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This is an Epiphone Dove Pro that was dropped by a teacher. The customer is fine with the fact that the repair will always be visible, but wants it to be structurally sound. Its a $500 guitar I know, but there is sentimental value involved and somebody else paying the bill.

Most of the visible cracks besides the obvious big one, seem to be just in the finish. However, under the part of the crack where the finish has chipped off, one side of the crack is sitting a little proud creating a small gap. On the inside there is a gap of about 2 inches where the kerfing has separated from the top. And it seems like the top is also separated from the binding along the same section. But the finish being so thick complicates things. It's held everything together and in one sense probably limited the damage, but it seems to also prevent me from pushing anything back together now. Moderate finger pressure doesn't move it at all.

I'm feeling a little stumped over a few issues, first how to clean out any old glue from separated parts, and second how to get the separated parts to line up, as I mentioned putting finger pressure on it does nothing.

You would probably need to provide photos to get any really helpful information.

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Sorry. My phone hadn't shown the pics

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Tough spot..... I use sticky sand paper on my spatulas to clean old glue from mating surfaces on these type repairs.
There is a wood fiber or debris holding the crack. you must find it and remove or realign it. Dental picks etc are very helpful here. As are surgical tools like hemostats.

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Brian

You never know what you are capable of until you actually try.

https://www.howardguitarsdelaware.com/

Brian, would you anticipate being able to find the obstruction from the inside?

I think you're right there is some debris pushing the top up, but upon closer inspection this morning it also looks like the impact has forced the binding in, and I'm not sure how to apply any pressure to this part to push the binding/rim back out to allow the top to settle back down.

Maybe one of those cool little Stewmac scissor jacks?

Pat

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Pat

I will second what Brian said about hemostats and dental tools. Your first concern should be finding the pieces that are holding it together and move them, then you can worry about the binding/re-alignment.

I had something similar recently on an oldie, what I ended up doing was making a block that matched the depth of the guitar in the crunched area, stuck a magnet in it and set it below the scrunched up area with the guide magnet on the outside to guide it into place. When I wanted to glue it back together the block functioned as a clamping surface to keep from bending the top into a concavity. It also kept the back from bending under the pressure of the clamp, basically it was a "movable tailblock" if you will. Might could try something similar here?

I have learned to anticipate very little.... every repair is unique. You will often need to open things up a little more to find the debris holding the crack open. Using a strong light to "candle" from inside while inspecting from the outside in the dark can be helpful to find the holdups.

_________________
Brian

You never know what you are capable of until you actually try.

https://www.howardguitarsdelaware.com/