gotomsdos Posted October 2, 2013 Share Posted October 2, 2013 Hi, folks ! I find a 1948 J-45 for sale. Repairs are: 1, center seam has been reglued. 2, has the typical cracks alongside the fretboard extension, expertly repaired and cleated. (Does this mean there are some cracks between fretboard and top ? Does cleat mean insert a tiny slice of wood to fill a crack ? ) What do think of the cracks/seam ? Thank you in advance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zombywoof Posted October 2, 2013 Share Posted October 2, 2013 If you do not know what to look for and what repairs cost you can get yourself in over your head real quick when buying an old guitar. Separating seams and cracks are not a big deal and usually an easy fix. In the hands of good repair guy you would be hard pressed to even see where they were. If they know what they are doing they will also check out the back braces to make sure everything is as it should be. Cracks running along or off the fingerboard though are not typical at least when compared to say whisker cracks around the pickguard (caused by the pickguard shrinking). These can be cause by either the fingerboard shrinking or the neck block twisting. You have to know what caused the cracks to fix the guitar properly. What you need to do is check to make darn sure the soundhole is not distorted in any way. You just gotta be careful. Not that you will not end up with a great guitar but one that could end up sitting in a shop and costing you a whole lot more than you bargained for. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tpbiii Posted October 2, 2013 Share Posted October 2, 2013 If you do not know what to look for and what repairs cost you can get yourself in over your head real quick when buying an old guitar. Separating seams and cracks are not a big deal and usually an easy fix. In the hands of good repair guy you would be hard pressed to even see where they were. If they know what they are doing they will also check out the back braces to make sure everything is as it should be. Cracks running along or off the fingerboard though are not typical at least when compared to say whisker cracks around the pickguard (caused by the pickguard shrinking). These can be cause by either the fingerboard shrinking or the neck block twisting. You have to know what caused the cracks to fix the guitar properly. What you need to do is check to make darn sure the soundhole is not distorted in any way. You just gotta be careful. Not that you will not end up with a great guitar but one that could end up sitting in a shop and costing you a whole lot more than you bargained for. Woof is right in my experience. Usually the seam repair would be no issue. A cleat is just a small piece of wood glued across a crack to give the repair more strength and it is standard. A tiny piece of wood inserted into the crack itself is called a splice, and it is only required for bad cracks. It is more serious than a cleat. The other repair is more serious, and it is not too common. Depending on what caused the problem, it may be hard to fix. Best, -Tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gotomsdos Posted October 2, 2013 Author Share Posted October 2, 2013 Thank you so much ! So I know what a cleat means... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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