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While she might not be one of the more venerable brand names out there, she's the first guitar I bought with my hard earned money back in the early 1990's and I need to bring her back to former glory. Veneer in the front is cracked but did not completely separate. From what I understand, this could actually complicate the repair since I'll have a tough time filling the entire void with glue now.

The back... ugh, the back... In addition to the gaping maw of doom, there is also a crack that runs up into the tuning peg area (tough to see in the pic here) that I will need to address as well.

We use TBIII at work (cabinetmaker) and I'm fairly confident that once I get it clamped up and isolated, it will create a repair that will withstand the stress a 12 string has to handle, but before I make a single move, I'm curious to hear the opinions of the guys who've already made their rookie mistakes so that I might avoid them on this project.

Oh, man - nice clean break. Easy peasy - just glue it up, clamp overnight. Shouldn't even need to touch up the finish.

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I have to say I agree with Chris here That shouldn't be an issue if its glued well and clamped tight . I would let it cure a while and make sure its fresh glue. Use a syringe to get glue all the way in to the joint . Personally , I would rather clean up "over glue" than take a chance one missing any areas .

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Awesome. Can't wait to tackle this.

Couple of thoughts on the glue up.
If you can, clamp it so the headstock points down. Let gravity help you along. Push glue until you see it run out the upper edge (now the edge closest to he floor) on the sides. You may want to thin it a bit to assure good flow. I like to leave them in the clamps for a couple of days. Especially if you thin the glue.

And of course, you can use the compressor blow gun to help push the glue where you can't reach with the nozzle or a brush. Also pipe cleaners are useful to make sure you get good coverage.

And if the truss rod is in danger of the glue fixing it, use a q-tip or pipe cleaner to smear automotive wax on it so it will break loose.

Oh, don't use TBIII, use the good ole original TB1.

Pics!

I agree with everything said here with one mild exception - go for the TB Extend in this case. It actually dries even harder than the TB1 (which is actually just fine for this) but you get the added bonus of the longer work time.

Thinning the glue a bit with water is also excellent advice, just a bit though. Work the glue in there by gently working the crack open and closed a bit too.

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Pics? Oh, there WILL be pics... just as soon as I get a day off.

I've been working on the final install of a staircase at a music company based in Manhattan. Kind of a cool job. Reclaimed maple laid treads & landings on a floating iron staircase in front of a mural of the founder of Atlantic Records. I'll DEFINITELY snap a pic of that when we're done.

Hmm. So now we have TB Extend in the mix. Seems like the type of glue could be a point of contention with these Luthiers.

I may need to educate myself on the pros/cons of Titebond I, II, III versus each other and other glues before I throw down on this job.

Have any of the venerable guitar repair gurus on the board ever done a write-up on the differences between common glue products?

I wasn't aware of the extend version. Titebond's website says Extend is Titebond I with extended working time, so this would probably be a good thing. Just don't get in a hurry to take it out of the clamps. Another thing I forgot earlier was to put scotch tape around the crack. This way anything that you don't get cleaned off will only be .002" thick.

You might pick up a few hints from these. Good luck, and again PICS!!!
viewtopic.php?f=10137&t=44497&p=588412#p588412
http://www.strangeguitarworks.com/fixin ... headstock/
http://www.mylespaul.com/forums/luthier ... epair.html

Good advice. When we use epoxy for landings, we use blue painter's tape for that very reason.

There was a guy on this forum who's name I can't remember that used to work for Franklin and he said that Titebond extend is actually better for guitar work than TB1....actually, I just took the time for a quick search and found the thread: http://www.luthiersforum.com/forum/view ... 79#p595379

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Hugh Evans, I think.

Alex

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Thanks for passing that along Andy. I'll have to go out and stock up on some extend. Makes sense.