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Nickel Body Resonator (Please help)

Posted: Fri Jun 09, 2023 2:48 am
by Rhysyrhys
Guys they dropped my fucking resonator and the neck snapped moving to my new house. The movers were insured and it's cool, I got decent money for it but... arghhhhh what do I do? Can you repair these guitars? Can I take the neck off some how?

Please help, I'm really out of my depth here and I don't just wanna go to a luthier and get shafted for 1g's worth of guitar, just wanna know what I'm walking into.

Re: Nickel Body Resonator (Please help)

Posted: Fri Jun 09, 2023 5:20 am
by Pens
That's gotta be a question for a real luthier, man. From the little I know about these things, the neck/fretboard can be de-glued and removed carefully, the neck could probably be clamped and re-glued, but it's really hard to tell how much real structural damage there is there. That kind of thing is definitely a job for a professional.

If you really, really wanted to DIY it, which I 100% do not advise in this case, you possibly could apply some glue and clamp the shit out of it...but really, something that bad really ought to be seen and handled by a pro luthier.

Re: Nickel Body Resonator (Please help)

Posted: Fri Jun 09, 2023 6:46 am
by NickD
I've fixed worse myself, but it's not a job for the faint hearted. You'll always be able to see it but its definitely repairable. I'd expect a luthier to be $1-200 or so, maybe a bit more depending on how bad the fingerboard damage is.

Re: Nickel Body Resonator (Please help)

Posted: Fri Jun 09, 2023 7:13 am
by Bacchus
Nah, that'll be fine. Buff it out, string it up and rawk out.

Re: Nickel Body Resonator (Please help)

Posted: Fri Jun 09, 2023 12:07 pm
by plopswagon
Two words, Nashville Tuning.

But seriously, if the movers paying, take it to a luthier.

Re: Nickel Body Resonator (Please help)

Posted: Sat Jun 10, 2023 3:16 am
by sunshiner
Mahogany sucks. Not saying maple wouldn't have snapped, but still mahogany's way too fragile.

Try to press it down and see if the fretboard returns to being flat. If the resonator isn't expensive you can try to squirt super glue inside the cracks and clamp it down. However, super glue repairs can be super messy and the guitar might end up looking like complete crap afterwards. You can also use Titebond, but it's harder to get it deep inside the cracks.

Re: Nickel Body Resonator (Please help)

Posted: Sat Jun 10, 2023 3:24 pm
by dots
That's a bummer!

A luthier shouldn't charge you for an estimate, and I'd get a couple quotes at least.

Re: Nickel Body Resonator (Please help)

Posted: Sat Jun 10, 2023 3:28 pm
by NickD
sunshiner wrote: Sat Jun 10, 2023 3:16 am Mahogany sucks. Not saying maple wouldn't have snapped, but still mahogany's way too fragile.

Try to press it down and see if the fretboard returns to being flat. If the resonator isn't expensive you can try to squirt super glue inside the cracks and clamp it down. However, super glue repairs can be super messy and the guitar might end up looking like complete crap afterwards. You can also use Titebond, but it's harder to get it deep inside the cracks.
Superglue doesn’t work all that well if the repair is under stress, and the open time is really short. Injecting titebond is probably the best option for the big crack, the small one depends on how far it opens under tension.

Re: Nickel Body Resonator (Please help)

Posted: Sat Jun 10, 2023 6:57 pm
by sunshiner
You're probably right. I've glued headstocks with superglue, though.That's all we had and the people wanted to play ASAP.

Re: Nickel Body Resonator (Please help)

Posted: Sun Jun 11, 2023 12:44 am
by Pens
Everything I've ever tried to repair with superglue (cyano-acrylic) other than cuts in skin has almost immediately failed under stress, though I will admit I never tried it with wood. I've always only used regular wood glue and clamping there, and it's been fine. Add a small amount of water and it should be fine to get down into the crack.

I would still be asking a luthier for a quote on this, though. That damage looks pretty rough.

Re: Nickel Body Resonator (Please help)

Posted: Sun Jun 11, 2023 1:41 am
by Gavin
Yeah, I mean, maybe yous are just using superglue as a catch-all term, but actual super glue would be a terrible idea. I have actually fixed an acoustic many yar ago by using PVA wood glue on a similar break and it worked great. That looks maybe not as clean a break though and looks like there could be some fretboard damage, and also I didn't care about the guitar I was fixing. So, yeah, if you can afford it and you want to save the guitar, just get it fixed by a luthier. It probably won't be that expensive.

Re: Nickel Body Resonator (Please help)

Posted: Sun Jun 11, 2023 5:24 am
by plopswagon
So looking at the damage again, it looks like the brake is a long line of a previously loose joint between two pieces of wood. There’s probably a way to disconnect the neck in the body via some bolts. I’m not sure how the fretboard is attached to the body but if it can all be removed cleanly then it’s a matter Of refilling the two pieces of wood.


But really the best chance for a fix take it to a luthier.

Re: Nickel Body Resonator (Please help)

Posted: Sun Jun 11, 2023 7:48 am
by sunshiner
Yeah the fact the neck is bolted to the body makes it a bad idea to use super glue as you might glue together the neck and the metal body.

Re: Nickel Body Resonator (Please help)

Posted: Sun Jun 11, 2023 8:34 am
by benecol
Rhysyrhys wrote: Fri Jun 09, 2023 2:48 amThe movers were insured and it's cool, I got decent money for it
This negates the question and all the head scratching, surely? Take it to a luthier.

Re: Nickel Body Resonator (Please help)

Posted: Mon Jun 12, 2023 9:21 am
by cooter
Definitely not a job for the faint of heart as NickD stated above. The link below shows how to remove the fretboard and neck from the body.

http://www.strangeguitarworks.com/nati ... eck-reset/

Re: Nickel Body Resonator (Please help)

Posted: Mon Jun 12, 2023 10:21 am
by Bacchus
cooter wrote: Mon Jun 12, 2023 9:21 am Definitely not a job for the faint of heart as NickD stated above. The link below shows how to remove the fretboard and neck from the body.

http://www.strangeguitarworks.com/natio ... eck-reset/
That was a great read, thanks for posting.

Re: Nickel Body Resonator (Please help)

Posted: Mon Jun 12, 2023 4:55 pm
by dots
Bacchus wrote: Mon Jun 12, 2023 10:21 am
cooter wrote: Mon Jun 12, 2023 9:21 am Definitely not a job for the faint of heart as NickD stated above. The link below shows how to remove the fretboard and neck from the body.

http://www.strangeguitarworks.com/natio ... eck-reset/
That was a great read, thanks for posting.

Agreed.