strip sanding in there as well.

Dan colors the wood in the vid but his repair is a small one. the op has a larger area to deal with and i think that tinted CA would be a better choice.

also, not all blacks are created equal. there is "brown black", "blue black"and "green black" (i don't have the right words for this) and some inks fade quickly and tend to reveal a tint of one of those three colors. this would be pretty noticable on a large area.
 
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also, not all blacks are created equal. there is "brown black", "blue black"and "green black" (i don't have the right words for this) and some inks fade quickly and tend to reveal a tint of one of those three colors. this would be pretty noticable on a large area.
About 13 years ago I made a blanket chest. The top of the chest has a decorative groove about 3" in from the perimeter. I wanted the groove to stand out, so I decided to dye the groove black. The easiest way I could think of to get ink into the groove without getting it everywhere else was to use a magic marker. Ink, is ink, right?

About 3 years after I was finished the groove had noticeably lightened. More than a decade later the groove is most definitely red. In fact, most people probably wouldn't have ever guessed it was originally black. It's just this weird decorative red groove on a classic amber oak chest.
 
You haven't expressed the actual value of this guitar, so I'll go along with medium-to-upper-medium cost and value. I can assume that it has a decent amount of personal value since you want to repair it yourself but don't want to necessarily send it out to get it repaired. IOW: it ain't a 1946 Gibson.

So, I'd just do what I could to firstly re-attach the wood by using the cyano-glue - a thin version would be best I think since it will wick into the wood for a nice interleave.

If there is missing wood - you've got a few options - and that picture is so big I cannot actually see the extent of the damage.

You've got to reattach any loose or cracked stiffeners and ribs first after you get the external visual damage stabilized though.

If there is wood missing from any internal parts - you've got to decide if you feel competent to replace any of them - by that I mean you cannot put a splice into a support or resonating rib. It will deaden it acoustically and generally won't make it strong again. These parts need to be contiguous and totally intact as originally designed.

For the outer surface - once you've got all the internals fixed - and again IF there's any wood missing, here's where you can use a filler to bridge any large gaps.

I am not talking about using wood fillers. They are weak and generally show as they crack along to edges and have been known to fall out.

Since your guitar has a non-wood, see-through finish on the outside, you have a certain amount of 'freedom' to fill it in.

Using cyano is good OK - but very time and cyano-consuming.

I have used good ol' Bondo or any of it's derivative brands for large fill-in needs. Since this area in your not-so-clear-to-me picture looks like it has missing shards from the damaged area - and since Bondo acts amazingly like wood in terms of expansion/contraction and attach-ability to the wood - you should consider it as a viable way to repair extensively missing areas of original wood AFTER a decent underlayment is established first! (Just work with it while it is fresh, since old Bondo is hard to shape or sand).

Here comes another quandary for you to resolve: what about color-matching to the original finish?

I have used automotive touch-up paints - spray or mini-brushes - and they work pretty well enough. I don't think you can actually patch a color like this unless you aren't too picky. Mostly I opt for a total refinish anyway.

I have a super-el-cheapo Johnson JG-620 that was trashed by an accordion being thrown onto it in a dumpster.

I stripped off about 3/4" of plastic finish, down to the plywood surface and then proceeded to take it even thinner. Leaving it as raw wood with a lacquer finish (20 coats, about 15 of them sanded off and then polished) - it looks like a blonde Martin.

You cannot get any cheaper than that guitar - but it rivals any of my other acoustic guitars for outrageously tremendous sound and volume!

A TIP FOR YOU: Any sanding with wet/dry paper should only be with mineral spirits as your liquid medium and not 'wetted water' (or water with a drop of liquid dish soap added).

Mineral spirits won't swell the wood grain like water does and it will disappear in short time with no residue or wood-warpage.
 
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