Repair suggestions for a Baby Taylor (possibly stepped on?)
 

Hi Everyone -

I have a Baby Taylor (BT1) that I had sold to a friend who is part of a large family with 9 kids. I sold it pretty cheap because I know he doesn't have a lot of extra money. A few days later he showed the damage that apparently happened by one of his younger sisters: A pushed in crack on the top and a crack all along the side above the glue joint to the back.

The pictures below tell the story. I'm guessing that if I brought it in to be repaired it would cost more than I sold the guitar for ($100). Is it possible to fix this myself? Any suggestions for what type of glue or how to go about it?

Thanks in advance for your advice,

ee

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-B...o/IMG_6983.JPG
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-y...o/IMG_6980.JPG
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-L...o/IMG_6986.JPG
^^This is the crack seen from the inside with a piece of yellow paper pushed through the crack from outside.

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-9...o/IMG_6979.JPG
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-r...o/IMG_6978.JPG
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-f...o/IMG_6977.JPG

Wow so true "no good deed goes unpunished"

You did a nice thing. But I would fear the braces would also be damaged. It could get complicated. The top probably will require cleating at minimum. What is your skill level?

Perhaps a repair person could evaluate it give you an estimate. Pretty sure it wil be too much, but indicate what needs to be done.you might tip or gift the tech for his/her time.

OTOH some wood glue and care and a good bit of luck-you might get it into playable condition

Good luck!

Thanks for the response and the suggestion to check the braces.

There is a brace that runs under the crack in the top. That brace looks like it could just be re-glued for the inch or so that it was forced to separate from the top (about an inch from the crack to edge of the guitar). Luckily that brace is not anchored at the side of the guitar or I'm sure it would have been broken.

If you are fairly handy it can be fixed.The back to side is pretty easy.Just use some TiteBond wood glue and clamp it.The top is a little more tricky.I would try to level the crack by pushing up from the inside.Then glue some wood cleats along the crack from the inside.I'm just a amateur a pro might have some other suggestions.

I wouldn't pay to repair a $100 guitar unless it was sentimental or an outstanding guitar just because a repair will most likely cost you more than that.

Is it playable the way it is or are there other issues as well?

In response to your questions, I'm fairly competent with wood work in general, but I've never attempted a guitar repair.

Some specific questions I would have:

• Is tightbond wood glue the glue to use?
• For the crack in the top, is a patch of wood underneath of the crack really needed, or would a careful glue job (and the brace that crosses underneath of it) be enough to hold it together?
• If I put a patch under the crack in the top, what type of wood, how thin, cross-grain?
• For the crack at the side and back, would it be worth putting a few gusset pieces in the corner to prevent it from re-opening?

I always thought it was a bit odd that there is almost no reenforcement at the joint of the back and sides of the Baby.

Theglue is correct, what the factories use these days.

But while i could guess the other answers, I am not a woodworker nor a repairman. Maybe Frank ford would have the answers on frets.com

With the side separated from the body as bad as it is, it's completely unplayable. I plan to take a stab at repairing it myself just so my friend has a guitar to play.

I recently did similar repairs to one of my guitars, just glue should do.

you'll want to make the crack in the top level, put a little bit of water on the crack, and then rub some woodglue on top of that, use as much as you think is necissary, the water kind of sucks the glue down in there somehow, and also makes the wood expand, essentially a natural clamp, pretty neat. as for the back, just straight woodglue and clamps.

Scott