Eep. My neck is cracking. Repairable?

[ggunn]

Second of all, Weld-Wood will never work. It is an epoxy and will stick to your truss rod, making it inoperable. Don't do it.

Au contraire. My Les Paul's cracked neck was repaired in 1977 by the Weldwood method I have described, and is still going strong. It's been through several setups, and the truss rod is fine.

FWIW, Weldwood plastic resin glue is water soluble. Although Weldwood makes epoxies, this isn't one of them.

I like your method of clamping with strips of rubber, though. How do you keep the glue that gets squeezed out by the clamping from sticking to it?

 

[acorec]

Au contraire. My Les Paul's cracked neck was repaired in 1977 by the Weldwood method I have described, and is still going strong. It's been through several setups, and the truss rod is fine.

FWIW, Weldwood plastic resin glue is water soluble. Although Weldwood makes epoxies, this isn't one of them.

I like your method of clamping with strips of rubber, though. How do you keep the glue that gets squeezed out by the clamping from sticking to it?

The problem with the poster's neck is the screws that go through the neck are acting like wedges and splitting the wood. This is common with Floyd Rose installations like this. It is reallu not fixable at this point. Glue would only slow down the total failure of the neck.

 

[mshilarious]

Saw off the headstock at the first fret, and turn it into a short-scale Steinberger-type guitar!

 

[ggunn]

The problem with the poster's neck is the screws that go through the neck are acting like wedges and splitting the wood. This is common with Floyd Rose installations like this. It is reallu not fixable at this point. Glue would only slow down the total failure of the neck.

Well, it might get him through his upcoming tour, though. It's sad when a guitar dies, innit?

But anything is fixable. The cost of the repair may exceed 10x the value of the guitar, though... ;^)

 

[XLR]

Hey Geet73, do the cracks close completely when the strings and locking nut are loose and you apply a little pressure to it? If so, you might be able to repair with Titebond (absolutely use a woodworking glue, not epoxy). Replacing the neck is your sure bet, but if you want to spend some time repairing it, try this:

You'd need to clean out any oil and dirt that's in there with denatured alcohol first, by wiping down the edge to get most of the crap off, then saturating the edge and wiping it down again. Then let it dry. Don't stick anything hard into the crack itself (jeez, that sounds obscene), as you'll mess up the wood fibers and it won't seat cleanly when you clamp it up later.

Then apply pressure to the neck to open the cracks slightly (maybe tighten the strings a bit), take 5 mins working thin glue into the crack until you see it coming out the other side. Pull the strings off the sides of the fingerboard with masking tape or take them off. Then, using soft cauls to protect the neck, clamp it up (always do a dry run with clamping first to make sure they'll work with the angles involved), or use the rubber inner tube wrapping technique which is good. Let it sit for 12 hrs.

[Why use woodworking glue instead of epoxy? Some glues shrink and pull the wood fibers together when they dry (woodworking glue) and others are designed to fill gaps and just harden (epoxy). The gap filling glues aren't good at withstanding stress that's trying to pull the joint apart, like what's happening with your guitar neck.]

Back to the repair: If when you tighten the strings the cracks stay closed, you're set. If not, get a new neck.

Tim (studied guitar making for a year, so I know everything, huh?)

 

[Light]

That crack will never move with your clamping idea. It's a check and it's not moving except with some serious pressure.

WRONG ANSWER, sir.


That is a stress crack from the locking nut. Back in the eighties, we must have seen thousands of those things.

And as for the clamping method I am recommending, it exerts HUGE amounts of force (try wrapping that shit around your forearm some time, repeatedly getting it as tight as possible. Just be careful, because you could easily lose your arm).

Tightbond is stronger, under normal working conditions, than the wood. It just can't get hot, and doesn't really like hard shocks very much.

And there is no question that the right repair is a new neck. No question at all. If the repair I suggested doesn't work, any other option is half assed and will result in a guitar which will never hold its tune, will not play right, and will just in general suck.


Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi

 

[Light]

Au contraire. My Les Paul's cracked neck was repaired in 1977 by the Weldwood method I have described, and is still going strong. It's been through several setups, and the truss rod is fine.

FWIW, Weldwood plastic resin glue is water soluble. Although Weldwood makes epoxies, this isn't one of them.

I like your method of clamping with strips of rubber, though. How do you keep the glue that gets squeezed out by the clamping from sticking to it?

Tightbond doesn't stick to rubber. At all. That is not an issue at all.


Oh yeah, and by the way, when you finally DO get around to buying a new neck, don't tighten your nut quite so much. That is what caused this in the first place. You don't need to give them the King Kong treatment. Just snug them up. It is enough.


Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi

 

[snipeguy]

WRONG ANSWER, sir.


That is a stress crack from the locking nut. Back in the eighties, we must have seen thousands of those things.

And as for the clamping method I am recommending, it exerts HUGE amounts of force (try wrapping that shit around your forearm some time, repeatedly getting it as tight as possible. Just be careful, because you could easily lose your arm).

Tightbond is stronger, under normal working conditions, than the wood. It just can't get hot, and doesn't really like hard shocks very much.

And there is no question that the right repair is a new neck. No question at all. If the repair I suggested doesn't work, any other option is half assed and will result in a guitar which will never hold its tune, will not play right, and will just in general suck.


Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi

You are right about the nut causing the crack. You're also right about the clamping. It will work as well as anything. I apologize for suggesting that you don't know your stuff. You obviously do. It was never my intention to discredit anything you have suggested. I'm sorry things got a little hot. My ego can be a very persuasive force when left unchecked.

 

[geet73]

Oh yeah, and by the way, when you finally DO get around to buying a new neck, don't tighten your nut quite so much. That is what caused this in the first place. You don't need to give them the King Kong treatment. Just snug them up. It is enough.

The cracks were there when I got the guitar a year ago. That wasn't my doing. I'm not that dumb.

All the auctions on Ebay aren't done for a few more days, I guess I'll just have to wait for them. God, I can't wait to get a new neck. I've been going nuts not being able to play guitar. I can't play acoustic at night, it keeps my parents up.

If attempting to fix is going to be a waste of effort, then I'm not going to bother. It's why I made this thread. I don't know whether or not it would work, so I asked a forum of people who I trust. It seems that it will not be worthwhile fixing it and seeing how long it lasts, so I'll just get a new neck. I just wanted to see if I could save some money. There's no harm in that.

Thanks for all the suggestions.