crack repair help needed

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benros

Posts: 144
Joined: Aug. 27 2016

crack repair help needed

hey guys, i have bought a sanchis lopez 1f today, which has a crack in the top, which i have to fix and i have a few questions on that topic. Let me first describe the scenario: Its a dry crack, some 10cm long which begins 2cm under the bridge and goes straight to the endblock/tailside purfling.
i want to underlay two backings from inside to stabilize and, since the crack is not so wide (it goes through the top, but is not wide open), fill it up with superglue.
My problem is, that the top is finished with a super thin santa claus red nitrofinish and i obviously don't want to touch it, if i didn't have to.
my questions: do you have a tip for a procedure, how to fill the crack up with glue without messing up the finish? which kind of glue would you use and how would you applicate it? do you have any suggestions how to retouch the red nitro?
thanks and greetings,
ben

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Dec. 22 2017 16:16:20

sartorius

Posts: 206
Joined: Mar. 7 2017

RE: crack repair help needed (in reply to benros)

You won't need to stabilize that crack as it has gone as far as it could (2 cm under the bridge is where some of the lattice goes so no fear of further cracking).

As to the repair/refinishing in itself it's a luthier's job. Beware of all the supposed specialists who usually end up messing the instrument (personal experience). If you have the opportunity to go to Spain for some turistic stay on the Mediterranean, arrange to have your guitar fixed by HSL themselves. That's the best bet you can make.

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Dec. 27 2017 16:29:55

Morante

Posts: 2178
Joined: Nov. 21 2010

RE: crack repair help needed (in reply to benros)

quote:

fill it up with superglue.

When a guitar comes in for repair and the luthier discovers that it has been botched with superglue, he is likely to throw his hands in the air.

Take it to somebody who knows.

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Dec. 27 2017 20:28:45

constructordeguitarras

Posts: 1672
Joined: Jan. 29 2012
From: Seattle, Washington, USA

RE: crack repair help needed (in reply to benros)

I am not a repair expert, but I wonder why you would fill the crack in, if it was caused by excessive dryness. Why not humidify the guitar and re-join the crack, instead of filling in?

_____________________________

Ethan Deutsch
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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Dec. 28 2017 2:58:39

benros

Posts: 144
Joined: Aug. 27 2016

RE: crack repair help needed (in reply to constructordeguitarras)

thanks for your replies. yesterday i repaired the crack. i underlayed two backings to stabilize the crack and recover the structural integrity of the top and filled it up superglue , mainly to close the surface. ethan, probably your suggestion would have been a more elegant and reasonable solution, but i wasn't sure if hide glue and superglue react with each other and if the crack comes from extensive dryness or just poor workmanship (since i have seen more than one sanchis with cracks at exactly the same area), so i chose the quick fix. anyway the guitar is safe and plays again!
thank you all and greetings!
ben

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Dec. 28 2017 11:22:24

sartorius

Posts: 206
Joined: Mar. 7 2017

RE: crack repair help needed (in reply to benros)

Poor workmanship is not so much the culprit as excessive dryness where you store it. I have seen several instruments of another famous builder crack at the same place (where both parts meet behind the bridge) always due to poor storage condition (in the bedroom) for years.

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Dec. 29 2017 6:41:53