[radu80]

I have this nice sounding acoustic that has a crack right underneath the plastic pickguard (see picture). Well it hasn't really bothered me before but lately the guitar has been making buzzing sounds because of it and it seems that crack has expanded. Is there anything I can do about it?

[ninjato]

The bracing is coming loose and the dry air is going to make it worse until it is unplayable. How much does the guitar cost? It may cost more than the guitar is worth to fix it.

Step 1 is to re-humidify the guitar back to standard levels first then go from there.

[okiejohn]

I'd take the pick guard off and put some super glue in that crack, there's some good glue called Hot Stuff that comes in different viscosities. If the crack isn't very wide the thin stuff should work well. If it's a wide gap thicker glue might be the ticket.

Put a small puddle of the glue on a piece of plastic wrap, or something like a zip lock bag, and use a tooth pick to dip into the glue and apply to the crack, sort of like how an old fountain pen used to work. That should seal up the crack and keep it from getting any larger. You might have to apply several coats of the glue in order to seal up the crack good, just go slow and allow the glue some time to set up between applications.

Dadfad says a wooden scab behind a crack is a good idea, ya might consider that as well.

You may be able to re apply the old pickguard when you finish, depending on how carefully you remove it....if not a new one should be pretty cheap.

[ninjato]

I'd take the pick guard off ................

I've seen many people ruin guitars tryng to remove the pickguard. If the crack in glued to the PG then you might make the crack larger by tugging on it.

[okiejohn]

And I've seen pickguards peel right off...

[ninjato]

listen to okiejohn....do't blame me if your guitar get phucked up

[okiejohn]

Don't take my word, what do I know. I haven't removed a pickguard since last Saturday, took one off an Alvarez.....do a google search, there's some sites that will give you advice on the proceedure.

[dadfad]

Some (most) can be fairly easy, and some can be a bear to get off. On less expensive guitars it's usually one extreme or the other. They either come off very easily because they used an adhesive that isn't too extreme, or the opposite... they used a newer epoxy to glue everything (including the pickguard, which doesn't require that strong of an adhesive because there isn't a lot of pressure on them like a neck or a brace, etc).

Better guitars (and most vintage guitars) use horsehide glue. It's strong and durable, but can often be removed with just a thin tool (like a paint-scraper, etc. I usually prefer a very thin round-ended putty-knife.). Sometimes hide glue will require some heat to loosen it. You can use an iron (turned waaaay low) on a cloth over the guard to warm it up. This has one potential problem. If you get it too warm it may also soften the glue underneath the top-wood, like the glue holding the braces on. You can instead use the iron to heat the tool itself, reheating it a few times as you work it under the pickguard a little at a time.

When using a tool like a paint-scrapper, spackling-knife, putty-knife, etc there's one thing to keep in mind. The thinner the better (obviously) and that the edge of the tool can have a bevel (an angle) on it. If it does (if it doesn't put one on it with a file), anyway... when using the tool that bevel-angle should face down (toward the wood) as you use it like this...

======/ (direction of push)->

...instead of like this....

======\ (direction of push)->

...because having the sharper side up against the plastic makes it a little less likely that instead of just sliding between the pickguard and the wood it'll start to gouge into the wood of the top.


Myself (and Okie) would probably have no problem removing most pickguards. I've done it... geeze... lots of times. But once in awhile you'll get a hard one. If you don't feel confident about doing it, then don't. I'd still recommend a little thin wooden patch glued and clamped over the crack on the underside if you don't repair the crack itself. (The grain of the wooden patch should be perpendicular to the grain of the top for strength.) In any case, it might not get any worse than it is. And in all likelihood the buzzing you're getting isn't from the crack itself, but from another piece of wood inside the guitar under the top, like a loose brace or saddle-plate, etc. Crack edges don't usually buzz. Anyway, good luck.



Oh, b/t/w... (and this was told to me by Dan Erlewine himself, and he's sort of THE acoustic guitar repair guru) (although we disagree on a few repair techniques!) (but who-the-fukk am I? )... anyway, Dan said that sometimes, especially on older vintage instruments, it's the pickguard itself that has caused the crack as the plastic has shrunk over the years and that sometimes they need to be removed and reglued just because of that. (Like on an old 1949 Gibson J-45 I have where there was a small crack beginning under the pickguard for none of the more usual reasons, like loose internal-structure pieces; top-bellying; humidity issues; etc. It was increasing maybe 1/16" or so every few months. I took off the pickguard and just put it back on in the same place and now (maybe ten years later) the crack hasn't appeared again.

Enough of my rambling on. Good luck, whatever you decide.

[radu80]

Thanks everyone for your suggestions. I've never removed a pickguard but I'll give it a try using the methods outlined by dadfad. It's a $100 solid wood guitar but it sounds awesome and has great sentimental value to me. It's a damn shame it cracked in the first place. I should've been more careful with it...

[dadfad]

It's possible it happened with nothing you did or didn't do. Just age and stress or things that happened before you even got it. Anyway, good luck. (And protect the finish around the pickguard as you work with masking-tape or a piece of cloth, etc.)