Please advise ... can I fix this split wood?

close2u

I bought a 3/4 gear4music Strat-style for a kids present. Against my better instincts but hey ho. It wasn't too much money.

I noticed a really high action and a term-bridge raised up high - as though you were really pushing the term-arm down low. I didn't really inspect fully, thinking some tlc and fiddling with the claw screws etc would even things out. Besides, I was going to deck the bridge and remove the trem-arm.

I got to working on it tonight... and some disassembling reveals a more serious problem. It looks like some idiot kid has really gone to town on the trem-arm and there is a split down either side. They run down from where the outer 2 of the 6 bridge screws enter the top of the body and reach virtually to where the spring cavity is. And the wood is pretty thin in that cavity section.

So, my question. If I am careful, might I be able to work some adhesive down into the two cracks?

What type of wood glue would withstand the string tension if possible?

Will I need to clamp it in place (I don't have such tools)?

Will the adhesive run into the very confined space if the crack sufficiently?

If it were warmed somehow?

I will try to get some decent pics tomorrow evening.

Thanks.

edited for typos and to space out for legibility.

olafgarten

You can try some titebond, I think it you take the strings off the body should hold together.

paulnb57

Gut feeling, it will glue ok, rub some titebond in as best you can, there are 6 screws doing the business, so I think it will survive especially as you don't intend to use the Trem.....

ICBM

Don't do anything yet - if you rub glue in and it doesn't penetrate far enough, you're in a much worse position since it will then be almost impossible to get more in.

You've given a good description, but photos would be very helpful to see how bad it is.

close2u

Photos later.

Thanks for advice so far.

close2u

Pics.
Not fab but you can see the splits.
One from the top. 

Two from the bottom:

Didnt work - photobucket and iPhone grrr moment

close2u

Try again. 

http://i234.photobucket.com/albums/ee238/chaucer73/IMG_2405.jpg

http://s234.photobucket.com/user/chaucer73/media/IMG_2406.jpg.html

http://i234.photobucket.com/albums/ee238/chaucer73/IMG_2407.jpg

ICBM

Ah… that's worse than I was expecting. The whole of the centre of the body, which holds the bridge, has cracked out and moved forwards and upwards.

The bad news is that for it to fail that way in the first place, the body must be made of quite weak wood. Even if glued strongly it may not hold, or may break again in a different place nearby.

The (relatively) good news is that it should be possible to open the cracks up quite wide, enough to get a lot of glue in. You should be able to use the bridge and the strings to open the cracks up, if you fit just the middle four screws and one spring in the middle, and tune the guitar up until the crack is open a couple of mm, then soak some Titebond into it by gravity with the guitar standing on its headstock. 'Working' the wood using the trem arm should help the glue to penetrate.

Clamping it isn't going to be easy - you'll probably need to make a caul to fit in the rear cavity, one to protect the front, and pass a G-clamp through the bridge slot. The cauls will need covering in clingfilm or something to prevent them sticking to the body. Obviously work out all this carefully before starting!


There is an alternative, if you don't want to use the trem - set the bridge flat on the top with no strings on the guitar and the springs done up just tight enough to hold it in place, then fill the entire rear cavity with potting resin .

I'm not sure if I'm joking or not… I know of this method because I once worked on a 70s Fender Strat where someone had done that :-O.

close2u

Yikes. And yeah. I think I may end up putting this down to (bad) experience and writing it off. Caveat emptor and all that. Your 'fix' may work but if not, ho hum.

paulnb57

Worse than I expected too, but trying to glue it costs next to nowt and see where it leads, then make a cigarbox guitar with the neck if all else fails.....

close2u

paulnb57 said:

make a cigarbox guitar with the neck if all else fails.....

Ooh!! Grand plan. Note to self, find step-by-step for making cigar-box guitar!

close2u

I have decided to spend my time on things I have the skill, experience, equipment and tools for.
In other words, I am going to scrap this.
 Or, to put it another way, give someone an apportunity to get their hands on a spares / repairs guitar.
 Now FOR SALE. £5 or will part for some kind of charitable deed.
I could fully dismantle and send in bits.
Or just the bits you require if not all.