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Double Bass Can I ask you fellas a guitar question?

S

Spanky123

Jul 22, 2010
182
36
#1
IMG_1166.JPG
Martin DRS1 made of sapelle -- an African hardwood that Martin has been using for a lot of their mid-range guitars.

The top cracked, right at the seam, above the bridge. (see picture). I live in a very dry climate, so it is definitely weather related. I put the guitar in my bathroom for a couple of days, where it gets a little moisture from the damp shower air, and the crack has totally healed.

I know it is still there, though. Is there a home repair possible? You might recall I am the guy with poor social skills that lives in the desert, so I don't have many resources. I like this guitar though, so I am hoping to fix it if possible.
 
#2
Hell yeah. I’d just use a little alphaic resin wood glue. I wouldn’t use any kind of CA (cyanoacrylate/superglue).

I’d clean it out with a little rubbing alcohol on a q-tip. Work in a little glue with your finger and clean it up with a damp paper towel. You can’t fix anything without paper towels. Before it’s dry, wood glue cleans up easily with water. Try not to get water into the glue itself.

Wood glue will adhere to this very well and is softer than epoxies or CA so it has a little give but will also fill the crack pretty well.

That’s not bad at all but you certainly need to glue it before it gets worse.
 
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#3
That sounds easy enough. Thanks.
saabfender said:
Hell yeah. I’d just use a little alphaic resin wood glue. I wouldn’t use any kind of CA (cyanoacrylate/superglue).

I’d clean it out with a little rubbing alcohol on a q-tip. Work in a little glue with your finger and clean it up with a damp paper towel. You can’t fix anything without paper towels. Before it’s dry, wood glue cleans up easily with water. Try not to get water into the glue itself.

Wood glue will adhere to this very well and is softer than epoxies or CA so it has a little give but will also fill the crack pretty well.

That’s not bad at all but you certainly need to glue it before it gets worse.
Click to expand...
 
#5
saabfender said:
Work in a little glue with your finger and clean it up with a damp paper towel.
Click to expand...

My brother makes custom furniture, more pieces of art really, and he's taught me a few tricks. One is to use a syringe to get the glue in tight places. There are "precision applicators" for this purpose sold at art supply stores and woodwoorking stores. What some woodworkers will do is go to a veterinary supply store and buy syringes used to inject small animals. Thanks to the "war on some drugs" finding a precision applicator for wood glue has become difficult and expensive. People used to be able to buy single use syringes in boxes of 100 at any local pharmacy for a few bucks, but that's a rant for another time and place.
 
#6
I love me some syringe gluing myself. I currently have a couple in the toolbox. Wood glue is too thick for that technique. It does, however, rock for CA application. Binding coming loose or laminate lifting? That’s a syringe job for sure.

This is a small exposed crack. Just need to clean it and pack it with glue. It’s best to not over-complicate simple repairs.
 

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