Hello All,
Everyone here has been so helpful; I feel guilty never contributing much help of my own. But I come to you with another question:
My 1980s Ventura V-6 has a gap between the heel and the body of the guitar. The gap does not go all the way to the fretboard, but instead opens up like an alligator's mouth with the wider portion being toward the backside of the guitar (away from the fretboard). This opening does not run all the way up the heel—maybe 1/2 way up.
I'd like to reinforce the heel joint to prevent further separation. I don't want to return the heel to its original position; I just want to keep it from pulling apart any more than it has.
I think the guitar had the same high-tension strings on it for most of its life, and this is most likely the cause of the current problem (the guitar also has a fair amount of belly and other tension-related problems).
The guitar has great sound as is and is perfectly playable with excellent action and pretty decent intonation.
I don't want to do anything too invasive. The only information I've found anywhere so far has been about full neck resets, and that is certainly more than I plan to have done to this guitar!
What might my options be for reinforcing this joint and preventing further separation?
Thank you for any replies and suggestions.
JonA
Well I echo the statements about needing a neck reset.. not much else will help short of putting a screw in it. And I wouldnt do that. Its not that the glue has let go, its the mechanical joint itself thats failing.
Paul B
Isn't there some glue or compound I can squirt into there that will hold the two sides together and help keep them from separating more?
Any real heavy duty glue ( ie epoxy, or stuff like gorilla glue) will pretty much render the guitar un repairable in the future.
Paul B
Tight bond II in the joint, get a bycicle tire intertube and cut it lengthwise in two to use as a clamp around the body like a huge rubber band. Strings off 72hrs clamped in a coolest room in your house (temperature wise, not the room with your life size Jar Jar Binks figure.) 72 hours no clamp, reclamp and string 72 hours, clamp off - practice stairway to heaven 72 hours.
Will Titebond have the side effects s1120 mentions?
Also, will there be something I can put in that can be stained (and possibly varnished) to hide the crack and repair?
Thank you,
Jon
Tight bond is the industry standard for builds and repairs, very close to hide glue. You can mix it with sawdust I think you can even color it, you might have to google that. No worries its the stuff.
Tight bond is the industry standard for builds and repairs, very close to hide glue. You can mix it with sawdust I think you can even color it, you might have to google that. No worries its the stuff.
Ive never heard about mixing sawdust into it. That would be a good idea to add some body to the glue joint for a repair like this. Im a fan of tight joints, but I guess in this case it would hardly hurt to try it. Thanks for the tip!. I used TBII on my neck reset I did, and also to build the body for my Lap steel I built. Its good stuff.
Paul B
