Official Luthiers Forum!

My neighbor showed up with this, wondering if I could fix it for her. I don’t have access for looking up serial numbers, but found one on “Mandolin Archive” with serial # 2 away from this one’s #56860 that claimed 1920, hence the dating.

I have no repair experience (other than on my own -), have a dozen builds under the belt, and realize I’m probably really inquiring for advice so I can be told “don’t do it, don’t do it -too good an instrument to have a Bozo screw it up”
At that same time, if this would be a fairly straight forward repair, I think I’d like to give it a go, as I doubt the owner will spend real money to bring it back.

Damage – other than bib-overall scratches on the back, this appears to be in wonderful shape with little sign of wear, great old finish, etc., except for the back detaching at the neck and heel, and shifting about 1/16th" toward the tail.

What concerns me is the back has shifted about a 16th of an inch toward the tail, there are cracks in the finish on both sides of the top at the neck block, yet the back still appears glued to both sides securely.
This is making me think that If I attempt to remove the back to re-glue (probably fish glue), all sorts of tensions created over the decades are going to throw everything out of whack, and end up un-resolvable. Considerable force does not seem to budge the mis-alignment of the back, nor does it return the back separation at the neck block to good contact with the neck block and sides.

Thanks for either encouragement or discouragement - both will be appreciated

Take the strings off first thing, and see if the body and neck are easily shifted back into correct position. Look and see if there is any splintering or glue residue in the areas that have come loose. If it is clean, work some hot hide glue in, and clamp it together with as light of pressure as possible. If you mess it up, the HHG is easily reversed or removed. Don't mess with the finish.

_________________
Guitar Maker and Purveyor of the World's Finest Tonewoods
http://www.aaronhixguitars.com/
http://stores.ebay.com/A-Hix-Tonewood-a ... r-Supplies