What do I do with this crack? Need advice

[locallau]

I've always been able to rely on these forums for proper advice so I have no doubt you guy can help me again. The problem this time is a crack.

 

Story!!

 

One afternoon my roommate and I were just sitting at our desks, and we hear a loud *CRACK* followed by the faintest sound of guitar strings. I realized it was probably my guitar, being that it was the only one outside on a stand. Upon further inspection, there was a crack from the bridge to the bottom of the guitar. I was a complete idiot and kept it out on the stand un-humidified. You can imagine the anguish I felt after seeing there was a crack.

 

I currently have it in its case with a soundhole humidifier and a sponge in a plastic bag near the headstock.

 

When I finally worked up the guts, I loosened the strings and felt through the other side of the crack. The crack is not all the way through the wood, which I'm thinking is a good thing. However, I can clearly feel the crack on the top with my fingers. I remembered reading threads about if cracks affect sound quality, and I couldn't recall what the verdict was. From what I could tell, there really was no difference, but my memory doesn't serve me so well as to make that assertion.

 

Here's where I need help!!!

 

How do I tell if the crack is serious enough to be repaired?

How do I tell if the crack is or isn't going to grow?

If the crack is static, do I have to repair it?

How much would it generally cost to repair a crack like this?

Do cracks affect a guitar's sound?

What other consequences are there for having a guitar with an unrepaired crack?

 

Thanks in advance for any help, and please refrain from calling me an absolute moron for leaving my guitar out in this kind of weather. I already know how stupid I was.

 

*If it makes any difference the guitar is a Blueridge BR-143

[Freeman Keller]

I assume you mean the crack looks like the one about half way down the pictures.

 

http://www.larrivee.com/5_features/educationEssays/humidityWood_essay.html

 

As the article points out, that means it was extremely dry for a fairly long period of time. The normal fix involves bringing it back to a healthy humidity level, regluing and probably cleating the crack to stabilize it, fixing any damage to the braces, drop filling the crack to minimize the appearance and fixing anything else that might have also been damaged by the low humidity (sharp frets, sunken top, yadda yadda). A good repairperson will know how to do it and will do it right. The cleated top should have very little affect on tone (might dampen it slightly) assuming there are no loose braces or that they can be reglued. You will have the normal setup issues once it is stable - and that is the important thing, you must get it stable and keep it that way (minor humidity problems sometimes take 6 or 8 weeks with a couple of good humidifiers before you can really start working on it - this could take that long). You can play it in the mean time, it probably isn't going to get any worse.

 

Take it to a good tech, get her advice and estimate, get it healthy and have it fixed. Then play and enjoy it.

[EvilTwin]

FK's right. The exact same thing happened to my Guild (and FK was the first one there with the answer then, too ). Good luck on your repair.