www.KitGuitarsForum.com

Hi People, New to the forum. My Guild D35 fell off a stool (inside the unlatched case). Landed on it's side. I now have a nasty 12 inch crack, actually 2 parallel cracks about a half inch apart running length wise along the kerfing on the top side piece. I saw the wire trick online with the tuner clamp. Is this the only/best method for the repair?

I'm assuming you're talking about the Stewmac crack repair tool. I have this set of tools and although the concept is a good one, I've had problems using the tuner. The tuner that they use has a slot to hold the wire. It's hard to keep the wire on the tuner, because it slips out of the slot. Why in the world they designed it with a slot instead of a hole, like any other tuner is a mystery.

Since this just happened, I assume the cracks are closed. Since the cracks are in the side, you can flood them with CA glue. Make a couple of cleats and install them on the inside. You really don't need a tuner. If you can't reach the cracks through the soundhole, use a thin wire, like an old treble E, and thread it through the crack from the outside, to the soundhole. Attach a cleat and pull.

On the outside, flood the cracks with thin viscosity CA glue. Once dry, sand them level and apply finish. You'll never see the cracks.

Stewmac toy is not what you need
Super glue and tape. In fact as Dianne points out if they close clean you can hold them closed one at a time

thanks for the tips. I'll be posting my progress and perhaps a photo. Happy New Year!

Photo of crack.

Having trouble getting photo on.

you may need to make a few more posts. It is an anti spam program here so do a few atta boy posts and I can clear them then you should be able to post pics and then we can help you better

Hey folks, I got the cracks glued back together and touched up the finish. My baby has a battle scar now but she plays just fine. thanks for your input. I'm now in the middle of building a dreadnaught. going well so far. I'm at the binding /purfling stage now, and will be starting the neck when that is done. My photos are in my phone, I'll see if I can get them on here.

Congratulations! Hope to see your build photos.