I am feeling pretty pleased with myself having just finished my first snapped neck repair. Nothing spectacularly impressive about the guitar in question, just a cheap Epi LP Junior special with a bolt-on neck and wrap-over bridge/tailpiece..
One of the kids at work had found it in one of the practice rooms with the headstock snapped off but still attached by the fretboard. Fortunately it was a pretty clean wound so I was able to just glue it and clamp it. I left it to set for a day before cleaning it up and I have sanded and buffed it to a very nice, smooth satin finish. Even if I say so myself, it looks a very neat fix! I also took the opportunity with the neck off to sand down all the thick and bumpy paint in the neck pocket.
Strung up, the guitar actually feels better and the intonation is actually spot on... probably a fluke.
The big question is, how long before it gets knocked over and snaps again!
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"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
If it does break again then it probably won't break at the join.
If you've used PVA then it is a bit of a gamble.
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If it goes again, it goes - the official line was 'bin it'!
In the past I would have taken it to the DT technician who was always happy to do stuff like this but he retired and his replacement is a bit unwilling to help out. 'I'm not a luthier' he says. So I am having to learn the ways of the wood on the fly and on the cheap!
The problem is that it will slowly 'creep' under high 'peel' loads - which a split in a guitar neck is pretty much the perfect example of - and the joint will probably open up again. I learned this the hard way with the first couple of headstock repairs I did.
If it does, probably the only thing you can do to repair it is to *melt* the PVA using heat, which will allow you to clamp it back tight again. You can't remove the glue and use something better once it's soaked into the wood. Melting it might be difficult without damaging the finish though.
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
Studio: https://www.voltperoctave.com
Music: https://www.euclideancircuits.com
Me: https://www.jamesrichmond.com
Well at least it's only a shitty guitar. Can you recommend a good brand of glue?
Studio: https://www.voltperoctave.com
Music: https://www.euclideancircuits.com
Me: https://www.jamesrichmond.com
More importantly , Titebond Original. The red one.
Because I hate it when I recommend titebond original and people turn up with Titebond 2 or 3 assuming its better.
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The quick-set stuff is completely useless for this sort of work. The high-strength slow-set is perfect though - it works best if heated with a hairdryer or a bench lamp so it becomes thin and transparent - it will flow better into the crack, soak into the wood and set harder and stronger. I heat the joint rather than the glue itself, both before and after clamping.
Unfortunately it's too late for that - you'll never get the PVA out of the joint, and epoxy won't stick to it.
To be honest if it opens up again you've very little to lose by learning how to do a proper splint joint… which will hold, even if you've had to re-melt a PVA repair.
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
On the rare occasions I use Araldite I mask the surrounding area with Copydex.
Think of Titebond as Back to the Future of glues, not the Godfather.
Studio: https://www.voltperoctave.com
Music: https://www.euclideancircuits.com
Me: https://www.jamesrichmond.com
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
It's a bit disappointing that I'm looking at the thing failing but hopefully I will have some idea of how to deal with it. TBH, as I said it was heading for the bin, so it'll be no loss to experiment on. @ICBM what do you mean by splint joint?
http://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/39788/repairing-ibanez-rg470-neck-pictures#latest
Given a perfectly executed joint, it is unlikely that bonding strength would be an issue, but perfect joints are not straight forward on finished items.
If you take a look on luthier forums, for instance the MIMF, then hot hide glue is almost universally recommended for luthiery, both primary build and repair for two reasons
1 - it dries crystal clear and very hard (for acoustically superior joints, so the argument goes)
2 - it is easily repairable (new hot hide glue will adhere well to old hot hide glue, which cannot be said for PVA/aliphatic resins), and 're-jointable' with the application of heat.
Cheers,
Adam
It also only has a shelf life of about a year, so if you bought it a while back then ditch it.
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