My son and I were just trying to chill and relax and I noticed this on my headstock. Uhm…never been down this road. Just noticed this tonight. Things never been dropped or knocked over, but of course there is no way for me to be 100% sure but suffice it to say I'm not aware and no one in the family is and I'm very careful.

So….uh….where on earth would I find someone to fix this. Normally, I'd just wedge this dude open and squish some glue in there but I think maybe someone else would be better suited for this task. This was bought in the late 90's, brand new.

Full disclosure, I don't need Willie's luthier here and I'm concerned the repair will exceed the value of the guitar.

Anyway, kinda bummed and shocked because I don't know what the hell would cause it. It's across the grain it seems?

Anyway, you guys know stuff so….thoughts ?




I don't know if it's cracked all the way where it's "loose" f I remove the strings. If so, then I don't see much else to be needed except a clamp and some Titebond. Right?

Looks like it is running with the grain.

IMO it could definitely (carefully) be glued and clamped. If you're not comfortable DIYing I would hunt a (hard to find possibly) furniture repair or restoration place. Of course your location will have a lot to do with luck doing that.

Tracking down 'Agrams' would definitely work too.

I'm not a guitar construction expert, but the grain structure of the headstock doesn't appear longitudinal like it is on the neck. So, this leads me to believe that the whole neck (headstock to heel) was made from a single block of wood. This type of neck construction is known to be weaker than that made by jointing methods which result in the grain of the headstock and that of the neck to both be longitudinal. (see diagram below)

If it were me, I would remove all the hardware from the headstock, place clamps on the area which is cracking (firmly clamp, not crushing tight), and slowly wick Thin CA into the crack and let the CA slowly cure (no kicker). Keep wicking CA until you are convinced the crack is as saturated as possible without it leaking to other areas of the headstock. It should not take much CA to get the guitar operational again. This should stop the crack, at least in the area the CA reaches. New splitting along the gain may still appear in other parts the headstock in the future, due to the method of the original construction. If things get a little sloppy with the CA, carefully sand and apply a finish to topcoat the area to match the sheen of the rest of the neck.

However, I would really prefer a real guitar-making/repair enthusiast to weigh-in, in case there is a better approach.

Just a guess based on location and design, could it be that the strings were tightened too much ?

You can fix cracks in wood generally by drilling Tiny holes with a 1/32 bit into the crack at intervals, just a few mm deep, and then mixing up some thin 2 part epoxy and using a plastic tip syringe to inject epoxy into the crack using the holes to ensure you get the epoxy into deeper and can apply a little pressure. Once it hardens the union will be stronger than the wood on either side. Epoxy shrinks slightly as it hardens so you might have to fill in low spots along the crack or for appearance and refinish a bit.

The machinist in me says set it up in your Bridgeport, drill a couple of long holes perpendicular to the crack, then use an adhesive to secure two brass rods. File down flush, refinish the wood in the area to blend the repair, and call it done.
There's likely a much easier fix.

Action Sound in Hawkins, TX is who does repairs and custom work on guitars and amps for a lot of professional musicians.

https://actionsoundmusic.com

Their website says that cracked neck repair starts at $150.

What would Jeff Jarrett Do?

I wouldn't try to fix that yourself. you can really mess up a guitar that way.

in Houston these guys are great

https://www.rockinrobinguitars.com/

Looks like you need a little JB weld.

I'll see myself out.

J/K. Good luck.

My brother had a guitar guy in Shreveport fix a cracked neck once on an old Gibson Dove I believe. It was Hella expensive

First thing I would do is take the strings off to relieve the stress. Leaving the strings on will only make it worse until it is repaired

I am not a luthier (although I am Lutheran), but I have attempted a couple of home repairs on cheaper guitars. Head and neck repairs are tough because those strings create so much stress. A couple of things I would not use are CA or Gorilla Glue. CA gets brittle, and GG is just urethane adhesive. Neither will endure these stresses. As someone else pointed out, unless you are experienced I would take it to a reputable guitar shop, especially for something like a Martin

Burdizzo said:

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I am not a luthier (although I am Lutheran)

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I have nothing of relevance to add, aside from the fact that this made me spit out my coffee at work today, so thanks for that!

where are you located? If you're anywhere near Brenham one of my best friends is a luthier and could take of you for a very fair price. Look up Mistress guitars on facebook and send him a message on there.

If not great southern music in west Houston is a certified Martin repair shop.

I purchased a guitar from a shop here in the west Houston area on North Fry Road. He makes repairs but I've not been by there in a good while to see if the pace is still there.

Pantera said:

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Burdizzo said:

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I am not a luthier (although I am Lutheran)

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I have nothing of relevance to add, aside from the fact that this made me spit out my coffee at work today, so thanks for that!

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It doesn't hurt to have services of both sometimes.

