Members Stephen Proctor Posted October 29, 2018 Members Share Posted October 29, 2018 Do inanimate object have feelings? I opened the case of my 12 String to find this: And yes I have not even looked at at her since miss Hogg came into the house. Any thoughts on what glue I should use Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Neal Posted October 29, 2018 Members Share Posted October 29, 2018 That looks like glue AND insert. Bad place. Bad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil O'Keefe Posted October 29, 2018 Share Posted October 29, 2018 Yeah, I don’t think I’d want to try a DIY job on a break like that. Especially on a 12 string. I’d recommend taking it to a pro. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Idunno Posted October 29, 2018 Members Share Posted October 29, 2018 I would repair that myself. I'm game for that kind of thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Freeman Keller Posted October 30, 2018 Members Share Posted October 30, 2018 I get to do a fair number of head repairs, this was a Guild 12 string. Its a "green stick" fracture like your (ie not completely broken off). That is both good and bad, it is much harder to get the break cleaned out and to get glue all the way inside, but it is self aligning and doesn't want to move while you put clamps on it. I used AR glue (Titebond) - hide might have been better but I wanted more working time. Wedged the crack open and worked glue inside Clamped it up. The white things are UHMW - a plastic that glue won't stick to. Because it was a 12 string with half again as much tension, I decided to add a "back strap" - a piece of wood laminated to the back of the head. It will be in tension at the worst part of the break and make it much more stable I actually did one more thing that was total overkill - I grafted a little piece of carbon fiber over the crack itself. Totally not necessary but what the heck. Here is the back strap in place and all feathered in, tuner holes redrilled One of the hardest parts of any repair is making the finish look as good as possible. You can never totally hide it, but this is what I came up with The good news is that the owner gigs with that guitar regularly and it seems to be holding up fine. You can certainly eliminate the carbon fiber and maybe the back strap - if I was doing it I would put one on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Stephen Proctor Posted October 30, 2018 Author Members Share Posted October 30, 2018 Thanks Mr Keller, those pictures are just what I needed to see. The end product looks fabulous If you lived a little closer...AR is aliphatic resin (yellow) I take it.What did you use for the back strap, looks like a piece of mahogany. And did you let it in to the neck or just sanded the finish off so the glue would stick. I have fixed a couple of 6 string necks but used epoxy and could never get a decent cosmetic finish with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Stephen Proctor Posted October 30, 2018 Author Members Share Posted October 30, 2018 But that was on a guitar I needed to play on the Friday night so it had a three day turn around Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Freeman Keller Posted October 30, 2018 Members Share Posted October 30, 2018 The back strap was some mahogany scrap - left over from a side or something. It was probably 60 or 70 thousands thick. I planed that much off the back of the neck after doing the glue up - I have a cool thing called a Safe-T-Plane (sometimes I wonder how safe it really is) that I can use in a drill press What you don't see in that picture is trying to balance that big old Guild 12 string body while I finessed the head under the planer - its really a two person job. AR is aliphatic resin glue, good old Titebond. The other part of this story is that when the guitar came to me it had been previously repaired with some epoxy that never really cured - wrong mix or bad product or something. Anyway, my challenge was to try to get the old stuff out before putting the AR in. That was really why I did all the extra reinforcing - I was afraid that the old glue would weaken the new stuff so I just braced the hell out it. Good luck with yours - if we were close it would be a pleasant afternoon to put yours back together. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Neal Posted October 30, 2018 Members Share Posted October 30, 2018 If yer up to it, could save you a coupla dollars. Admiration to those who do.....even if they eff it up. May you not eff it up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Stephen Proctor Posted October 30, 2018 Author Members Share Posted October 30, 2018 Isn't old age a wonderful thing. As I was oiling up my clamps prior to pressing it back together, And noticing that a couple of frets would be better if replaced, so I would need to find some fret wire. How would I thin the head stock for a back strap and where am I going to find some mahogany, etc etc In the midst of that reverie, I finally remembered that the husband of my partner's best friend specialised in repairing violins and cellos. So thanks to all who have chimed in, but the Seagull 12+ is now in his capable hands Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Nabisco Posted October 30, 2018 Members Share Posted October 30, 2018 Wow, that is some beautiful work! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Freeman Keller Posted October 30, 2018 Members Share Posted October 30, 2018 Violins and cellos don't have frets. I'd be worried that instead of replacing yours he would just pull them out Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members MrHarryReems Posted October 30, 2018 Members Share Posted October 30, 2018 I get to do a fair number of head repairs, this was a Guild 12 string. Its a "green stick" fracture like your (ie not completely broken off). That is both good and bad, it is much harder to get the break cleaned out and to get glue all the way inside, but it is self aligning and doesn't want to move while you put clamps on it. I used AR glue (Titebond) - hide might have been better but I wanted more working time. Wedged the crack open and worked glue inside Clamped it up. The white things are UHMW - a plastic that glue won't stick to. Because it was a 12 string with half again as much tension, I decided to add a "back strap" - a piece of wood laminated to the back of the head. It will be in tension at the worst part of the break and make it much more stable I actually did one more thing that was total overkill - I grafted a little piece of carbon fiber over the crack itself. Totally not necessary but what the heck. Here is the back strap in place and all feathered in, tuner holes redrilled One of the hardest parts of any repair is making the finish look as good as possible. You can never totally hide it, but this is what I came up with The good news is that the owner gigs with that guitar regularly and it seems to be holding up fine. You can certainly eliminate the carbon fiber and maybe the back strap - if I was doing it I would put one on. Leave it to Freeman to show us how it's done!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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