Official Luthiers Forum!

Hi Guys,
Just picked up this 1959 Gibson LG0.Its in good nick apart from the obvious damage.
Want your opinions on how best to deal with the damage.Its separated at the lower bout.Separation runs from about 2" before the end pin up to 1" before the waist.A piece of the back has broken off(still have the missing piece)and its also got another crack about 1 1/4" in from the missing piece.
Just want opinions on how you guys would procede with repair....its a vintage(although not terribly expensive)piece would really like to avoid removing the back.
Its a wonderful little guitar.......sounds better than any mahogany Martin I've played.The mahogany is really dark on this one and the finish has a that aged nitro craze over the entire guitar.
Thanks for any thoughts,hope the photos tell the story!

Apply Titebond original yellow glue to all the splits / joints / cracks, pull it all together with masking tape. Let dry. Remove tape. Enjoy.

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I'd do the inner crack first and give it some cleats. Then the rim; with spool clamps or cam clamps, not masking tape (insufficient pressure). The chip on the outside of the bout last.

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Howard Klepper
http://www.klepperguitars.com

When all else fails, clean the shop.

Wow, I still have my friends LDO in my shop. He sort of gave it to me to experiment on repair techniques. It is a short scale, small guitar that sounds good. His was in an accident, cracked on top and bottom, with much of the bracing loose or broken.

Some things I might consider would be to wax the area around the crack that is away from the sides, keeping the wax out of the crack edges. If the crack can be closed with a small amount of pressure you may be able to place or tape weights on either or both sides of the crack to keep the crack in a closed position. Some tape may be required in a spot to pull the crack together. Then, carefully and in small amounts pipette some thin CA in the crack. In the mahagony you might use black CA (less noticable after clean up) or transtint mahagony to color the CA. Stuff some paper towels in the inside to prevent CA drips. I would wipe the crack with a paper towel wetted with denatured alcohol as you go to keep as much CA off the surface as possible and follow up with some delicate scraping.

The rim crack and the broken section would wait until the interior crack cured. Here the only tip I would add to what has already been suggested is to clean the powdery hide glue from the back and sides as much as you can by scraping with an Xacto knife in the seams then blow out with compressed air. To apply glue I would spread it in the seams with the Xacto knife. You may have to thin Titebond for this. Wipe up as you go and at the unbound edge tape should work for clamping pressure.

I'd use hot hide glue. You can clean it off of the old finish very easily with warm water. Check out Frets.com. Frank Ford has a lot of good tips for repairing cracks.

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Ken Franklin
clumsy yet persistent
https://www.kenfranklinukulele.com