[shadowgenesis]

Wasn't sure which forum section to post this under.

My sister has a martin D-15 or some such model and i guess one night, half asleep, she stepped on the damn thing and put a significant (6 to 8 inch) crack in the soundboard. It's parallel to the strings/neck and to the left of the soundhole (if the guitar is standing upright.) My acoustic guitar actually has a very similar crack as well.

I was wondering if there's anything one can do as far as repair goes. My guitar has a gloss finish and hers has a natural stain or w/e they use that's not glossy. Can a crack like that be sealed so that it doesn't get worse? It doesn't seem to have affected the playability or tone of either guitar too much (I'm less familiar with hers than mine of course), so I'd like to keep em from further harm if possible.

thoughts?

[crazy_cree]

If possible, could you include a picture of the crack(s)? And another question is, does the crack go all the way through the soundboard or is it just a little ways through(half way or so)

[shadowgenesis]

Originally Posted by crazy_cree

If possible, could you include a picture of the crack(s)? And another question is, does the crack go all the way through the soundboard or is it just a little ways through(half way or so)

erm. I'll get a picture of mine sooner or later. She lives in Asheville, NC and i just came home to PA.

i'm fairly certain that each crack is pretty much similar in nature. I think it did go through the soundboard - as to say that if i applied downward pressure on one side of the crack a sliver of light may pass through to the inside of the body. Of course i'm not gonna try, cuz that'll just aggravate the damage waaay more.

[dpm]

Yes, it can be fixed. The crack is glued and small reinforcement cleats added internally. Please take these things to a reputable professional and have it done properly, fixing someone else's poor work later is a total nightmare and ends up costing way more than doing it right the first time.

to get an idea of what can be involved have a look here. Scroll down to 'Items for luthiers' and there's a whole subsection about crack repair.

[shadowgenesis]

Originally Posted by dpm

Please take these things to a reputable professional and have it done properly.

this something i can just head on down to my local guitar shop and they'll take care of it, or do i have to search out a luthier round here?

[dpm]

I'd recommend asking around to see who does good acoustic repairs in your area. You could give Martin a call, they'll probably have someone they can recommend.

[Stitch]

It isn't the tragedy it first appears. It can be hard to hide the repair however, but it will go some way to repairing the acoustic integrity of the instrument. As dpm has already said I believe, the crack is glued/filled and braced.

I don't know what the techs are like at GC. Where I work, our tech does everything except refinishing work, so I trust him to do it - indeed, I have seen him do it on several occassions. If the guys at GC are monkeys who can restring but given a seven string they tune the 59 to 'E' and go -uh-oh then I'd find someone who knows what they are doing.

Where does dendroaspis live?