Repairing cracked soundboard (Light? Muttley?)

[pikingrin]

In a recent thread about old Epiphone acoustics, I posted something about my old '67-68 Epiphone Cortez (FT45N). It's got KILLER tone compared to any newer acoustics I've played, but the fretboard has a warp in it right around the joint were the neck meets the body. So, it's dead from about the 7th fret to the body. I've made plans to use the old Christmas bonus to get that fixed and get it refretted and set up by a local shop because it's got an adjustable bridge and I'm just more comfortable leaving that to the hands of someone more experienced. Needless to say, after reading through the other thread, I had to pull it out of the closet and play it. I never noticed before but there are two cracks running from right under middle of the bridge (about 2" apart) to the back of the soundboard.

I live in Houston, which is humid enough, don't ever run the heater during the winter 'cause my apartment is 3rd floor and gets more than enough from the sun during the day. However, could this be an issue with humidity? Is there any way to keep this from getting worse? Along with the two cracks, it looks as if the soundboard is warped, kind of bulging out a little bit around where the cracks are.

Can this be repaired? And, if so, would that affect the tone of the instrument?

I just want to keep this thing playable! It is by far my favorite when it comes to my acoustics, and I don't want it to become a showpiece...

 

[Light]

It is almost certainly a humidity related issue (they almost always are). Start humidifying it aggressively, which will help, and is part of any long term method of keeping it from getting worse, but the only thing that will really stabilize it is to get them fixed. Yes, they can be fixed, and they SHOULD be fixed, and as soon as possible. Cracks are a structural issue, they get worse over time, and the longer they are left, the weaker the repair (wood oxidizes over time, and it doesn't take glue as well once this happens). Ask the repair shop how they plan on fixing it. They should both glue and cleat the cracks, but should NOT be splinting them (an old repair technique, but one which has fallen out of favor with most experienced crack repair folks). Just gluing it is not enough, nor is just cleating it (I can't tell you how many times we've had to fix bad repairs where someone did one but not the other).

On a side note, if you want your guitar to sound it's best, get rid of the adjustable bridge and have a new, wood, non-adjustable bridge made for it. Yes, it makes it non-original, but it also makes it a better guitar. A few months back, someone asked George Gruhn about doing just that on a 1960's Gibson, and he said to ditch the adjustable bridge. There is probably no higher authority on vintage guitars in the world, so if George says it's the right thing to do, it probably is. Plus, some idio..err...vintage guitar buyers are paying a lot of money for those old adjustable saddles these days, which will help to pay for the cost of improving your guitar. One of these days I'm going to start selling some of the hundreds we have at the shop (put them on ebay one at a time, you know...don't want to flood the market). We've replaced a LOT of those bridges, and the customers have always been happy with the results.


Light

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

 

[pikingrin]

Thanks for the reply Light. Now maybe a little more difficult of a question... I live in Houston, I've been talking to a shop about an hour south of where I'm at, in Clear Lake I believe. I've gotten a "quote" over the phone for a refret and all that stuff, but I'd like to find one closer to where I'm at. Seeing as how you guys (luthiers) seem to be a tight knit group (hopefully), do you have any recommendations of any shops around here?

Has anyone else in the Houston area had any work done at any local shops, and if so, any comments on their work?

 

[muttley600]

If the cracks are humidity related which is most likely then whoever does it will need to re-humidify it before they do anything else. That alone takes time so be prepared to possibly be without it for a while. The problem occurs behind the bridge because of the difference between timbers in the bridge plate, bridge and soundboard. Different timbers, grain direction and all wanting to pull in different directions. Add to that the stresses that the bridge is under and it's always going to be a potential week spot


I've seen and done a lot of similar repairs in the past and each one is different. The common thing to all would be stabilise the humidity which is the only way to close the cracks properly. The crack will need to be cleaned and re-glued best done with hide glue and then cleated. Depending on how well the cracks close will dictate how much work is need to close them flush and avoid re touching the finish. The danger with all these cracks is if they are left unattended for too long they never close fully. That would be the only time a spliced in piece would be the way to go. Even then it has to be done correctly if it's not done right you can end up with more trouble down the line. Have these cracks gone right to the binding because if they have they will have popped the braces as well. They will need to be sorted as well. I've not seen the bracing on one of these for a long while but I'm sure they have two behind the bridge. Could be wrong there though...

The hump at the 14th fret is a common occurrence on most set neck acoustics of a certain age. Depending on severity there are a few fixes ranging from refret and fingerboard skim to a neck reset. A decent shop would want to see the guitar before they would quote so be wary of a quote over the phone unless it is well qualified.

 

[pikingrin]

A decent shop would want to see the guitar before they would quote so be wary of a quote over the phone unless it is well qualified.

That's what I was kind of thinking too... I found another place that gives a "rough estimate" for charges based on the time of labor alone, kind of like an auto repair shop... haha, I sent them an e-mail, we'll see what happens.

And yeah, I started the humidifying thing today. I saw on here, on another thread that light had started about humidifying, a thing about using a moist sponge in a plastic soap dish with holes drilled through it. $1.50, hopefully it works well...

 

[Light]

That's what I was kind of thinking too... I found another place that gives a "rough estimate" for charges based on the time of labor alone, kind of like an auto repair shop... haha, I sent them an e-mail, we'll see what happens.

And yeah, I started the humidifying thing today. I saw on here, on another thread that light had started about humidifying, a thing about using a moist sponge in a plastic soap dish with holes drilled through it. $1.50, hopefully it works well...

It will. But use two, it will help more.


Light

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