I'm Repairing a cheap Fender acoustic guitar. The Guitar fell on the ground and separated the neck from the body. (I didn't do it) a clean separation. In fact it looks like little to no glue was used to hold it together in the first place. I was wondering what kind of glue would be best to repair? Wood, Epoxy, ... other?
Thanks
Cedar
Rarely would epoxy be used for something like this. Can you describe the separation in more detail -- maybe post a link to a pic of the injured.
-=tension & release=-
hey cedar.
I had a break that sounds similar to your's on my 12 string. i used titebond. works like a charm and its still holding strong.
Dave
I've used Elmers Carpenters glue in some situations. When I need a real strong hold I use Gorilla glue, but it expands when it drys so you gotta get rid of the excess.
This doesn't sound like a broken neck or peghead, but a separated dovetail or similar. That's why I asked for more detail. If it is indeed the neck-body joint, it will require more than just picking a glue, applying and clamping. It will need to be set for correct alignment and angle with the body.
-=tension & release=-
Here are some pictures. Thanks for the info everyone..
Wow - That is one crazy break. It separated at the spliced-on heel. That could be due to defective or poor glueing of the heel splicing. You could try either hide glue (the traditional stuff) or Titebond Original (a.k.a. type I), but this looks as if there might have been some damage to the dovetail joint. The part of the dovetail nearest the fingerboard is sheared off and still glued into the body. That might make this all a bit iffy.
If you try to glue it as is, first clean away all the original glue on the surfaces. I'm betting there is actually glue residue on the sheared surfaces of the heel, as it probably broke apart where it was pieced together. You should clean (scrape) both sides of that to ensure adhesion. I put your odds of a straight glue job working at 50/50. To improve on that, you'd probably need to remove the pieces of the heel and dovetail from the body and reattach these to the neck with glue plus doweling and/or screws -- a very tough job. This guitar is not expensive enough to warrant such an effort, unless you want to try for the experience of doing the repair. I'd try to clean it, glue it and hope.
Anyone else have ideas?
-=tension & release=-
I would try to piece the entire neck/heel back together and THEN re-attach to the guitar. I think it is worth the effort for the experience alone. Otherwise, it is firewood.
-=- Steve
"If the moon were made of ribs, would you eat it?"
