i just broke the peg head on my seagull 12 string

The advantage of hide glue is being able to heat it and take it apart. You don't want this repair to be anything but permanent.

Titebond 1 is water soluble. That means the same steamer techniques that one must use for separating large contact areas glued with hot hide should work on it. The downside of hot hide glue is it set quickly, making for a very short fitting time for a repair like this with so much rough surface area. It's much easier to get this sort of repair done right the first time with aliphatic (TB 1), as long as it's not over-applied. The dark tinted version he ordered looks like just the right stuff.

Radical suggestion,

Use superglue, if the pieces fit really tightly. I am of the opinion that Titebond might creep on you after a period of time, especially on a twelve string. This is also a repair that wouldn't have to be taken apart again, so diassembly shouldn't be an issue. also, thin superglue will "wick into" the jagged pieces better than a thicker glue, giving you a greater surface area, hence more strength.

Stew Mac has some really good stuff but IMHO, they are a little pricey.

Do two or three or four "dry runs" before using it and give it at least a week of drying time to fully cure before restringing. Really make sure that the parts line up correctly also.

I've done one twelve with superglue and it is still alive after ten years of standard tuning with no problems.

I don't think you have anything to lose and you get to say that you did it yourself! :D

The advantage of hide glue is being able to heat it and take it apart. You don't want this repair to be anything but permanent.

Regular Titebond apparently may fail with heat even without stress.
http://www.frets.com/FRETSPages/Luthier/Data/Materials/GlueTest/gluetest.html

A good test would be to see what happens when the repaired guitar is left in the car on a hot sunny day. :wink:

I'm obviously not a luthier, and never done a repair like this, but I'd rely on Frank Ford's advice for something this important. Though Racetruck's superglue idea is very interesting, too. I did an acoustic saddle repair with the superglue and baking soda trick, and that stuff really gets hard as bone.

Thanks for that article slejhamer.

This guitar will be in a hot car for about 4 days when i drive home in September. Hot, but not 200 degree's F, like in the test. do you guys think titebond will hold?

Does anyone know about how many pounds of pressure a 12string guitar would have on it when its fully strung up?

thanks for the help everyone.

Radical suggestion,

Use superglue, if the pieces fit really tightly. I am of the opinion that Titebond might creep on you after a period of time, especially on a twelve string. This is also a repair that wouldn't have to be taken apart again, so diassembly shouldn't be an issue. also, thin superglue will "wick into" the jagged pieces better than a thicker glue, giving you a greater surface area, hence more strength.

Stew Mac has some really good stuff but IMHO, they are a little pricey.

Do two or three or four "dry runs" before using it and give it at least a week of drying time to fully cure before restringing. Really make sure that the parts line up correctly also.

I've done one twelve with superglue and it is still alive after ten years of standard tuning with no problems.

I don't think you have anything to lose and you get to say that you did it yourself! :D

The pieces fit together, but thats about it. Its not a super tight fit or anything.

Does anyone know about how many pounds of pressure a 12string guitar would have on it when its fully strung up?
Quick guess: Something like 200-220 lbs total tension on the strings. That's what my reso had with the custom gauged heavy strings I used to use in Open D or Open G. .017-.070". You can figure it up by using D'addario's String Tension Chart that's on their site in pdf form. It'll depend on the tuning you use. A good many 12 string players think you shouldn't ever tune up to standard tuning at standard pitch, but that'll depend on the string gauges you use and what the manufacturer recommends.

The advantage of hide glue is being able to heat it and take it apart. You don't want this repair to be anything but permanent.

Regular Titebond apparently may fail with heat even without stress.
http://www.frets.com/FRETSPages/Luthier/Data/Materials/GlueTest/gluetest.html

A good test would be to see what happens when the repaired guitar is left in the car on a hot sunny day. :wink:

I'm obviously not a luthier, and never done a repair like this, but I'd rely on Frank Ford's advice for something this important. Though Racetruck's superglue idea is very interesting, too. I did an acoustic saddle repair with the superglue and baking soda trick, and that stuff really gets hard as bone.

Interesting -- I don't dispute that hide glue may be the best choice, just that a noob should be using it. If that is the decision, take it to a luthier who is experienced in hide glues uses.

The advantage of hide glue is being able to heat it and take it apart. You don't want this repair to be anything but permanent.

Regular Titebond apparently may fail with heat even without stress.
http://www.frets.com/FRETSPages/Luthier/Data/Materials/GlueTest/gluetest.html

A good test would be to see what happens when the repaired guitar is left in the car on a hot sunny day. :wink:

I'm obviously not a luthier, and never done a repair like this, but I'd rely on Frank Ford's advice for something this important. Though Racetruck's superglue idea is very interesting, too. I did an acoustic saddle repair with the superglue and baking soda trick, and that stuff really gets hard as bone.

Interesting -- I don't dispute that hide glue may be the best choice, just that a noob should be using it. If that is the decision, take it to a luthier who is experienced in hide glues uses.

Yes, that's good advice.

Just out of curiosity I added up the tension on a 12-string set of D'addario EXP 10-47s, and it's 252 lbs. For comparison, a light 6-string set of EXP 12-53s weighs in at only 162 lbs, and their 16-70 baritone strings just top the 230 mark.

That's a lot of tension. As much as the squareneck dobro players with .070" bass strings tuned to high bass G have.

hey thanks for the help everyone. i glued it back together with the titebond glue, and i left it clamped in 2 wood vises for 3 days. after that i sanded it down and put a bit of varnish on it. re-strung her today and she plays like a champ. i could not match the exact color of the gray paint on top, so im going to just leave it the way it is.

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Cool!

:shock: Good Job and not a bit of duct tape involved

Nice! Let us know how it holds up.

Good to see it back in service -- now with extra "character." Good luck and enjoy.