Help with a couple of repairs

vertigo88

So, the other night a bulldog took a couple of bites at my beloved acoustic guitar... It now has a fairly big hole in the side and a small hole with accompanying cracks in the top...

Ideally I would take the guitar to a professional repair man but being totally skint this isn't really an option just now. Has anyone taken on a repair like this and could give me some information about how to go about it? After a bit of research online I was thinking about using magnets and glue to get a bit of veneer stuck behind the big hole and then trying to fill it from the front. Not too sure about the crack on the top... Was thinking maybe a sliver of wood to fill the hole and try to get some expanding glue into the cracks? Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Cheers

octatonic

That is going to be quite tricky to repair seamlessly without specialist equipment that will cost a bit of money and then you need to know how to use it properly.

Seriously, take it to a pro.

Otherwise, I would splint the top- yes you should use a small sliver of wood that fits into the hole.

I would fist make the hole in the top larger and more uniform, so that you can shape a sliver of wood more easily- it will be very difficult to do it as it is.

The side is more difficult- you need to be able to bend wood, which requires a bending iron.

Otherwise it is a fairly similar process.

Neither of these repairs (esp the side) are jobs for a novice.

Give us a look at your bully.

I have one too.

WezV

Its a complex job, more so because of the laminated sides.

You really need to tidy up the hole and cut a new bit to fit, which involves a bit of wood bending or cutting it from a donor guitar.

Could always just tidy the hole and make it a soundport for the dogs benefit.

Stabilise the cracks in the top by pumping in some glue, hide is best but superglue will work. Once stabilised you might be able to minimize the dents with steam. Splice in new bits where wood is missing, may also need some cleats inside as extra support

Stay away from expanding glue

WezV

The real question is whether you want to learn how to do a proper fix, or will a quick guerrilla bodge do.

Sometimes the proper fix isn't viable. So a guerrilla bodge is preferable to scrapping the guitar. One of my mates filled a similar side hole with a fibre glass repair kit.... Looks terrible and makes me cringe, but it has been going strong for the best part of a decade. Still couldn't bring myself to recommend that method though

vertigo88

The dog isn't mine, it was at a mates house! Aye, it's a guitar i'm quite fond of, being my only acoustic and having played it a lot so i'd like to do a good fix on it. 

The rest of the guitar is pretty beat up so looks are not too much of a problem I was more worried about the structural soundness of the top in years to come.

I'll try and get it into some pro guitar techs next time i'm in a city and get some quotes.

Rhoadhouse_Music

I can't see the photo's, but if it is of some sentimental value there's no harm in bodging a repair... #:-S

Get yourself down to your nearest autoparts store and buy a tin of Plastic Padding and a packet of the aluminium mesh for filing holes.
Make the holes bigger if necessary, then cut a piece of mesh slightly bigger than the hole(s). Put some filler around the edges of the mesh, insert it into the hole with a pair of needle nose pliers and pull it up to stick it to the underside of the hole; hold it until it sets (doesn't take long). Then mix up some more filler and spread it over the mesh, just over flush with the upper surface. Once it hardens, rub down level with the surface, then spray with a suitably matching can of lacquer...

Yes it's a bodge, but it will only cost you about £25 plus your time; which is better than paying someone like me more than the guitar is worth to do it for you!

impmann

Plastic body filler in an acoustic?

Sorry but no - that's a bad idea. Plus if you ever want it repaired properly, removing the bodge will be near impossible.

Rhoadhouse_Music

Agree to disagree: I've made several such cheap repairs to guitars which would otherwise have found their way to the dump...

...it's a thin repair which can be invisible with a little care; no different to gluing bracing on the inside and a bridge on the top, or fitting electrics to a semi...

ICBM

I had a cheap classical which someone had repaired some bad body damage with fibreglass bridging and epoxy on the inside, and painted it up on the outside so you could hardly tell. Perfectly acceptable given that it was a cheap 70s plywood guitar and not exactly a Ramirez. Sounded fine and looked fine from the outside.

Rhoadhouse_Music

My point exactly...

...but what else would you expect from someone who has the audacity to make/sell solderless control plates for those who don't mind admitting they can't solder!

This is the 21st Century; it's not all Lyres and Lutes now you know (unless you're Richie Blackmore of course!)...

usedtobe

There's that ronseal high performance wood filler, which is pretty much a more woody coloured plastic padding. Comes in 3 colours.

WezV

usedtobe said:

There's that ronseal high performance wood filler, which is pretty much a more woody coloured plastic padding. Comes in 3 colours.

it will fill dents and replace missing wood reasonably well.   but on a hole like this you would be able to push it straight through

usedtobe

I hadn't really read the thread, properly. I was just chipping in to the plastic padding discussion, really, but yeah..

impmann

As someone who restores classic cars for a hobby and having worked in body shops in my youth, I wouldn't use body filler in that way for its intended purpose. It's bloody horrible stuff. Plus if you use it it in that sort of quantity, it shrinks with time and has the structural integrity of cheese. In short, it's crap - you only ever use body filler for small imperfections in the metal. Using it to bridge holes with that shitty mesh is the worlds worst bodge in bodywork terms.

To use that on a guitar? Really? Splicing wood back in is a lot better solution, although I understand the comments on cost. If its that badly damaged, stabilise the hole and leave it as a hole - it's part of the guitar's "story".

I'll agree to disagree with you guys.

ICBM

I don't think we're talking about the same thing…

I wouldn't use body filler either, or mesh - I would use fibreglass bridging and epoxy, exactly as was done to my old cheap classical. Nothing wrong with it at all, it was as good after twenty years as it had been when done. You couldn't even really tell unless you looked inside.

I wouldn't even use car body filler for filling old routs in a solidbody, I've seen that too many times and it always shrinks and cracks.

Rhoadhouse_Music

Yes, but I'm of an age when, in their yoof, people used to buy an old banger with a year's ticket, tax it and drive it for a year, then scrap it and start again...

...I've probably been through gallons of 'Type Elastic' over the years!

These days I pay a body shop to cover up the 'Asda-Rash' our nice shiny new models always seem to attract, and each time it costs me more than those old bangers ever did :-S

The 'bodge' I advocated above is the ideal alternative to a trip to the local dump: and I've yet to see one of my 'bodges' fail to keep a customer happy...

...they're simply offensive to those who would rather see it done 'properly' but if they're not the one paying for it, and saving a significant wedge in the process, what's the problem?

We're not exactly talking about a Taylor or a Martin here now, are we...

Sassafras

Don't know what anyone's talking about 'cos I can't see any photos.