Repairing and modding damaged acoustic guitar

Edutainment · Post by **Edutainment** » Sat Mar 01, 2008 10:13 am

I got this guitar for free from my school. Here's an excerpt from the project page on my site (radtacular.com):

Ghetto Acoustic Mod

Original blog post:

Check it out. I got a free guitar from my school.
<img src="http://img179.imageshack.us/img179/5978 ... 1smfh0.jpg">

The bridge is fux0rz but that's not too bad.
<img src="http://img227.imageshack.us/img227/4585 ... 2smha1.jpg">

Here's the real damage...
<img src="http://img178.imageshack.us/img178/9118 ... 6smgs8.jpg">

A replacement neck costs (~$150+) more than the guitar (~$150) itself so that's out of the question. I could get ghetto and make a new neck out of a 2x4 or something. That'd be sick. It works for cigar box guitars.

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It may be possible to glue the neck with Titebond. If it is, then I'll be done fixing it and I can get to doing something stupid to it (someone suggested a flamethrower). The problem is that it isn't just a clean crack, it has a few cracks.
<img src="http://img228.imageshack.us/img228/5624/cracksye5.png">

Titebond is usually just used for clean breaks. If I can't just glue it, then I'm going to make a new neck out of a plank of wood, and get the fretboard off the neck with a heat gun or something to put on the new neck, so I don't have to refret it myself and it'll feel like a regular neck. If there's enough surface area where the headstock cracked, I'll use the original headstock on the new neck. I'll use nylon strings to make up for the lack of a truss rod since they have like less than half the tension of steel strings.

Stay tuned.

ghosstt · Post by **ghosstt** » Sat Mar 01, 2008 11:11 am

I vote for the 2 x 4. Or better yet, take baseball bat, cut it down the middle, and use one half for the neck. It'll even have the rounded back part!

Edutainment · Post by **Edutainment** » Sat Mar 01, 2008 12:58 pm

Well, I've got the Titebond (strong wood glue) and some clamps, and I'm about to start. So we'll see in 24-48 hours (to let the Titebond dry/cure) if it worked and if I'll need a 2x4.

theelk · Post by **theelk** » Sat Mar 01, 2008 1:06 pm

ghosstt wrote:I vote for the 2 x 4. Or better yet, take baseball bat, cut it down the middle, and use one half for the neck. It'll even have the rounded back part!

I love that baseball bat idea. If you integrate it well, you could make it look awesome but still look like a bat.

ghosstt · Post by **ghosstt** » Sat Mar 01, 2008 1:16 pm

Ya. Could be pretty sick. Especially if you get all the witting still on it.

rockem sockem forever! · Sat Mar 01, 2008 1:48 pm

baseball bat idea FTW

Edutainment · Post by **Edutainment** » Sat Mar 01, 2008 1:49 pm

That's a good idea mainly because the neck has to be rounded, and a bat is already finished, but a bat isn't the same width as a normal neck
and if I do make a new neck I'm going to use the fretboard off the old one (and the headstock if possible).

EDIT: Although, a baseball bat is definitely meant to withstand stress so it would also be good in that respect. We'll see, because it may not be that hard to make a bat the width of the fingerboard, depending on the width of the bat along it's entire length, 'cause I'd have to make the 2x4 rounded too.

Edutainment · Post by **Edutainment** » Sat Mar 01, 2008 2:06 pm

Project page updated with pics: http://radtacular.com/projects/acoustic.html

ghosstt · Post by **ghosstt** » Sat Mar 01, 2008 3:54 pm

Well if you angle the neck slightly, you could do a fretless neck, which I've always thought are cool.

Edutainment · Post by **Edutainment** » Sat Mar 01, 2008 4:26 pm

I can't play fretless. Does anyone have the measurements of a baseball bat, 'cause I sorta doubt it's wide enough, mainly near the bottom. If it were too wide it would be okay, but I can't really add on to it.

EDIT: I actually did find a bat that may be wide enough. It's a practice bat or something called the Akadema Barbell Bat. It doesn't have a gradual curve like a usual bat. It has a straight handle and a straight 2 3/4" barrel (that's what it's called right?). 2 3/4" is wider than I need but still. If that part of the bat is the length of a standard fretboard, which I figure it is, then it could work with a bit of modification by someone less lazy than myself.

EDIT: If it was cut a little more than in half, like 5 eights or something, then the smaller part would be narrower, less modding. This could make a viable DIY neck, but not for me since it's $50. I'll remember it if I ever have another guitar needing a new neck though. Plus, I only need to make a new neck if this glue doesn't work. Let's not get ahead of ourselves

Super Cameraman · Post by **Super Cameraman** » Sat Mar 01, 2008 6:21 pm

Thought that guitar looked familiar, and just saw in your new posts it's a Yamaha- I have the same exact guitar! Small world.

I really don't think you should use a baseball bat. It's probably not the right type of wood, and would make the guitar sound weird. I've seen guitars repaired with glue before, so I know it's possible, but I'm not sure what type of wood. For the bridge, maybe you could use Gorilla Glue. That stuff is mad strong. As for actually modding, add a pickup, make it an acoustic electric.

Also, since I'm assuming it's the same guitar I have, do you find it really big? I'm a pretty small person, and that guitar is huge when I play it.

EDIT: Just remembered, if you're going to replace the neck with a baseball bat, you might need to put in a truss rod. I don't think that type of wood is going to withstand the pressure of the strings.

Edutainment · Post by **Edutainment** » Sat Mar 01, 2008 6:43 pm

If you read my previous post, I'm not going to use a bat mainly 'cause it's too much money. I got the guitar for free so I intend to spend as little as possible. As for the wood, necks can be made out of a lot of different types of wood. I figure a baseball bat would withstand the tension of the strings though as they do go under a lot of stress, hitting fast moving baseballs and whatnot.

If the glue doesn't work and I make a new neck, I'll probably use nylon strings to compensate for lack of a truss rod (a lot less tension than steel strings). I think I said most of this on my site, except for the baseball bat stuff.

Super Cameraman · Post by **Super Cameraman** » Sat Mar 01, 2008 7:08 pm

Yeah, I have an old guitar that I put nylon strings though, but the Yamaha with the steel strings sounds so much better. I really hope you don't have to put nylon on there.

ghosstt · Post by **ghosstt** » Sat Mar 01, 2008 7:15 pm

Nylon can be nice depending on what style you play. My, lets say you find a really cheap bat thats think should only be around 50. Not too expensive...

Edutainment · Post by **Edutainment** » Sat Mar 01, 2008 7:17 pm

Tomorrow I'm gonna bu some strings, and put steel ones on the guitar. If it can take the tension and stays in tune, then it worked, and I'll use steel strings. If it doesn't work, I'll make a neck out of a 2x4 or something. I'm not expecting the quality of a Martin