Horn Repair

[LB75]

Hey guys I'm going to attempt to repair the lower horn on this guitar. I've repaired and painted some bodies but never a chunk missing like this. My idea is to tape around the horn like in the picture and pour something (?) in that will adhere and hardened that I can then shape and prime. This is not a high-end guitar but I do want something that is durable. Is there a better technique? If this WILL work what should I use as the filler? Any help appreciated.

Thanks,

Don

 

[Hopkins]

You could possibly use a self leveling epoxy (like a bar top finish), and make a dam l. Your best bet would cut the chip out area square and replace it with a piece of wood.

 

[pilotjones]

Bondo comes to mind.

Whatever you use, you can increase the strength of attachment by drilling some divots into the broken surface, and being sure they fill with whatever repair compound, thus keying in the repair.

 

[LB75]

Self leveling epoxy sounds interesting, I've never used it. Replacing the piece is more work than I want to do on this one. It's just a cheapy. I'm trying to spend as little as possible on this project so I'm cutting corners where I can. I thought of bondo too but I don't have any pourable right now, maybe I can just build it up. Thanks for the keying advice, I wouldn't have though of that. Thanks for the input.

Don

 

[Rip Topaz]

Try epoxy putty. You can get it at Rockler. It's moldable, and when it dries it's, well its epoxy.

It's probably not as durable as using a poured epoxy, but either would work.

If it were me I'd probably dam it off and pour it.

 

[LB75]

I got the rest of the body filled and sanded and ready to prime but haven't done the horn yet. I did get the key holes drilled. Would fiberglass resin work?

 

[TomA1234]

Would fiberglass resin work?

I would say that it probably would work, you could even mix in some black gel coat to match the finish, be careful of shrinkage though.

 

[David Jayne]

Best thing to do would be to file the area absolutely flat, and glue a block of wood on there. Once the glue sets, drill and set a dowel throught the whole thing, then rasp and sand to shape.

 

[Bill Staudt]

Best thing to do would be to file the area absolutely flat, and glue a block of wood on there. Once the glue sets, drill and set a dowel throught the whole thing, then rasp and sand to shape.

This

 

[HogieWan]

sawdust and wood glue?

 

[LB75]

This is just an Ibanez Gio so I don't want to spend a lot of time and money. If this was a keeper I would do the wood block route but I think I'm going to try the fiberglass resin. I'll post some pics of the results. Thanks for all the input.

 

[LB75]

Ok, I can't justify spending $15 for resin when I only need half an ounce. So I'm taking the plunge and doing what you guys said about replacing with a piece of wood. Here's a pic of the horn after sawing the section out. I have a rough piece cut and glued in (no pic yet).

 

[David Jayne]

....So I'm taking the plunge and doing what you guys said about replacing with a piece of wood.

That's the spirit! It'll come out great, will be strong, and in the end, will be easier to do than messing around with resin and tape dams and such.

 

[LB75]

Here it is. I had never used a rasp before so it took some time to figure out the technique but once I got it went pretty fast. Very happy with the results. It's black now but I'm going with pearl white. It's got black hardware so I think it will look good. I'll post a pic when it's painted.

 

[HaMMerHeD]

Good job!

 

[Hopkins]

Here it is. I had never used a rasp before so it took some time to figure out the technique but once I got it went pretty fast. Very happy with the results. It's black now but I'm going with pearl white. It's got black hardware so I think it will look good. I'll post a pic when it's painted.

Good work man, sometimes just doing it the right way is the easiest solution in the end.

 

[LB75]

Primed...

 

[StereoPlayer]

Hey guys I'm going to attempt to repair the lower horn on this guitar. I've repaired and painted some bodies but never a chunk missing like this. My idea is to tape around the horn like in the picture and pour something (?) in that will adhere and hardened that I can then shape and prime. This is not a high-end guitar but I do want something that is durable. Is there a better technique? If this WILL work what should I use as the filler? Any help appreciated.

Thanks,

Don

Aren't the "horns" called bouts?

 

[LB75]

I don't know...one of the luthiers here probably knows the correct terminology.

 

[pilotjones]

A horn is a horn. "Bout" actually means "bend," and is referring originally to the bends of the outer wall constituting each side of a violin-family instrument, and later a guitar.

If you take the form of the upper bout of an acoustic guitar, then convert it to a solid body, then scoop out the material alongside the neck, then you've kind of converted an upper bout into a horn, design-wise.