HELP!!! need a luthiers advice

[Mr. Moon]

do i even deserve a working guitar anymore?

thanks

~X

Hi,

My thoughts:
1. Yes, you deserve to have a working guitar, as we all make mistakes and guitarists will shrivel up and die if they can't play,
2. Take it to a qualified luthier (or two) and get quotes to get it fixed,
3. Decide if you want to spend that kind of money towards repairing this guitar or purchasing a new one.
4a. Pay the luthier once the guitar is fixed and be happy!
- or -
4b. Get the new guitar and be happy,
- or -
4c. Fix it yourself, realizing that it may destroy the guitar, rendering it unusable except as a paperweight, ...or that it may actually work well enough to use for years to come.

When my Seagull 6-string fell on it's face (too long of a story to go into...), the headstock broke just where (I think) yours did, except that the entire headstock actually broke off completely and was not attached to the neck whatsoever anymore!! ...Pissed me off, but all I could do was laugh, as it was my fault. DOH!!!

Long story short: I was a poor student at the time, so I got some (expensive) quotes to repair the guitar, and decided to fix it myself to save up for a new acoustic guitar down the road. I used Elmer's Carpenter's wood glue, 4 "C" clamps, and 3 small wood screws to fix mine. It took about 48 hours for the whole process from breaking to playing again. I just followed the gluing instructions on the glue bottle, matched the parts, clamped them for the next 24 hours, and then drilled holes for the screws, and then put in the screws.

I must have been very lucky or something, as I have been playing this guitar for 2+ years (as well as recording with it on all my acoustic tunes) since then without *any* problems whatsoever. None. Nada. Zilch. I'm the first to admit that the fix I made was not a pretty-looking one, but at the time I had no money and had no other acoustic guitar to use, so I did what I had to do.

I will try to post a picture of what the repair looks like now when I get home from work. Again, not pretty, but very functional.

I do *NOT* suggest that you follow in my footsteps as your first alternative. I just wanted to share this with you to let you know that if all else fails and you're strapped for cash, this type of repair is possible even by people such as myself who do not specialize in these types of repairs.

Again, do *NOT* follow my example as what you should do, but just as a "been there, done that" empathetic kind of thing. Definitely get some quotes from qualified luthiers before you make any decisions whatsoever!!

Good luck!!

-Mr. Moon

 

[Mr. Moon]

Hey!

Here's that photo I promised of my, er, um, handywork.

As you can see, it is *not* pretty, but the guitar works and has had no problems in the last 2+ years since the "incident" occurred.

-Mr. Moon

 

[Light]

With a good glue joint, the screws were not necessary, and in fact will weaken the area significantly. Sorry to have to tell you this, but you would have been better off just gluing the joint. As long as you keep it out of heat (don't leave it in the back seat of your car in the summer sun), the glue joint is less likely to break than the wood.


Light

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

 

[Mr. Moon]

Well.....

I guess that piece of information is about 2 1/2 years too late. (ha-ha)

...Such is life, hindsight is 20/20. Hey, great title for a song! Oops, too late, I have a song by that name already. A song, that I used this very same guitar to record the acoustic guitar tracks. Funny how that all works out in the end, huh? I've gigged with this axe and I use it almost daily for practicing, so when it does finally die, it will have provided me many more years service than I expected.

When I did this work, I had no clue what I was doing and did not know that a forum like this existed where people would share the info so openly. All the people I spoke to would only tell me that it was too complicated for me to do myself, and that they'd be more than willing to do it for me (at a cost, of course ).

Would it be worthwhile for me to remove the screws and fill them with glue? Or, should I just leave it be and hope for the best?

Thanks!

-Mr. Moon

Me music:
http://www.nowhereradio.com/artists/album.php?aid=2903&alid=-1

 

[wjierd]

this is EXACTLY the way it split!

thanks for the suggestions, ive found a shop here in town that is sposed to be real good at this kind of thing

now i just have to make it down to this part of town during a time of day when they are open!

~Xian

From what was said, THIS is almost certainly the break we are talking about here. Check out the link to see what Frank has to say about it.


Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi [/B]

 

[wjierd]

oh yeah
and i went ahead and bought a mandolin anyway

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2560271033

not a really good one, but one im not gonna worry about getting banged up from being carried EVERYWHERE with me while i learn to play it

thanks again

~Xian

this is EXACTLY the way it split!

thanks for the suggestions, ive found a shop here in town that is sposed to be real good at this kind of thing

now i just have to make it down to this part of town during a time of day when they are open!

~Xian