Repairing a guitar neck - any instrument makers out there?

[BrianD]

Hi all,

my daughter has managed to break her guitar neck at the head ':roll:' ':evil:' I took the guitar to the dealer (who does repairs) and on examination he suggested I glue the head back on using Araldite Blue and White and place the joint under a cramp.

The break is not through and is a clean shear without splintering - along the wood grain.

Is this Araldite the right product to use? Any suggestions welcome.

Appreciated in advance.

 

[Anonymous]

Hi Brian

I would expect the Araldite should repair the guitar fine, it is an extremely strong glue and I have used it in similar applications many times

 

[NKE]

Hi Brian,
At last a subject I am qualified to give an answer!
I think it depends a lot on the quality of the guitar. In my field which is violins, violas and cellos we use almost without exception hide glue for all repairs because it is totally reversible, I say almost because certain types of neck breaks on less valuable instruments are sometimes glued using Araldite or cascamite (not sure of the spelling).
Using araldite cold has a bit of a problem for this sort of repair as it is a bit thick which will mean it is difficult to close the break totally and have an invisible repair,… but if you mix the araldite on a stainless spoon and then heat it a bit, this will make the glue much more runny and consequently you can get the glued joint much neater.
neil

 

[Gill]

That's a wonderful insight into the tricks of instrument makers, Neil. Thank you.

I'm just wondering if you have a method of removing surplus Araldite from the spoon? I can see my cutlery drawer becoming rather sparse otherwise.

Gill

 

[BrianD]

Thanks for the info - especially about making the mixture 'runny'.

Fortunately, I have a pile of old spoons so voilà.......so to speak....

Hopefully I will get this right. Much appreciated!

Cheers.

 

[MIGNAL]

If the head is still attached I would use Hide glue, there are a couple of distinct advantages to using Hide glue in this situation. It will run and wick into the crack much better than Araldite and it's easy to clean up the surplus. It is also strong enough for this type of joint, much better than PVA which suffers from creep and can leave a very visible glue line. Remove the machine heads before gluing especially if the break goes across the drilled holes, clean the holes of surplus glue - otherwise the rollers won't push back in.

 

[Supernova9]

A picture of the break would be helpful. If it is straight along the grain as you say, then don't use an epoxy, use an Aliphatic Resin glue (such as Titebond), the epoxy is a gap filler and will not give a seamless repair.

 

[Benchwayze]

Brian,

Did your daughter break the guitar due to an impact accident, or did she use steel strings on a guitar meant for nylon strings? It does happen. Not often, and usually the break occurs where the neck joins the body of the guitar.

If the guitar was made for steel strings, and the tension (at concert pitch) caused the break then I would try to contact the makers. If it's an 'economy' guitar, bin it and get her something a little more up-market. There might well be something better for not much more than the repair will cost; knowing some luthiers! (I repeat, SOME luthiers.)

If she really loves the guitar, whatever her present level, she will progress much better on a good guitar anyhow.

As an example, in the 1950's I played an old broken, Hofner with a 4" x 10 screw, fixed through the neck into the heel. As there was no suitable glue aboard the ship I was in, I had to make do and tightened the screw now and then. Wish I'd had my Gibson then! I might have been a 'Rock Star' by now!

John

 

[Woody Alan]

I'm just wondering if you have a method of removing surplus Araldite from the spoon? I can see my cutlery drawer becoming rather sparse otherwise.

methanol will thin epoxy and clean it off. If using it to thin, use a few tiny drops at a time,as it will affect the integrity of the glue. If using heat to thin it's preferable to warm the two containers in warm water before mixing as after mixing trying to control warming is much more difficult and will accelerate going off more quickly.

Alan

 

[Gill]

Thanks Alan, that's well worth knowing . I presume you can buy methanol at hardware stores?

Gill (never afraid to ask the questions that make her look like a complete silly person )

 

[Woody Alan]

I presume you can buy methanol at hardware stores?

Ahh now you would have to ask that I used to get it from an individual supplier at model aircraft shows because it is the main constituant of model aeroplane fuel. You can't use the fuel for this purpose because it's been mixed with oil. I can only suggest you ask your "helpful" chemist they do exist and should be able to supply most chemicals. Maybe someone knows another more readily available type of alcohol that will do the same thing a denatured alcohol perhaps.

Alan

 

[BrianD]

Jeepers!

I did not expect to get so many responses!

I will post a pic this evening so as to illustrate the break.

It is not an economy guitar - I would say low average - well compared to the cheapies I saw anyway - I paid £220 for it at the time.

In any event, it is worth trying to fix it - worst case it does not work out and out it goes! She plays her electric guitar in the meantime.

Give me 30 mins to get sorted - well I will give the pic a try!

 

[Racers]

Hi,
For thin epoxy try wilcos own brand its also nearly half the price!

Pete

 

[mudman]

Tip I had from somewhere on this forum for epoxy is to use a hairdryer. If you spread the glue on the break and heat it, it suddenly goes runny and sinks into all the parts of the break and coats all the surfaces.

 

[Colin C]

To clean up epoxy you can also use Meths.

 

[BrianD]

I finally managed to get the photos as requested done! What a mission! Apologies to those that asked.

Finally, here they are:

Back View

Side View

Top View

What I have now ordered some liquid hide glue for the repair. It seems to be a clean break and should be able to be repaired well. I chose hide glue, although I am not experienced with it, at least allows me to "undo the damage" if I muck it up.

I will also have to sand the joint to clean it up afterwards, any suggestions as to what varnish / colouring I should use as It would be good to match the existing clour/varnish.

Appreciated in advance.

 

[Smudger]

This site has illustrations of a headstock repair:

http://www.manchesterguitartech.co.uk/repairs.html

He used aliphatic resin adhesive.

Whatever that is.

 

[MIGNAL]

Aliphatic resin is the yellow glue such as Titebond.
I'm afraid liquid hide glue is a poor choice for this type of repair, in fact liquid hide glue is a poor choice for any type of bonding other than a meeting with the rubbish bin. You need the real stuff.

 

[dunbarhamlin]

Recommend checking Frank Ford's site - lots of info on repair techniques, glues and more.

The page dealing with this wiplash type fracture is http://www.frets.com/FRETSPages/Lut...okenHeadstocks/PegheadCrack/pegheadcrack.html but do check out other pages too - a great resource.

Cheers
Steve

 

[Geoff]

I've repaired hundreds [yes,hundreds] of broken headstocks. The break is short but clean...yellow glue will be fine.