My Alvarez 5022

[Flatt]

So a friend gave me an acoustic yesterday (I've been playing on my mother's classical one, but it doesn't work well for bluegrass), of which I had low expectations. Well, I was pleasantly surprised that it's a Alvarez 5022 that my friend bought in the 80s. Rosewood back and sides, solid spruce top....you know what I'm talking 'bout.

Only problem was that the strap button was ripped off somehow. Well, much to my disappointment, there is a crack that looked like it was from someone dropping it. It looks like the whole section of wood around the stripped button is affected by it.

Questions:

1. How can I repair it?

2. Will I be able to have a strap?

3. Will it worsen?

I have photos to give you a better understanding:

[Flatt]

Shall I rename this to "Crack on my guitar"....

[Flatt]

Can anybody help? :\

[wkbryan]

I'll preface this with, "I'm no expert but...."

I think the broken strap button/endpin is probably removable and replaceable. There's a pretty good chance that the end block is OK and will hold the new endpin just fine.

As for the side crack close to the back, I'll say it depends. It is no doubt repairable but the real question is would the cost of the repair exceed the value of the instrument.

Does the crack seem stable to you or does it seem to open/close as you handle and play the guitar? If it is stable and the repair would be costly to repair it might be that you could still get years of playing enjoyment out of it just by being a little extra careful.

[wkbryan]

BTW--if you try to remove the broken endpin yourself do so very carefully. The best way would probable be to try to grab it from the inside and turn it and gently push it out. Carefully!

[Flatt]

Originally Posted by wkbryan

I'll preface this with, "I'm no expert but...."

I think the broken strap button/endpin is probably removable and replaceable. There's a pretty good chance that the end block is OK and will hold the new endpin just fine.

As for the side crack close to the back, I'll say it depends. It is no doubt repairable but the real question is would the cost of the repair exceed the value of the instrument.

Does the crack seem stable to you or does it seem to open/close as you handle and play the guitar? If it is stable and the repair would be costly to repair it might be that you could still get years of playing enjoyment out of it just by being a little extra careful.

Well, It is not only the crack, but the wood on that part of the guitar is stressed. The main thing I am wondering, is if a guitar strap would hurt it, as it pulls on the wood.

[Von Beerhofen]

It looks to me as if a laminated piece of wood has chipped off, in itself not a life threatening situation for the guitar's structural integrety. It could be just lacquer dammage too if it's a thick coating. The discoloration on the back may not be excessively abnormal and looks like the inside block is slightly pushing the back up in that spot, and as a result the lacquer in that spot is worn down thin because of touching the inside of a case or something else (possibly the player's body). This can be the effect of a dry environment too instead of having anything to do with the dammage.
Laminated sides are very strong and behind the pin there's usually a thicker block of wood. If there isn't a real gap between the binding and the dammaged bit, through which you can see the inside, I think it would suffice to glue another strip of the same wood inside the dammaged area (veneer would do the job I think).
It needs to be precisely cut to the shape of the dammage, like an inlay. Excess wood can then be sanded away and may hardly leave a visible mark when done properly.
It wouldn't be really expensive, around 50 to 100$ when done by a good crafts person, maybe even cheaper.
If there's a gap, it'll likely be a more intrusive repair and probably more expensive too as the back possibly needs to be reglued to the sides as well.
There are possibly less expensive solutions for that too but I think you better have an expert look at it first, so you can get a pricequote and decide upon the cost involved. Everything is repairable but as said before are you willing to pay the quoted price?
Also not an expert opinion from me but have some prior experience with one of my early guitars.
BTW, I don't doubt what you say but from the pictures I don't see any stressing of the wood, the pinend side shows a perfect mirrored reflection of the pattern underneath the guitar. You can check the back by reflecting a straightlined lightsource over the back surface (a window usually works great because of it square shape), any stress in the wood will cause a distortion in the reflection and should easily be visible.
It may look worse then it actually is, check the guitar's interior for visible dammage, if any it's possibly time to start worrying.

Ludwig

[Flatt]

My father and I went over it again, and found that it fell vertically (As if the guitar were standing up) on an angle with the top on the downward side. The plastic strap button was snapped off, causing the piece of wood inside to stress a portion of the wood on the back side of the guitar. It did not however, damage the top.

So you can get a better understanding of it, we took some better pictures:

The crack:




Note the highlighted impact.





Do you think the fact the piece of wood is separated will effect the sound?

[Von Beerhofen]

I'm sorry to see that dammage on your guitar Flatt, that looks quite nasty. I'm pretty sure that the sound will be affected, a wood split like that may cause some buzzing when the pieces vibrate and touch. Structurally the impact seems to have deformed the body shape mainly at the back, which looks pushed downwards and inwards just above the dammaged area. The lacquer on the left side of the split (2nd picture) also shows a crack perpendicular to the grain which might also be in the wood (probably the sides of the inside block).
I'd definately have an expert look at it, as a guitar player I can't really say how bad it is. Possibly with the right tools, glue, clamps and putting pressure on the right spots it might still be easily repairable. I think the main thing is to close that gap and hopefully inside nothing else needs to be done. As it is I wouldn't add extra strain on it by using a strap and safety wise I'd loosen string tension untill someone can tell you more. Good luck, I'll keep my fingers crossed.

Ludwig

[Flatt]

Originally Posted by Von Beerhofen

I'm sorry to see that dammage on your guitar Flatt, that looks quite nasty. I'm pretty sure that the sound will be affected, a wood split like that may cause some buzzing when the pieces vibrate and touch. Structurally the impact seems to have deformed the body shape mainly at the back, which looks pushed downwards and inwards just above the dammaged area. The lacquer on the left side of the split (2nd picture) also shows a crack perpendicular to the grain which might also be in the wood (probably the sides of the inside block).
I'd definately have an expert look at it, as a guitar player I can't really say how bad it is. Possibly with the right tools, glue, clamps and putting pressure on the right spots it might still be easily repairable. I think the main thing is to close that gap and hopefully inside nothing else needs to be done. As it is I wouldn't add extra strain on it by using a strap and safety wise I'd loosen string tension untill someone can tell you more. Good luck, I'll keep my fingers crossed.

Ludwig

Thanks for the post!

What we plan to do is use epoxy inside in order to make sure we can stabilize it inside. What we would do with the crack will be decided upon. My question now would be if the epoxy (glue, whatever you call it) would effect the sound at all.

[HHP]

Originally Posted by Flatt

Thanks for the post!

What we plan to do is use epoxy inside in order to make sure we can stabilize it inside. What we would do with the crack will be decided upon. My question now would be if the epoxy (glue, whatever you call it) would effect the sound at all.

If it did, would you leave the crack open? You gotta do what you gotta do. Probably won't make any difference. While you're reaching around in there, might check to see if any braces got knocked loose.

[Flatt]

Originally Posted by HHP

If it did, would you leave the crack open? You gotta do what you gotta do. Probably won't make any difference. While you're reaching around in there, might check to see if any braces got knocked loose.

We would probably leave it open.