Official Luthiers Forum!

Hi folks. New member here. I am not luthier, not even close, just a guitar player (and not a very good one at that). I need some advice please.

I bought a Takamine F005 small bodied guitar this week. Solid spruce top. The top has a center seam crack in it from the bridge to the lower edge (crack thru the wood). The body was very dry. The grain lines on the top were sticking up like bumps. The radius on the top was present but too shallow.

I humidified it for the past 5 days in the case with a thin sponge wrapped around a Planet Waves humidifier and the top crack has sealed up (can not see light thru it when using a flashlight in a dark room). The grain "bumps" have disappeared and the top is starting to regain it's shape.

- do I need to glue the crack?
- can I use glue from a common source like Lowes or Home Depot and if so, what?
- do I cleat the crack?
- can I use something like a decent popsicle stick to make my cleat?
- how do I work the glue into the crack?
- after the repair is there anything I can do to minimize the finish "hump" that occured in the poly finish when the crack appeared (1000 grit sandpaper?)

Sorry for all the dumb questions. It is a decent inexpensive little guitar (I paid $125 with hard case) and despite it's problems, it sounds good. It sounds even better after humidifing and although I don't need a pro repair, I would like it to be fixed good enough to be a nice little around the house couch guitar that will last for a few years.

thanks is advance,

Jarrett

This topic should generate a lot of opinions - most of them conflicting advice

I received some advice on an old Martin 00018 I have It also had top cracks due to lack of humidity. After it was "re-humidified" it sounded great! The luthier that worked on it suggested just keep it at the right humidity and watch the cracks to make sure they weren't getting any worse. He felt that if it had stabilized and sounded great why mess with adding anything to the guitar. He said if it got worse he would suggest using glue on it but not cleats (as they wouldn't add anything to the sound of the guitar).

FWIW YMMV and so it begins

Well, you won't get too much conflicting information from those experienced in guitar repair. So here is mine:

Glue the crack. Not gluing a crack will lead to the entry of dirt over time, which will make any future repair more difficult.

Now that you got it closed up is the perfect time for the repair. The easy way is to get some Titebond Original Woodworkers Glue from your local hardware store. Apply a bead to the outside of the crack and rub it into the crack with your fingertip. Rub in circles several times applying a bit of pressure to help penetration. Take a barely damp rag and clean the excess glue off. Feel the crack with your fingers to make sure the sides of the crack are level with each other. If not, try to press the high side down. Reach inside the guitar and see if you can feel (or using a mirror, see) any glue that fully penetrated the crack. If you see none, you can add a little on the inside and rub it into the crack.

I'm with Barry on this one and I have done these repairs many times. It should be glued. Can you still force the crack open? If it's really tight you may have to separate it to get glue in. Consider your self lucky if it is indeed to tight then you won't need to apply clamps on the sides. Other note of importance is that if the crack goes under the bridge you may need to remove the bridge to do it right, but again if it's really tightened up with the humidity then you will be ok. It can't hurt to 'clamp' the crack anyway with some strong masking tape or double up on standard masking tape. once you clean the squeeze out really well then 'clamp' the crack shut by applying a piece of tape perpendicular to the crack on one side and then stretching the tape and applying it to the other such that the pressure from the stretching tape closes the crack.

I always cleat the insides of the crack too. While a Popsicle stick is not ideal it would probably be ok but spruce is a lot better. I make diamonds with the grain across the top grain. It can be tricky to align properly. The best way to do it IMO is to make clamps with powerful magnets. Placing a magnet right over the crack on the top guarantees that the patch inside will be over and across the crack.

Tightbond glue is a good choice.

Update:

Well the guitar has been glued. I applied it to both the top and bottom of the crack and worked it in. I still have to cleat it (maybe next string change).

Thanks so much for the help.

Question, before I glued the crack, I was worried about having 12 gauge strings on it (that is the factory recommended gauge). I put 10's on there but would like to get back to 12's. Is there any reason to use lighter gauge strings with this kind of crack (repaired or not).

thanks,

Jarrett

Jarrett:
You should wait for the word from the more expert repair guys, but if it were my guitar, I wouldn't worry about using the recommended strings on it.
I doubt that string pressure had anything to do with the crack.

Just keep the guitar humidified properly, and you should be fine.

If you are going to cleat the crack, since it is no longer urgent, it might be a good idea to make a proper (thin, light) cross-grain cleat from spruce to put in there. Might as well take a bit of trouble and do it right, since you have lots of time to get organized for that job. (Plenty of advice here at OLF).

Cheers
John