Big Crack

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Big Crack

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Stu

Posts: 2537
Joined: Jan. 30 2007
From: London (the South of it), England

Big Crack

hey guys, I rarely have need to post in here, but something ugly happened on my recent visit to Spain. Whilst practicing one afternoon, I turned quickly when I was called and my guitar received the lightest tap from the chair I was sitting on. I looked down to see this heartbreaking site!!

Whats to be done? It doesn't appear to have altered the sound at all but a Luthier or pro player might disagree. The guitar is an Alhambra 7fs, it was going for a £400 when I bought it and while its not the greatest guitar it means a lot to me and I have no money to buy anything better or as good right now. Is this repairable??

Thanks in advance
Stu

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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Oct. 9 2008 5:23:52

Anders Eliasson

Posts: 5780
Joined: Oct. 18 2006

RE: Big Crack (in reply to Stu)

Hi Stu.

Of course it can be repaired and I will advice you to do so.

The guitar cracked when you hit the chair, but it was just waiting for a reason to crack. It has most probably dried out to much. and maybe it was built under humid conditions.

First of all get some humidity in the guitar. Leave it in its case laying down, put some plastic in the bottom of the guitar (inside) and a humid sponge above the plastic. (humid, not wet!!!!!!!!!!!!) Its important that the sponge wont come in contact with any wood!!!!!

Leave it like that for 24 hours, take the sponge out and leave the guitar for anther 24 hours.

Examin the guitar. Is the crack open? If not, let some very thin superglue (Stewmacs number 10 is the best I know) seep into the crack. Repeat a couple of times so the it get filled up completely. Let it dry for the night. The exess superglue you can scrape off with a thin cabinet scraper.

I have repaired cracks which were worse like that.

If, after having given the guitar some humidity, the crack stays open, the best is to glue in some small wooden pieces called diamongs on the inside of the soundboard or if its very open make a wooden piece that fits into the crack.

From what I see, the first option should be the best.

The guitar has a VERY wide grained soundboard of a mediocre quality. I find it impressive that Alhambra uses such cheap wood. They may have payed 3 - 5 euros for that soundboard (Buying big quantity). Why cant they afford someting less mediocre that cost 20,-€. I mean the 7 fs is not a cheap guitar.

Good luck with the repair.

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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Oct. 9 2008 23:42:30

Stu

Posts: 2537
Joined: Jan. 30 2007
From: London (the South of it), England

RE: Big Crack (in reply to Anders Eliasson)

Anders, Thank you very much for the advice I will do exactly that. I have located some stewmacs 10 on their site. Do you order that glue direct from their site in the US or do you know of somewhere in Europe? posted time is rather long!

I will do as you said with the humid sponge.
I have some questions though.... 1. When you say "Humid not Wet", I understand I don't want the sponge to be dripping, but how much moisture should I leave in it and should it be hot?
2. is the point of the sponge to open the crack to allow glue in or to close it??
3. I'll prob have to remove strings to get inside (unless i can find some flexible plastic) is removing the strings a problem? should I leave some on?

The rest I think is very clear, many thanks.

Stu

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Oct. 10 2008 3:21:26

Ricardo

Posts: 14828
Joined: Dec. 14 2004
From: Washington DC

RE: Big Crack (in reply to Anders Eliasson)

quote:

ORIGINAL: Anders Eliasson

The guitar has a VERY wide grained soundboard of a mediocre quality.

Is that actually a cracked soundboard, or is it the cypress back? Anyway I have played some guitars with wide grain that sounded pretty good. Why does the wide grain mean it is "cheap"?

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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Oct. 10 2008 21:43:16

hamia

Posts: 403
Joined: Jun. 25 2004

RE: Big Crack (in reply to Ricardo)

I'd guess that rigidity is a function of grain spacing. The more tightly spaced the more rigid. And a rigid sound board will reflect the sound waves better than a flexible one.

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Oct. 11 2008 1:40:06

Anders Eliasson

Posts: 5780
Joined: Oct. 18 2006

RE: Big Crack (in reply to Stu)

quote:

Why does the wide grain mean it is "cheap"?

Because of current market economy.

You can make good guitars with wide grain but this one has very wide grain. I personally prefer a bit of grain spacing in a soundboard, especially if the contrast in the grain is very high and the winter growth is ver thin. This normally gives the best stiffness/weight ratio which is THE important factor in a soundboard.

It is the soundboard. Look at the purfling.

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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Oct. 11 2008 2:30:25

Pimientito

Posts: 2481
Joined: Jul. 30 2007
From: Marbella

RE: Big Crack (in reply to Ricardo)

quote:

Why does the wide grain mean it is "cheap"?

The grain comes from the rings of wood added to the trunk of a tree every year. Trees that grow fast add more wood each year to the trunk than trees that grow slowly. Therefore a very wide grain comes from a fast growing tree and therefore the wood is cheaper. This is particularly noticable in Pine tops.

Stu- this happens a lot in centrally heated houses, leaving guitars in cars or near windows with direct sunlight etc. I had problems with tone and warping when i was living in the UK. House tend to be hot and dry whilst outside is very cold and damp. This constant change is very bad for the guitar as as anders says, wide grains are more prone to cracking. Keep the guitar in a room where the central heating isnt blasting it all day like a spare roomand never ever leave it near a radiator.

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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Oct. 11 2008 4:41:08

jshelton5040

Posts: 1500
Joined: Jan. 17 2005

RE: Big Crack (in reply to Pimientito)

quote:

ORIGINAL: Pimientito

The grain comes from the rings of wood added to the trunk of a tree every year. Trees that grow fast add more wood each year to the trunk than trees that grow slowly. Therefore a very wide grain comes from a fast growing tree and therefore the wood is cheaper. This is particularly noticable in Pine tops.

While this statement is true it's not the whole story. Young trees tend to have more wide grain than old ones. If you look at a crosscut of big tree the grain at the outside is always more narrow than the grain at the center. The tree is growing at the same rate but as it gets bigger the growth is spread over increased height and width therefore the grain becomes more fine. Cheap topwood generally runs from medium/fine grain at the center to very wide grain at the edges indicated a small less desirable tree. To get uniform fine grain over the whole width of the soundboard requires either very large low elevation trees or medium/large high elevation trees which are both pretty scarce this makes the wood more expensive.

By Pine I assume you mean Red Cedar which if properly cured is no more susceptible to checks than spruce.

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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Oct. 11 2008 7:00:13

Anders Eliasson

Posts: 5780
Joined: Oct. 18 2006

RE: Big Crack (in reply to Stu)

quote:

I will do as you said with the humid sponge.
I have some questions though.... 1. When you say "Humid not Wet", I understand I don't want the sponge to be dripping, but how much moisture should I leave in it and should it be hot?
2. is the point of the sponge to open the crack to allow glue in or to close it??
3. I'll prob have to remove strings to get inside (unless i can find some flexible plastic) is removing the strings a problem? should I leave some on?

Hi Stu, sorry for the late reply. I forgot it.

1) The sponge should just be humid. Squeeze out excess water

2) The point of the sponge is to humidify the guitar so the the crack closes.

3) I would always take the strings off a guitar with a crack in ordre to release tension on the soundboard, but since this crack is very close to the sides, I dont think it matters

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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Oct. 11 2008 23:15:10