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Robert
June 5th, 2007, 07:25 PM
A friend of mine wanted an acoustic guitar, and I mentioned SX acoustics. He wanted one, so I ordered one for him.

A week after he got it, it fell over and landed with strings down. Crack - the headstock broke. It's a cheap guitar, and from what I've researched around here, it's not worth having a guitar tech fix it, since it would cost almost as much as buying a new guitar.

I figured with some help from you modding experts, maybe this SX can be put together good enough for him to play on. Any suggestions?

250Keith
June 5th, 2007, 07:42 PM
You said a cheap guitar, so here a go, I would pull the strings off, go and get some gorilla glue, get that crack damp apply the glue and clamp, it will expand and try and make a mess on you wipe as needed with a damp throwaway rag this stuff is narly, the next day sand that area down and try to restain the wood, if the glue wont stain try and find a sharpie close to the stain color, it should work.
It wont be that bad.
Keith.;)

duhvoodooman
June 5th, 2007, 07:42 PM
I'll defer to the woodworking experts here (of whom I am definitely not one!!), but that looks like a nice clean break, so I'd think some good quality wood glue and some clamps for a couple of days and it would at least be functional again....

WackyT
June 5th, 2007, 08:04 PM
A couple of clamps and some Elmer's Carpenter's glue (yellow) or Titebond. Don't clamp it too tight or you'll squeeze too much of the glue out.

carp3nt3r
June 5th, 2007, 09:58 PM
titebond premium wood glue, couple of clamps, and possibly a thin brass plate to aid in preventing the same fracture from opening again.

just my 2 cents worth, carp3nt3r.

marnold
June 6th, 2007, 08:52 AM
Ahh yes, the old "friend of mine." Robert just doesn't want us to know that he secretly broke yet another guitar neck :) As others mentioned, the break looks nice and clean, so the fix should be straightforward.

It reminds me of when I took my Charvel in to get it set up after I bought it. It slipped as I was taking it out of the gig bag (mental note: always lay the guitar down before removing from said gig bag) and landed strings-first on the hardwood floor. Thankfully it landed perfectly so no damage was done. Scared me to death, though. I could just see that reverse-swept pointy headstock snapping off.

Tone2TheBone
June 6th, 2007, 09:03 AM
ROB! What did you do NOW!!!

Oh wait...it wasn't you this time. LMAO Hope your friend gets it fixed that sux. It looks like a real clean break I bet you could fix that fairly easily.

Robert
June 6th, 2007, 10:34 AM
LOL- I can see how you would expect that to be me! Honestly, it wasn't (this time...)

I found this photo story - http://www.timeelect.com/blsg.htm

Tone2TheBone
June 6th, 2007, 10:36 AM
LOL- I can see how you would expect that to be me! Honestly, it wasn't (this time...)

I found this photo story - http://www.timeelect.com/blsg.htm

hahahaha I was just kidding ya man.

Hey that link is cool. They sure fixed that puppy up huh.

M29
June 6th, 2007, 01:42 PM
Hello,

I would use Tightbond (Original) and clamp it tight. Give the glue plenty of time to dry. Patience patience patience...This should be a very successful repair with a clean break like that.

Robert did you break this one:D Just kidding.

M29

Robert
June 6th, 2007, 02:18 PM
No need for a couple of support dowels? I was thinking I could drill holes and glue in dowels to help support the headstock so it doesn't "give" at the break?

ted s
June 6th, 2007, 02:23 PM
Rather than dowels, I would be tempted to countersink a couple screws... but.. I am not a carp3 ;) .. If it was ironwood I would weld that puppy :rolleyes:

WackyT
June 6th, 2007, 02:29 PM
Actually, carpenter's glue and Titebond are stronger than the wood itself.

Robert
June 6th, 2007, 02:50 PM
How many clamps would I need?

WackyT
June 6th, 2007, 04:04 PM
I'd say at least 2.

Robert
June 18th, 2007, 04:53 PM
I did it. I glued the darn thing together! I works great. I almost feel proud I managed to fix the guitar for my friend. He sure is happy now. As for me, I now have more feathers in my guitar-fixer-wannabee-hat! :D

snarph
June 18th, 2007, 06:48 PM
Yea Yippy :):):)

duhvoodooman
June 18th, 2007, 07:32 PM
Excellent! Glad to hear the repair went so well! :DR

M29
June 18th, 2007, 08:28 PM
Yee Hah:R :R

Luthier Rob

M29

ted s
June 18th, 2007, 08:32 PM
Never mind almost proud !

WackyT
June 18th, 2007, 09:50 PM
Congrats Rob! Any pics of the final repair?

Mark
June 20th, 2007, 08:28 AM
You said a cheap guitar, so here a go, I would pull the strings off, go and get some gorilla glue, get that crack damp apply the glue and clamp, it will expand and try and make a mess on you wipe as needed with a damp throwaway rag this stuff is narly, the next day sand that area down and try to restain the wood, if the glue wont stain try and find a sharpie close to the stain color, it should work.
It wont be that bad.
Keith.;)

Never ever use Gorilla glue on guitars! :eek: :eek: :eek: It causes the wood to swell. Woodorkers glue NOT Gorilla glue

Robert
June 20th, 2007, 09:28 AM
Here you go - it worked great! May not look perfect but it plays like new.

Tone2TheBone
June 20th, 2007, 11:07 AM
Ummm looks like a little too much glue cause the grain isn't lining up dude.

Robert
June 20th, 2007, 11:42 AM
Well, I couldn't get it to line up perfectly. There's not a lot of glue, it's just that the way it broke, it would line up perfectly again. The break was pretty severe. It works great though.

WackyT
June 20th, 2007, 09:11 PM
Well, sometimes after damage like that, a pretty repair is a lot harder to attain. As long as it works, and the owner is happy with it, then it's a success.