ksdaddy Posted February 2, 2016 Share Posted February 2, 2016 A short time ago I bought a 1965 Guild classical guitar off ebay. I won it for a small amount of money, $158. When it arrived I saw there was a crack in the neck right behind the nut. I loked at the auction photos and I suppose if I were to squint and look at it just right I could see the line. I truly don't think the seller meant to mislead; to the layperson, it might have just looked like a scratch or a finish crack. Not for me to judge I guess. In addition, the neck had quite a bit of bow. Too much? I don't know. More than I would like to see, that's for sure. There was a small crack in the top, which WAS disclosed, but it looked a lot worse in person because the main transverse brace just below the sound hole had let go and it gave the appearance the top was utterly caving in. I didn't jump on the seller but I did say there were things about the guitar that were not disclosed that I felt went too far and that I would like to return it. Through a few friendly missves and a genuine desire on both parts to come up with a solution that we could both live with, they basically asked "what will make it right, and we'll do it." I said let's forget shipping, and just split the guitar down the middle. They gave me a refund of $79 (half the winning bid) and I kept the broken guitar. I was quite clear with them that I had every intention of repairing everything and then putting it up on ebay, and regardless if I lost money, broke even, or made a profit, I'm on my own. They were happy with that. I suspect it was likely a yard sale flip, since they had listed it with an opening bid of $10. They didn't have to take the guitar back, probably made a profit anyway, and I got a broken Guild for around $100 shipped. Last night I repaired the headstock crack. It was obvious where the guitar had fallen and hit the edge of a coffee table or something because there was a long sharp indentation very close to the crack. The crack was so tight I had to arrange some clamps and blocks to OPEN the crack so I could dab some glue into it with a model car paint brush. I then clamped it up and walked away. I also reglued the transverse brace and the minor top crack. As to the excessive relief in the fretboard... I pondered on this for a while. I pondered how much the dimensions of would can change depending on the humidity. There's no truss rod in this guitar so aside from heating the neck to straighten it, I'm out of luck. I know some repair places offer heat straightening but I know nothing about it. Last night I laid a straight edge on the fretboard, and it touched the first and last frets, as you'd expect. I measured 0.014" of gap at the 7th fret (feeler gauges). I then slathered oil on the board. Just regular mineral oil I suppose, i don't know, it's Dr. Stringfellow or some sh**, says it's "lemon oil". Ten minutes later the oil was gone. Another slathering. Ten minutes... Another slathering... I checked it this morning. The board is VISIBLY straighter and now measures 0.010" in relief. And I gave it another slathering. I may make this into a good guitar after all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capmaster Posted February 2, 2016 Share Posted February 2, 2016 Yep. Two pieces of wood glued together may react to humidity on one side like a bi-metal strip to a temperature change. Since you are using oil to make the fretboard expand, it may indeed solve the problem for an extended period. Good luck, KSDaddy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JayinLA Posted February 2, 2016 Share Posted February 2, 2016 Damn man. I have had instruments like that come through the music store I used to work at. I would watch the techs and Luther just do some of the craziest things involving like 7 clamps at a time and heat guns. But without all the straight-edge tools and stuff, I'd be scared as hell. But I believe you have a chance to make that one a really cool player. Sometimes an acoustic that has some "charecter" but stays in tune is really cool. Won't sound like anything else. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ksdaddy Posted February 2, 2016 Author Share Posted February 2, 2016 I strung it up a few minutes ago. It's okay. I've found that 9 out of 10 classicals are 'meh'. I'm a fussy jerk when it comes to classicals. Not a snob, as my main classical is made of plywood and cost me $10. But it didn't go 'meh'. If I wanted something that sounded like a ukelele, I'd buy a ukelele. A good classical will shake your ribs. Not saying the Guild sounds like a uke but my ribs aren't shooken. I found a loose back brace and once that's glued, it'll go up on the block. I consider it the guitar version of speed dating. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kidblast Posted February 2, 2016 Share Posted February 2, 2016 usually what I see happen is the top gets screwy,,, and then the action just goes to he!!.. I've never seen a dry guitar, and a neck bow go hand in hand.. but, my guess is this one has no truss rod? many nylons don't.. My MR A-Cut doesn't. A good classical will shake your ribs what he said! definitely can project a lot more sound than you'd think possible and they are very touch/attack responsive. I think more so than a flattop with steel strings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capmaster Posted February 2, 2016 Share Posted February 2, 2016 ... There's no truss rod in this guitar so aside from heating the neck to straighten it, ... ... but, my guess is this one has no truss rod? many nylons don't.. My MR A-Cut doesn't. ... As he said. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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