I dont know where to post this. My Harlin Brothers Multi Kord that I recently acquired from an EBay bid has a bad crack as shown. It goes through the thin wood where the changer lies but is just a surface crack moving down the underside.
I need your expertise. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to STOP THE CRACKING. Has anyone experienced this problem? The more suggestions the better.
If you suggest putting a few rods through the width (8") of it, I need to know EXACTLY where.
Take some denatured alcohol and a small device, maybe a needle and a syringe. Put the alcohol in the syringe and squirt it in the crack, holding the guitar up vertically. As you squirt the alcohol in the crack, take the needles or another thin object and rake it down thru the crack to remove and debris and crud that might have accumulated over time. The alcohol will not make the wood swell up. There has to be a fairly clean surface in the crack before anything else is done. After you have cleaned it, get a small bottle of titebond III. Work a good amount of the titebond into the crack and take a couple of woodworkers pipe clamps and draw them up good and tight, so they wipe close the crack. After about twenty minutes take a damp paper towel and wipe away any of the titebond squeez out ( while the clamps are still clamped). After about two or three hours, you can remove the clamps. The titebond blue is stronger than the wood.
Hi John,
Thank you so much for the information. I will certainly do this to seal up the crack. I'm trying to figure out what started this and if sealing up the crack alone will stop the flexing from all the pounds of pressure when the pedals are pushed. Also possible that because the wood and every thing on it smells so moldy. The case fell apart and had to be thrown out. Maybe it weakened the wood.
I'll glue it as you said and try it out to seeing if it stays in tune, and go from there.
Thanks again,
Gloria
I would pull up www.stewmac.com and search for a short video that explains how they handle cracks in guitars.
They have some specialized items for just that purpose.
Erv
