Fell into fire pit, fell on Martin guitar, bounced.

[Michael Dempster]

Yesterday my Martin DR-1E cushioned my fall onto a steel campground firepit, but suffered a badly cracked face. One large crack to the left of the fretboard, a few smaller ones on the face, and a 3/4 inch cracked edge on the rosewood plywood on the right side, where there's some crushed face spruce which has come away from the side a little.
I'd like to try to fix it myself, but have never tried guitar repair. Am currently repairing a small old wooden sailboat with a wonderful epoxy for marine use, "West System" epoxy, and am inclined to use it to put this thing back together. I borrowed some clamps that will reach into the guitar, and am pretty fastidious about careful repairs of most broken things I've attempted to fix. Any ideas? I've attached two photos, one re-enacting the accident, and another with a better view of the poor thing. Thanks a million. Your site makes fascinating reading!

[Len Biglin]

Hi Michael , I use W S epoxy sometimes for joints that should never come apart , like headstock cracks , I like its thin consistency and slow setting .I dont think you'll find much support for its use on a martin tho. the sound board and bracing is best done with titebond which is not expensive and very good , also water clean up.You need to do a trial run with clamps and make sure you can do it in steps or else one big operation which will have to be quick ,as titebond dries pretty quick .I assume this is a budget Martin , otherwise you need a luthier.Len

[Michael Dempster]

Thanks Len, Antonio, Tim, William, and Hobocaster,
What a delight to get peppered with practical advice by helpful strangers out there in the ether somewhere! Since my posting I've been to the guitar shop where I bought the guitar (about 20 yrs ago for $1100), spoken to two luthiers and a violin repair guy.
All share your disdain for epoxy, so I guess I'll try titebond. Replacing the face is a $500-$700 job, I understand, and the guitar's resale value wouldn't be any greater than that, so I guess I'll go buy some Titebond original formula, take a deep breath, and start gumming it back together. I've added some better photos of the damage, in case any of you would like to weigh in with more detailed advice. I'm all ears, and, as I said, absolutely delighted to receive your input.
As we all, no doubt, know, our instruments are more than tools for expressing our music. Their histories flavor what they mean to us, and they can mean a great deal. If I repair this poor thing well enough to enjoy playing it again, it'll be woven deeper into my life. That it sacrificed its face to save me from a nasty fall, that I was able to put it together again with care and with help from distant folk like you, that it can still play cheerful, poignant, sad, and exuberant music, will endear it to me all the more and be of far more value than it's resale worth.
Thanks, all! If music be the food of love, play on!
Michael

[Antonio Cotichini]

Michael, it's funny you send pictures of the dynamic of the incident and not a closer view of the cracks! I'm not an expert on refinishing (I let a luthier friend to do this job for me when I need), but maybe your guitar needs some patches on the inside to hold the cracks lips. If you want to try this fixing prepare some thin slices (3/4 of inch wide and same thickness of the top or side) of the same timber of the broken parts with the grain at 90 degrees of that of the crack and with bevelled edges. White glue (let it fill also the crack) and good clamping would do the job. If there are chips or small splinters you can fill them with superglue and sawdust. Fine sanding and polishing. I did it on my Guild and many other guitars.
Good luck and... beware of camp-fires!
P.S. I forgot to say that if the cracks involve the bracing... well' the story becomes more complicated! Then you need a luthier's help.

[Michael Dempster]

Thanks Len, Antonio, Tim, William, and Hobocaster,
What a delight to get peppered with practical advice by helpful strangers out there in the ether somewhere! Since my posting I've been to the guitar shop where I bought the guitar (about 20 yrs ago for $1100), spoken to two luthiers and a violin repair guy.
All share your disdain for epoxy, so I guess I'll try titebond. Replacing the face is a $500-$700 job, I understand, and the guitar's resale value wouldn't be any greater than that, so I guess I'll go buy some Titebond original formula, take a deep breath, and start gumming it back together. I've added some better photos of the damage, in case any of you would like to weigh in with more detailed advice. I'm all ears, and, as I said, delighted to receive your input.

[Tim Mace]

excellent reenactment!!!!!

[Antonio Cotichini]

Hey Tim, that's not what you said. First, I didn't see Len's advice before posting mine (don't know if it has something to do with the time zone: I'm in Italy, but it didn't appeared on my screen) and second, it's a different approach because I spoke about patches. Anyway I'm happy to see that I'm not alone nor wrong in what I think.

[Michael Dempster]

Thanks Len, Antonio, Tim, William, and Hobocaster,
What a delight to get peppered with practical advice by helpful strangers out there in the ether somewhere! Since my posting I've been to the guitar shop where I bought the guitar (about 20 yrs ago for $1100), spoken to two luthiers and a violin repair guy.
All share your disdain for epoxy, so I guess I'll try titebond. Replacing the face is a $500-$700 job, I understand, and the guitar's resale value wouldn't be any greater than that, so I guess I'll go buy some Titebond original formula, take a deep breath, and start gumming it back together. I've added some better photos of the damage, in case any of you would like to weigh in with more detailed advice. I'm all ears, and, as I said, delighted to receive your input.

[hobocaster]

Sorry bout your guitar! I would also suggest using plain ol wood glue, rather than epoxy.

[Michael Dempster]

Thanks Len, Antonio, Tim, William, and Hobocaster,
What a delight to get peppered with practical advice by helpful strangers out there in the ether somewhere! Since my posting I've been to the guitar shop where I bought the guitar (about 20 yrs ago for $1100), spoken to two luthiers and a violin repair guy.
All share your disdain for epoxy, so I guess I'll try titebond. Replacing the face is a $500-$700 job, I understand, and the guitar's resale value wouldn't be any greater than that, so I guess I'll go buy some Titebond original formula, take a deep breath, and start gumming it back together. I've added some better photos of the damage, in case any of you would like to weigh in with more detailed advice. I'm all ears, and, as I said, delighted to receive your input.

[William F.Eden]

If it's worth fixing you need to put a new top on it .If it has that much damage done to it you can be sure it has brace problems as well.If you are a boat builder it should be no problem to you . Good luck Bill.""""""""""

[Michael Dempster]

Thanks Len, Antonio, Tim, William, and Hobocaster,
What a delight to get peppered with practical advice by helpful strangers out there in the ether somewhere! Since my posting I've been to the guitar shop where I bought the guitar (about 20 yrs ago for $1100), spoken to two luthiers and a violin repair guy.
All share your disdain for epoxy, so I guess I'll try titebond. Replacing the face is a $500-$700 job, I understand, and the guitar's resale value wouldn't be any greater than that, so I guess I'll go buy some Titebond original formula, take a deep breath, and start gumming it back together. I've added some better photos of the damage, in case any of you would like to weigh in with more detailed advice. I'm all ears, and, as I said, delighted to receive your input.

[Antonio Cotichini]

It didn't seemed that bad at first sight, Mike! Now I'm quite sure the braces are involved (It would be wonderful to have pix of the inside!), but still don't know if they're just unstuck or broken in pieces. In the first case buy a bucket of glue and go on as said before. In the second case I wouldn't be very happy (if the guitar was mine) just glueing it. The braces are the strength of the top, not just dividing the vibrating areas. But changing chains (don't know if in English you use also this term for braces, we, in Italy, do!) means changing top, at this very point. So, it's up to you. It's not just a money value story; if you love that axe maybe it worth the expense. Take it easy.
P.S. I hope nobody else's said these things before me, otherwise Tim will throw my ears!