The Guitar Gallery Forums - The Guitar Legacy of Matsumoku

[img=http://img371.imageshack.us/img371/4314/cracklb7.th.jpg]

here is my aria les paul.

it has a crack at the back of the neck that runs from about the 3rd fret to the bottom of the headstock (sorry about the bad pic - couldn't capture it very well).

i'm thinking and hoping the crack is only in the coating as it does seem to deviate from the grain a bit.

how do i go about fixing this?

my first thought was to fill in along the crack with some titebond, let it dry off then smooth down using a very fine sandpaper.

being at the back of the neck i'm not too worried about it looking pretty.

anyone have a better - possibly more correct - plan?

thanks heaps - jim

Can you possibly get some better pics?

http://img371.imageshack.us/my.php?image=cracklb7.jpg

the same pic, a bit bigger and clearer hopefully(?)

Bigger yes. Clearer no.
It's hard to say with any certainty. . .

no worries. i have no digital camera at the moment so it's gonna be hard to do better. speculation is welcome. anyone who has had experience with the problem i describe should feel free to offer advice.

Does the crack respond to presure? If not and it is just a finish crack you can either leave it alone or if it bothers you try drop filling it. There are a few posts on the board tha can describe drop filling better than I. If the crack is into the wood I think tite bond would be the way to go but others here have more experiance than I do.

thanks for your post. doesn't seem to widen or respond to pressure, although it is an awkward place to test.

i took a couple of photos on a mobile phone, if these help at all.






i will have a look through the forum for the drop filling advice.

Based on the last photo it does not look like a finish crack. Since it is stable I would suggest having it fixed by a pro as amatuer attempts may ruin the chances for a proper fix later. Good luck.

I'm pretty sure that its not a surface crack. You need to open it up enough to get some wood glue inside. Clamp it untill the glues dry and you're good to go

some follow-up here:

wanting the job done properly, i finally took this to the local repair store (who i'm told are the best in sydney).

the guy said the neck was unrepairable (!) due to the overly wide truss rod cavity and resultingly thin walls of the neck.
to demonstrate he put some twisting pressure on the neck/headstock - the surface needing re-gluing is only a couple of mm thick (so apparently no glue will bind this?)

i guess i have a couple of questions:

a) is he correct or should i shop for a second opinion?
b) if it is indeed terminal and i have nothing to lose by attempting a repair by myself... er... how do i go about it?
c) if all else fails, what recommendations would people make for a replacement neck?

i really love the sound/feel of this guitar. obviously the neck.fingerboard was part of that, but i'm keen to hang onto the body and make it serviceable - nay, dominant - once again.

thanks for your time, as usual.