Best way and glue to fix this cracked neck

thebassbuilder

thebassbuilder

Mar 7, 2012
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Spartanburg SC
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guitar builder, Meyers Guitars
#1
see pics and let me know if you think I should use structural epoxy or standard titebond? The crack run from the tuner screw hole down the neck about 7". Also when filling do I need to force the crack open as far as possible or just push into the crack the best I can? This is the first cracked neck repair I have attempted so any words of wisdom please send them on.
 

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#3
T_Bone_TL said:
As a mere wooddorker, all my whiz is going to be dumb, but I'd first question what the cause of this crack was - absent a dire event, I'd look at the whole neck with some skepticism.
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Agree but hard to tell as I got it with no strings, missing nut along with a couple of saddles missing. This is a friends project bass. So it could be the truss rod but hard to tell at this point. I am going to tweak the trus rod some to see if it is maxed out on tension.
 
#4
I think I'd probably use CA glue since it's nice and thin and can wick in deeply. When you clamp it dry, can you get it all to close up? If/when it's closed up, does it look straight? A concern of mine would be that the repair might cause a bump in the fretboard, necessitating the board coming off for further tweaking and repair...
 
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#5
My first concern is that it looks a though there is a lot of dirt accumulated in that crack. The first challenge is to get that dirt out of there. Otherwise any glue is not going to hold worth a darn.
After that a decent wood glue like Titebond will do just fine. You need to force the glue into the crack , squeezing it in with your fingertips. Then clamping to close the crack tightly. You need to figure out and test the clamping before you get to the stage where you apply the glue.
 
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#6
I personally would repair it with West Systems epoxy. Titebond is okay, but the West Systems is thinner and takes longer to cure. So, it will seep down in further and seep into the internal wood better.

Like Turnaround says, first clean the goop out of the top of the crack. Whatever glue you use, force it down in there hydraulically by pushing it in with your thumb (covered by a piece of Saran Wrap). Then clamp it up tight to cure.

From the pictures, it looks like a classic shrinkage crack. The wood wasn't thoroughly dried before it got made into a neck. It shrank and cracked.
 
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#9
Scoops said:
Surgical tubing works great as a clamp for things like this.
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How would you use this as a clamp? Do you rape it around the neck multiple times?

I was going to use a radius block on the finger board side to help keep the fingerboard as straight as possible and was thinking of using a neck rest radius block for the back of the neck. the kind with the cork lining on it. clamp down and this should hold the neck straight. I am not thinking you mean to use the tubing as a gap filler for clamping. Running length wise between a block and the neck to fill the gaps. I may be wrong on this but that seems as it could work.
 
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#10
I think Bruce is right - it's a shrinkage crack. If that's the case there's little point trying to clamp the crack closed - it will just cause the wood to split elsewhere. You may need to fill the crack rather than trying to close it.
 
#14
thebassbuilder said:
How would you use this as a clamp? Do you rape it around the neck multiple times?
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LOL, If you raped it I would have to call the police, but if you wrapped it works quit well (sorry had to do that)

Yes, all you have to do is make sure you get enough glue down in the crevasse, and then wrap many times
 
#15
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Bruce Johnson said:
I personally would repair it with West Systems epoxy. Titebond is okay, but the West Systems is thinner and takes longer to cure. So, it will seep down in further and seep into the internal wood better.

Like Turnaround says, first clean the goop out of the top of the crack. Whatever glue you use, force it down in there hydraulically by pushing it in with your thumb (covered by a piece of Saran Wrap). Then clamp it up tight to cure.

From the pictures, it looks like a classic shrinkage crack. The wood wasn't thoroughly dried before it got made into a neck. It shrank and cracked.
Click to expand...
This jazz was fixed with West Systems epoxy and the guy that fixed it used his boat building skills, its stronger now than the actual wood...
 
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#16
Scoops said:
LOL, If you raped it I would have to call the police, but if you wrapped it works quit well (sorry had to do that)

Yes, all you have to do is make sure you get enough glue down in the crevasse, and then wrap many times
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May help if I re-read my post before posting it. Not to mention I suck at spelling so who knows if it would make a difference or not. I liked the comment though! thanks for the info.
 
#17
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I have the bass in clamps. I used a radius block for the fretboard side then a narrow scrap of wood and ran surgical tubes length wise in between the wood and neck. This seemed to put the proper pressure on the cracks pushing them closed. I went t-88 epoxy to glue it. So I will check it out in the morning to see how it looks. I am also going to run thin CA down the cracks that I could not get epoxy in. Hopefully this will fix the neck and get it back to working again.
 
#18
I took the clamps off this morning and the crack looks great. Tonight I am going to run the CA down the fine cracks around the headstock. So I hope this will hold her together after this. Sweet bass and hate to see it not get used. I am think the cause other than it being dropped is how thin the neck is at the nut area. This bass has 2 truss rods and is very thin. So I am thinking this is the biggest cause of the problem. So fingers crossed once it is all dry it will hold forever.
 
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