Official Luthiers Forum!

So this week I had a dreadnought arrive in the workshop with a puncture in the side at the location of an output jack:



The puncture is a little more than 3/4” in size. I’m told the guitar was dropped a few feet onto the jack. There was very little internal reinforcement in the area, and what was there was actually a bit askew from where the factory installed the jack.

The customer asked for a jack plate which could cover the damage. Various steel Les Paul style or oval plates from the parts bin didn’t quite fit the curve of the side, so I decided to make one.

I bent a .060” padauk layer and an .060” camphor layer to the right curve and laminated them cross-grain, like plywood. The result was very rigid. Some shaping, drilling and satin nitro and I had this:




I added .070 internal cross-grain reinforcement around the puncture to stiffen the side, hold a longer screw and help prevent any cracks propagating in future.



Now the jack is mounted firmly to the new plate, which bears against a wide stiff portion of the side, to hopefully handle future torque and impact loads on the jack a bit better.

I’m hopeful this repair will be robust enough and the customer is satisfied with it but I don’t like the look of a big jack plate like this on an acoustic.

My question is - what are some different approaches to fixing punctures like this around a jack? Perhaps which actually aim to repair the damage rather than reinforce and hide the area. I’d like to knock a few holes in my workshop test mule and practice some more aesthetically pleasing techniques for future use.

That's as good an option as any, Josh. Wait until you get your first bullet hole.....

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"Act your age, not your shoe size" - Prince

Thanks Chris. I’m still working on my repair chops, if anything like that shows up I’ll refer the owner to a luthier of greater caliber.

CLEVER! You are fitting right in here.

_________________
"Act your age, not your shoe size" - Prince