$40 Vintage Suzuki No 7 Repair

[Paul Said]

Hi All,

          I'II like to have a go at repairing this beat up early 60's acoustic guitar I purchased a while back but require some advice before i get started. The brace that runs across the soundboard just behind the soundhole is split and the soundboard of the guitar has a pronounced dip probably due to the brace failure. It looks as though someone has attempted to re glue the split in the brace but were unsuccessful. Someone has then fitted a small piece of timber between the split to possibly stop it from vibrating when being played. It a Suzuki No. 7 acoustic guitar. I originally purchased this guitar to literally cut it open and build a resonator guitar which I have done before but although this guitar has cosmetic and structural issues, it plays beautifully so my original plan to cut it open now gone.

Should I attempt to re glue the split in the brace and clamp or should I remove the brace and fit a new brace.

The brace is secure. What is the best tool to assist in removing the brace if this is the preferred option.

I have attached a couple of pics.

Regards

Paul.

[Ned Knepp]

Hi Paul.

 Usually a post that goes this long without comment isn't ignored so much as it just something that no one has a comment on.

 I can't say much about what you need to do because I've not had much luck removing this sort of glue in the past without making the matter worse. I will say that I think the wedge is a mistake since it will probably only add to the warp of the top. Speaking of that, it's not clear in the picture just what you mean but a "pronounced dip". There are a lot of thing that could cause it but the split brace is a starting point for sure. 

You might try removing the wedge and as much of the old glue as you can with a sharp knife, sandpaper, gouge or what ever else you can find that will help. You probably won't get it all but if you can get enough to jack it back up into place, you can assess things to see of this amount of movement is enough to fix the dip. If it doesn't, perhaps this guitar is destiny to be a resonator after all. There are always other guitars to save. Frankly, I don't think this one's really worth saving for more than the experience of doing so. 

[Mark McLean]

Paul

I am not sure which brace we are looking at in your photo, and if it is likely to be responsible for the cave in in the top.  But you need to bear in mind that when you can see one broken brace there may well be other broken or loose ones which you are not seeing yet.  When a guitar gets dropped, or left in a hot car, or some other torture, it often affects multiple sites.  So you need to systematically check everything inside.  Guitars of this age and value are rarely worth the investment of much time or money to repair.  I am agreeing with your first thought that a DIY resonator conversion could be a good use for it.

Mark

[Paul Said]

Thanks Ned and Mark for your responses. Ned, I will do what you recommended and remove the wedge, remove what glue I can and re glue and clamp. I understand many people would not bother with this type of repair on a cheap vintage guitar but I enjoy the challenge of trying to better something I have. I am obviously not a Luither so this type of repair may be challenging. If I muck it up it will then be destined for a Resonator conversion.

Regards

Paul.