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Greetings!

I got in an old Classical guitar from a family that had a bad separation of the sound board. I rehydrated the wood and it came together to this point. This is a no named guitar, but has been in their family for 75 years so I am treating pretty gentle. I have to replace the bridge, but here is my question.

I don't want to remove the top, does anyone have any tricks on hiding or doing away with this last line you can see. I plan to clete the board from inside the box using small squares to hold in place. Any thoughts?




Thanks

Mike
White Oak, Texas

Mike, it sounds like you have a very delicate job to do there, good luck with this repair!

Without removing the top all I would know to do is to make splits to fill the gap. What does it look like a the roseete?

MichaelP

the line diappears coming up to the rosette and the rosette area itself is still good. I have found that these older guitars, especially the classicals are really tough to disassemble without creating additional damage. The crack originally was about twice the width and the guitar was clearly very dry, so adding some moisture sponge and baggy allowed it to correct to this point. The binding and purfs are in excellent shape.

Mike
White Oak, Texas

Then a splint I think is the way to go to keep the integraty of the guitar togather. I will likely be noticeable due to the aging of the top but at least it would make the top stable. MichaelP38954.6347453704

Mike,

I have this same problem with a Spanish-built classical I own that is almost forty years old. It's a beautiful guitar and I have no plans to replace the top. What I plan to do is buy the Sloane tools for cutting and installing a splint. Stewmac sells them, I believe.

I've seen guitars with splints installed, and when done right, they don't show. The key I think is to install a splint that is about the same width as the gap. On yours, getting the colors to match might be the trickiest aspect of the job, but it should still be doable.

Best,

Michael

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Live to Play, Play to Live

Mike,

I like the idea of the splint and thought of it when you first posted but was too to mention it, being somewhat "newb"....

But instead of matching the existing wood which might be next to impossible, what about contrasting the splint with the top? Maybe the splint could be a close-but-not-exact match to some other distant wood?

Just a thought......my one and only for the day

When I talk to the luthier/conservator at the RCM museum, the policy on repairs to historic instruments is that the repair should be visible and clearly not part of the original instrument new wood is matched to the old but no attempt to age it is made. The same has been true in building and porcelain repair and conservation for some time now and the instrument people seem to be coming to the same conclusion. The history of the instrument should be visible is the current thinking.

Colin

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I don't believe in anything, I simply make use of a set of reasonable working hypotheses.

Thanks all,

Colin S and others - do you think it would be wise to just reset the bridge and not attempt any further repair since this will not affect the performance of the instrument or would you think it wiser to to a splint repair?



Mike
White Oak, Texas

Thanks Colin!

That is good info to keep in mind.

I recall too that changing a finish, refinishing, and/or altering antique furiture is a no-no. This stands as logical reasoning for musical instruments as well

Mike is that seam actually open. if so I would splint it with out a doubt.

Mike

By the look of the speeration the seam has failed amd will in time spread and probably crack the rosette area.

So some sort of repair is needed.

The guitar will likely dry out again and the seam will open back to its original span. I vote for the splint, besides it would be good practice when that really expensive guitar crosses your path and you have to do it!

_________________
"Building guitars looks hard, but it's actually much harder than it looks." Tom Buck

Splint it is, I will post the results, again thanks for the help

Mike
White Oak, Texas

it looks as if the seam is still gaping a bit. if so, does it close when you squeeze the top laterally?

if so a splinting is probably unnecessary, but the seam needs to be cleaned out and reglued before installing the cleats.

and from the photo it also looks as though the bridge was glued slightly off to the bass side; maybe an optical illusion of the photo. crazymanmichael38954.8749884259

Michael, the gap is about a razor blade wide now. The guitar is pretty solid and applying pressure from any direction is not closing up this final fine line. I think the bridge was an illusion, however, I am going to verify the set to make sure. After some additional inspection with a mirror and by touch, it appears that the crack is completely closed inside the box. So I am going to proceed with the splint, glue it in and then cleat the inside of the box.

Thanks

Mike
White Oak, Texas

Just wanted to thank all you guys and show a couple of pics of the repair. I have a little clean up to do and matching the wood was difficult, but I used the best match I had. The crack is gone and after I clean it up and polish I think it will look great. I did the splint method referred to above. Thanks for your help.

Michael, the bridge was off a little and I made the adjustment, thanks for pointing that out.

At any rate, all is secure and the bridge is glued and clamped as you see.




Sorry for the lighting, I took this in my shop

Thanks again to all,

Mike
White Oak, Texas

Well Done Mike

She is all set for another 70 years

Just a final note on this thread, it turns out the guitar is over 100 years old, I was worried sick over messing up one that was 70. The owner was really pleased with the final outcome and the fact that all original wood was saved. Again, thanks to all you guys that responded, sometimes you know what to do you just need some encouragement and verification before you step off the cliff.

Mike
White Oak, Texas

That sure looks swell, well done!

_________________
"Building guitars looks hard, but it's actually much harder than it looks." Tom Buck

Congrats on the repair Mike, job well done my friend!