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We got in a polished steel resonator with a seam split at the tailpiece. It appears to be the silver solder that was ground too thin in the tailpiece area that failed when the string tension load was applied.

It’s been a couple of decades since I did any silver soldering, and I’m wondering if anyone here has successfully done this kind of repair, of course without permanently discoloring the metal. My feeling is that because it’s polished and not plated, it should be possible to remove any surface discoloration due to heat. Any insights would be appreciated.


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From experience it's almost always preferable to replace the tailpiece with a new one.

Getting it warm enough to silver solder the joint without the metal distorting or going away all together is gonna be a trick. I'd even be reluctant to try soft soldering the thing. What is the instrument worth? I think I'd get in there with some JB-Weld along with a couple metal reinforcing tabs. The JB cures super hard, is close to the right color, and would be buffable.

My 2¢,

M

You might try contacting someone who works on band instruments. They are used to soldering relatively thin metals and might be able to give you some good advice.

This might help
http://fretsnet.ning.com/forum/topics/loose-national-guitar-seam

Thanks, guys. Great idea, Clay, contacting a band instrument repair person.

I’d considered JB Weld, but it is an expensive instrument and was hoping for something more permanent.


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