# Repairing a damaged S&P



## 10409 (Dec 11, 2011)

Pulled this in off kijiji. It was dropped and has three large but relatively stable cracks on the front and one very large and unstable crack all the way up the join in the back. neck and frets are in fine condition, although it took me about 20 minutes of literally scrubbing it with a disposable dish scrubber to get all the gunk off of the fretboard.

I purchased it with the intent on making it a campfire guitar, and that's still my plan, but i thought i'd see if anyone has a better solution than gluing a brace on the outside of the guitar to seal the cracks and provide stability. I'm not concerned with appearances here, i just don't want it to completely fall apart. 

Kinda neat, It came with the original bill of sale. 600$ plus tax in 1994.


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## 10409 (Dec 11, 2011)

The neck joint is slightly loose, although it shows no signs of damage. Looks like a neck reset is on the table too.

EDIT*
the bolts holding the neck in place were only finger tight
revealed another crack
glad i talked the guy down a bunch, but even worst case scenario i only slightly overpaid for a hard shell case.


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## OldGuitarPlayer (Feb 25, 2013)

Looks like a worthy project. If you have the tools I'd say go for it and keep us updated on the progress.


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## 10409 (Dec 11, 2011)

the vertical back brace was cracked in several places so i took the damn the torpedoes approach and fitted a new brace on the outside of the back. as i mentioned it's just going to be a campfire guitar so i'm not too concerned about aesthetics i just don't want it to completely fall apart. I also filled the cracks in the soundboard with wood filler. 

Here are some pictures. Waiting for the glue to dry. hopefully tonight i'll be able to put the neck back on and restring it.


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## ronmac (Sep 22, 2006)

With those splits I would suspect that you have a few loose braces inside, as well. Not a major expense to do a bit of brace gluing and cleating (inside) top and back. 

Plan carefully and rehearse all of your moves and clamping a couple times before you apply the glue.


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## 10409 (Dec 11, 2011)

will do ron

next update in an hour or two


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## TheRumRunner (Sep 29, 2011)

Good luck with the repair, it looks worth saving.

First thing I always do with a repair that bad is place the entire guitar in a large sealed, clear bag and humidify it for at least three days before starting any repairs. It will help get the guitar back to a proper level and close up the gaps somewhat.



DW


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## 10409 (Dec 11, 2011)

Well i gave the glue about 2 hours to harden, but within about a minute of taking the clamps off the brace started to peel away because of the bow in the middle. i took it off completely and noticed that the once massive arch in the back was all but gone, so i put the brace back on without glue and put it over a humidifier with the mist shooting into the soundhole (if i had checked back earlier i would have definitely used the bag trick, it looks much more effective) Picture was taken after i took the clamps/braces off because i didn't think to take one in action.











after about 3 hours of sitting like that I took the brace off again and voila! it was completely flat. not only that all the glue that i had originally put on had seeped through the crack and bonded with the original brace inside the guitar. all i had left to do was add some wood filler to the now much less intimidating crack and clean up the mess of dried glue. 


















Put the neck back on, put some new strings on it, and here's the result:
[video=youtube;1BOV_CYD4mY]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1BOV_CYD4mY[/video]


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## Steadfastly (Nov 14, 2008)

It looks like it has all worked out really well for you. I'm guessing the previous owner just let it dry out to the point where everything started separating on it?


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## 10409 (Dec 11, 2011)

I think it was dropped and deemed broken, _then_ left to dry out
i need to give it a setup next, the action is way too high, but i'm quite pleased with this overall


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## Chito (Feb 17, 2006)

Good job Mike!


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## Jim DaddyO (Mar 20, 2009)

Awesome job. Enjoy the new toy.


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## 10409 (Dec 11, 2011)

set it up properly today...didn't need much, sanded the saddle down by about 3mm and ever so slightly tweaked the truss rod

i know that puppy love comes as fast as it goes but for now i feel like i rubbed a dirty old lamp and got a genie

[video=youtube;pnjjzR7pCaw]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pnjjzR7pCaw[/video]


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## Greg Ellis (Oct 1, 2007)

Which model is this? I'm a bit surprised that you would pay $600 for a broken guitar when there are many S&P's available for less than that brand new.

EDIT - LOL, never mind; I re-read your first post. It was $600 new in the 90s. How much did YOU pay?


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## 10409 (Dec 11, 2011)

Greg Ellis said:


> Which model is this? I'm a bit surprised that you would pay $600 for a broken guitar when there are many S&P's available for less than that brand new.
> 
> EDIT - LOL, never mind; I re-read your first post. It was $600 new in the 90s. How much did YOU pay?


lol yeah that would have been the worst deal ever if I paid 600 For it. I got it for 80 and it came with a newer hsc


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## Greg Ellis (Oct 1, 2007)

lol, yeah. $80 makes sense. Definitely worth giving it a try, even if you failed. Looks like it's going to work out great.


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## OldGuitarPlayer (Feb 25, 2013)

mike_oxbig said:


> lol yeah that would have been the worst deal ever if I paid 600 For it. *I got it for 80 and it came with a newer hsc*


Great deal at $80 and a hardshell case. I recently bought a 1973 Norman B20 as a beater for $75 off a musical acquaintance of mine without a case. The Norman has been well used and looks it however the neck is fine and there are no cracks or damage to the body. It plays great and sounds amazing considering it's an all laminated yellow birch body.


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