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SurfGuitar101 Forums » Gear »

Permalink Acoustic Guitar Help

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I'm wondering just how screwed my guitar is...It's a cheapish Recording King Dirty 30's, purchased about 4 years ago as a scratch-n-dent from Guitar Center (there were some existing cracks in the top). After a recent move (first part of July), I noticed the action suddenly went sky high...the neck had a TON of relief to it, and these cracks began appearing along the neck heel, and between the binding and the body just below the heel:

[img]https://i.imgur.com/bgRYzEo.jpg[/img]
[img]https://i.imgur.com/aHAHE2q.jpg[/img]

The cracks, so far, are still narrower than a pick...but I don't want to cram anything in there, for fear of making it worse.

Ouch! See if these image links work better for ya:

Imgur

Imgur

Member in good standing, Mentone Beach Syncopation Reverberation Association

Stoopy wrote:

Ouch! See if these image links work better for ya:

Imgur

Imgur

Ah, thanks. Is there a good way to embed pictures here?

Last edited: Aug 18, 2018 21:05:56

Did the guitar get really hot during your move? Did you move to a dry climate?

If the former, things can be bent back with heat and moisture. Google that if you want to try it. If the latter, unstring the guitar and put it in a bag with a wet towel for a few days to get the moisture back up in the guitar. Google that, too.

Good luck!

If I'd stop buying old guitars to fix, I might actually learn to play.
Bringing instruments back to life since 2013.

Green_Meanie wrote:

Ah, thanks. Is there a good way to embed pictures here?

You're welcome and for the life of me I can't get images from my Imgur or Photobucket accounts to show in posts here either although I usually know what I'm doing on forums using "img" tags and image links. And I get a server error when trying to use the image hotlink feature.

Well anyway... your photos are very close up which makes it kinda hard to figure out at first but it sure looks like the side is separating from the back of the guitar, that much is evident in the second picture showing the heel of the neck. Like Idk said, maybe the guitar got hot enough to loosen the glue, or perhaps something wedged against the guitar during the move to push the neck forward and that joint is what starting giving way. But no amount of bending back is gonna fix that. The neck is pulling the side away now due to string tension.

You mention that the crack is about the width of a pick and that would be enough to really throw your action way high - if you've ever added a shim to a bolt-on neck then you know that a teeny tiny change at the neck joint makes huge changes in string height.

I am no luthier (although I play one with my own guitars) but if you're looking for armchair diagnosis, I'd say the strings need to come off ASAP and it really needs to get to a decent luthier who can reset/reglue and brace that joint while hopefully getting the joint closed up all the way so your action returns to where it was. If it can't be returned to exactly where it was before, then your options are gonna be limited things like using a lower profile bridge saddle (assuming this is a typical acoustic bridge) which is prolly not gonna come anywhere close.

Member in good standing, Mentone Beach Syncopation Reverberation Association

Last edited: Aug 19, 2018 09:38:01

ldk wrote:

Did the guitar get really hot during your move? Did you move to a dry climate?

If the former, things can be bent back with heat and moisture. Google that if you want to try it. If the latter, unstring the guitar and put it in a bag with a wet towel for a few days to get the moisture back up in the guitar. Google that, too.

Good luck!

We only moved a few miles...no drastic change in climate at all. And, I made a special point to loosen all the strings (on all my guitars) before we packed up and moved.

I suppose it could've potentially picked up some heat damage, as this is my "beater" guitar, and I have taken it to the backyard several times to noodle away as I'm barbecuing something on the smoker...direct sunlight on a black guitar for a few hours at a time.

Well, I had my luthier take a look at it. He said his quick assessment is that it'll need a neck reset, which will run a few hundred bucks...and several times more expensive than the entire guitar was in the first place! Oh well, I'll keep on playing it until it's completely blown.

When there a will, there's a way!

image

Or in other words - everyone needs a beater guitar. I try to leave mine in the sun.

Ariel wrote:

When there a will, there's a way!

image

Or in other words - everyone needs a beater guitar. I try to leave mine in the sun.

Strange - my other acoustic has a nearly identical ding in it. Mine was from my hockey stick, which was proudly displayed above my closet door, falling down and whacking the guitar with its blade.

You could probably buy a new Yamaha FG700S for less than what it would cost to repair that guitar. Then turn that one into a wall hanger.

Kevin
The Out of Limits
www.facebook.com/theoutoflimitsband
https://theoutoflimits.bandcamp.com/

ncgalt1984 wrote:

You could probably buy a new Yamaha FG700S for less than what it would cost to repair that guitar. Then turn that one into a wall hanger.

Yamahas are solid! But, for my money (in a sub-$200 acoustic), I'm still quite enamored with the Fender CD-60.

Or a Gretsch Jim Dandy, if I choose to replace this with another parlor size...

Or, the Recording King never actually did me any wrong...

So many choices Big Grin

I have a CD-60 that I bought to take on camping trips. It's a decent guitar. I've seen used Martin LX series guitars go for under $250. You might want to look around for one of those, too. Martins are worth the extra cash if you can make it happen.

Kevin
The Out of Limits
www.facebook.com/theoutoflimitsband
https://theoutoflimits.bandcamp.com/

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