Solved What happened to my guitar?

[barthoque]

I have a steel string acoustic Fender. It's about 12 years old and 7 years ago I accidentely hit it on the neck when I smashed a piece of wood on the ground to break it for a campfire. It more or less survived the assault but a crack streched for about 15 cm from the bridge downward along the neck. I diluted wood glue with water to put it in a syringe and injected it into the crack that opened up a little when I twisted the neck. After that it was playable but not great. It detuned very rapidly and never sounded good.
Now, about 7 years later, it's my favourite guitar. It sounds bright and clear and plays like a dream, it's super light. It still detunes a little but that's no longer a big ploblem. Actually, it's such a nice guitar that someone offered me 400 euro for it, which is 150 euro more than I payed for it 12 years ago. I won't sell it in a thousand years though.
Can someone explain what happened to my guitar?

 

[sickstring69]

Shit luck. I repaired a massive crack across the neck with Elmers glue after a nasty fall. It happened in 1975 and my old classical still plays perfect. Shit luck...

 

[Treeline]

You broke the neck and fixed it with the wrong glue. You used a flexible glue that does not stand up to the constant stress of strings tuned to pitch, which is why the neck is now unstable. Unless the break is completely through the neck and the fracture is easily reopened for cleaning and regluing with an appropriate glue, the least expensive fix is probably to replace the neck. Either way the cost can be significant, approaching or equalling the value of the guitar.

I'd take it to a good luthier for an opinion, as some other alternative may present itself to stabilize the neck. Depending on the kind of fracture, there may be all kinds of possibilities, such as doweling or ebony inserts in place of or across the fracture line and so forth. But it's tricky stuff. Don't be surprised if you're already at the point of diminished returns.

 

[barthoque]

Actually I'm very happy with the way it is now. It sounds and plays better then it ever did. I may have used the wrong glue but it turned out just right. The detuning problem is very minor and the rest just got better. Like sickstring69 said; I think I'm just lucky.

 

[Imaduck]

So you were chopping wood with your guitar?

Please don't take the term "axe" seriously....

 

[barthoque]

So you were chopping wood with your guitar?

Please don't take the term "axe" seriously....

Here's the story...

We were having a good oldfashioned campfire in the woods and we played guitar. I tried to break a log into smaller pieces by smashing it on the ground, but since I have a black cover for my guitar I didn't see it and hit it.