Free: broken-headed Fender acoustic

BigMonka

Does anyone want this guitar?! I'm not sure I could ever bring myself to throw away a guitar but I doubt I'll ever get round to trying to fix it.

It was my cousin's guitar, but he broke it. It's been glued up once (poor DIY attempt) but it didn't hold. 

The guitar is in York and free to any new home!

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Sarge

Nothing a good sized skip and a trip to Guitarguitar won't fix.

BigMonka

Sarge said:

Nothing a good sized skip and a trip to Guitarguitar won't fix.

Lol, very true. Thing is that I don't need another acoustic and this has sat in a cupboard for a few years! I just couldn't bring myself to throw away a guitar so thought I'd see if anyone fancied it.

robinbowes

I'll take that off your hands.

From where shall I collect?

R.

BigMonka

robinbowes said:

I'll take that off your hands.

From where shall I collect?

R.

Cool, I'll drop you a PM when I get home tonight. You can either come out to mine between Tollerton & Shipton, or I can bring it into work in the centre of York.

robinbowes

No probs - I'll call in at yours.

Let's take this to PM

R.

Rocker

The repair will make an interesting thread @robinbowes

robinbowes

Rocker said:

The repair will make an interesting thread @robinbowes

I shall try my best. I've not done anything like this before, so could be a total disaster...

R.

ICBM

Have a look at what a 'splinted' headstock repair involves - http://massresonator.com/2012/11/repair-shop-spot-broken-headstocks-repaired/ - you'll need that with such a short break and especially if it's already been glued and failed, since the old glue will weaken any new. You don't need to rout the slots out - in fact if you don't have a jig it will be very difficult to - you can do it by hand with chisels.

I would use warmed epoxy resin for the gluing of the actual broken pieces since it's one of the least affected by old glue residue, and either the same or Titebond to glue the splints in. Don't use white PVA wood glue, it can creep under load and fail again.

It looks like the neck to body joint has been stressed as well, but it may just be finish damage - check for any movement.

robinbowes

Thanks @ICBM - I've actually already been reading that very article.

i have an guitar-playing acquaintance who works in his family's joinery business. I may tap him up for some help.

R.

WezV

And most important, don't assume a joiner knows anything about luthiery.

robinbowes

WezV said:

And most important, don't assume a joiner knows anything about luthiery.

Heh, I wouldn't. But he made his own guitar in his youth, so I guess he knows *something*

R.

ICBM

Forgot to say… by epoxy I meant the slow-set, high-strength stuff - not quick-set which is completely different and totally unsuitable for wood repairs. Araldite Standard is fine.

If you warm it using a hairdryer or a powerful desk lamp - both the surfaces before you glue them, and the whole joint after you've clamped it - it will thin, penetrate better into the wood fibres and set harder and stronger (and faster, but you'll still have time to clean up any excess). Just be careful you don't melt any plastic parts on the guitar!

robinbowes

So, I had completely forgotten about this but it re-surfaced from under a pile of "stuff" during a recent re-shuffle.

I also completely forgot all the advice given on this thread and have simply glued with Titebond and clamped. No epoxy, no hairdryer. Left it for 24 hours.

I started stringing it but noticed that the saddle is missing so I need to get one of those before I can bring it up to tension and see how the headstock holds.

Fingers crossed...

If it goes again, I'll remember to use epoxy + hairdryer next time!

R.

robinbowes

<sigh>

It wasn't until I started stringing it that I noticed that the saddle was missing

I've ordered a replacement which will be here tomorrow.

How do I set the correct height? I'm guessing I'll need to put all the strings on and get the neck under tension to correctly measure the string height, then take the strings off again to sand down the bottom of the saddle to lower the strings to the correct height?

R.