Is it a deal? Would you buy it?

[smklassen0977]

Found what I think is a deal at a music store.. a Guild D-140CE with a hairline crack in the top.. I'll include the picture of the top. He's asking $225.. I'm really wanting a solid wood guitar but I don't want to have to pay out the wah-zoo for a new one.. Wanted to see what you all thought about this as far as a deal and the repair it would take to fix it.. I'm sorta of handy and wouldn't mind trying to fix it if I bought it - but at this point I don't know how to fix such a tight long crack. (Bring up the humidity [close the crack] then superglue from the underside?) Also "USED" is stamped on the back of the headstock which makes me think the crack happened during manufacturing. Let me know what you think..

Thanks!
Scott

[tippie53]

that may be a fair deal. This isnt too hard to repair for stability.

[JLT]

It looks like the crack isn't actually on the join line, so there's no worry about adhesion to existing glues.

I think that after repairing the crack, I'd add a cleat to the underside (a 1" square of spruce with the grain oriented at 90 degrees to the soundboard grain) to reinforce the area, since the strains that created the crack in the first place won't go away. It shouldn't affect the tone of the guitar. These cleats are described more fully in the Compuano book

[smklassen0977]

It looks like the crack isn't actually on the join line, so there's no worry about adhesion to existing glues.

I think that after repairing the crack, I'd add a cleat to the underside (a 1" square of spruce with the grain oriented at 90 degrees to the soundboard grain) to reinforce the area, since the strains that created the crack in the first place won't go away. It shouldn't affect the tone of the guitar. These cleats are described more fully in the Compuano book

Thanks for the advice.. I'm going to look at it tomorrow. I hear if "USED" is stamped on the headstock there maybe other issues to consider like intonation.. I'll have to check the arcs in the back and sides to see if it's super dry too.. The seller says it needs a setup.. I'm thinking I'll find it with really low action if it's dry.. if it's the other case - high action - thing I'd think something is seriously out of wack.

[smklassen0977]

I went to go see it and it sounded great and felt good too.. At the time I noticed it was somewhat dry and the crack didn't look too bad..thought it needed a general setup, but nothing much.. I got it home and noticed that the intonation was about a quarter step sharp on the low E on the 15th fret - at the 12th it's just barely sharp. I'm in the process of re-hydrating the guitar to hopefully remedy this problem along with a general setup and to mostly narrow the crack.