AustinCountyAg said:

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where are you located? If you're anywhere near Brenham one of my best friends is a luthier and could take of you for a very fair price. Look up Mistress guitars on facebook and send him a message on there.

If not great southern music in west Houston is a certified Martin repair shop.

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Thanks! I'll reach out! I'm in San Antonio, though.

Looks like I can expect 150 plus or minus moron clouding refinishing which I'm not really concerned with anyway a scar on the back ain't no thang. Mostly worried about it breaking completely. I loosened the strings and I can open the crack but not much.

I'll probably have them set it up while it's there because why not.

Easy fix for most luthiers. They drill a couple small holes through the split then dowel and epoxy it back together. You cold also reach out to Martin for a factory fix

Give Trey Clements of Clements Guitars a call. He is in Bryan and a professionally trained luthier who can fix it. Aggie Class of '13.

www.clementsguitars.com

Or, some twisted baling wire.

MFBarnes, legendary guitarist, could probably fix this in his sleep.

I'd also like to add that you need to CUT YOUR STRINGS!!!

AustinCountyAg said:

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I'd also like to add that you need to CUT YOUR STRINGS!!!

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you'd hate jamming with me lol

AustinCountyAg said:

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I'd also like to add that you need to CUT YOUR STRINGS!!!

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Man...I almost made it 36 years without a single comment on that.

So here's the deal with it. When I was young, I often had to change out strings in a pinch, because, well, I was always late and behind. I didn't have a means of cutting them, so my uncle, a local small guitarist back in Rosenberg said "Why? Roll them up and get on with it!".

So I did. He bought me my first guitar so I figured why not. I got used to it and turns out I like it that way, so I just kept doing it. I do trim them if it's easy.

Actually, the first statement isn't totally true, my uncles fiddle player said to cut by D string to 2" so I can put my cigarette on it as a holder. But, Im not a smoker, so I never did.

EliteElectric said:

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Easy fix for most luthiers. They drill a couple small holes through the split then dowel and epoxy it back together. You cold also reach out to Martin for a factory fix

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This is the fix my hubby would do on wood.

kennysguitars.com

several of my musician friends say "the best of the best"

hope you get the help you need.

dubi said:

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EliteElectric said:

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Easy fix for most luthiers. They drill a couple small holes through the split then dowel and epoxy it back together. You cold also reach out to Martin for a factory fix

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This is the fix my hubby would do on wood.

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But dont use epoxy. Simple wood glue is all you need.

Thank you all.

I found several really good options right here in San Antonio after calling some places in the thread. All have really great reviews for repairs and they are all very reasonable for this kind of thing. All said it's a very minor repair compared to the stuff that comes in, easily fixed, not a big deal....especially since it didn't fall off. I'll go ahead and have it set up while I'm there and call it good.

I asked a guy I trade with who's in San Antonio and he said to call Alamo Music Center and ask for Chris. He said they sell a lot of Martins so might have a better idea of where to go.

I've seen some amazing work from luthiers who repair that with two mahogany dowels to reinforce (if the neck is mahogany). The great ones i've seen match the stain and wood grain on the dowel to the neck. They then sand it down, relacquer if need, and buff. You have to look very closely to see it's been fixed.

He has the gallon jug of wood glue so that is his plan.

Lathspell said:

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dubi said:

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EliteElectric said:

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Easy fix for most luthiers. They drill a couple small holes through the split then dowel and epoxy it back together. You cold also reach out to Martin for a factory fix

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This is the fix my hubby would do on wood.

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But dont use epoxy. Simple wood glue is all you need.

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Titebond III

I wonder if the fix will change the tone? Vibration has to be different. Barnes changed his number Marauder we are chit out of luck!

If you're the original owner, Martin has a limited lifetime warranty that I would think would cover something like that.

If you're not, I would still send it to them to see what they think. Quality makers like Martin don't want to see (and certainly don't want others to see) their guitars having this kind of damage from normal use.

Now, if something happened to the guitar...

But it doesn't appear to be impact damage.

91AggieLawyer said:

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If you're the original owner, Martin has a limited lifetime warranty that I would think would cover something like that.

If you're not, I would still send it to them to see what they think. Quality makers like Martin don't want to see (and certainly don't want others to see) their guitars having this kind of damage from normal use.

Now, if something happened to the guitar...

But it doesn't appear to be impact damage.

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Appreciate the heads up. I reached out to them.

The limited warranty is 20 pages long and I can tell you right now, they can deny this for any number of things as they wish, which is why it's 20 pages long. We'll see what they say.

I can tell you that I reached out to no less than 4 luthiers near me, some of whom service well known local Texas artists and no one has given me a price more than $150 for this repair unless I want it sanded, refinished to perfect, and set up. I need that hoe glued up so it doesn't fall off. I'm not Randy Rogers over here trying to make a living gigging.

Hardly worth foolin' with for $150. Glue it, tune it, play it!