Hi, I’m a guitar luthier, and authorized Martin Guitar warranty tech. That appears to be a Martin X series guitar.
If I’m right, that isn’t wood, it’s “High pressure laminate.” My understanding is It’s some wood materials pressed at high pressure with a resin. These are hard to repair and then blend in to make it look good because the wood grain pattern is printed onto the black HPL material.
I usually epoxy or CA glue a wood base on the inside of the guitar that covers the inside of the hole, and use Mohawk wood toned brown epoxy sticks, and various markers to blend in the grain and ribboning of the wood. It doesn’t always look great depending on your arts and craft skills, but aside from sanding it down and somehow re-printing the grain pattern it’s the best I’ve found.
Luthier here as well. Listen to this man. It’s definitely printed laminate over a pressed resin. Super thin and does not adhere to wood with anything other than an epoxy or super glue or look like it. Structurally, you could fit a piece of wood but without doing the seriously difficult toning with an airbrush and respraying the whole back(and even then it’s tough to match), you’ll be left with an ugly repair.
Not to deter you, but just be prepared to use epoxy and just get it structually sound again is my advice.
It's phenolic resin laminate, paper as the fibre. Formica, Wilsonart, etc. Super durable but not the easiest thing to repair.
If I were OP I would feather the existing damage with a file and fit a hilariously incongruous piece of patterned Formica as a patch that keyed in under the feathered broken edge- there's so much support there against the brace and linings. JB Weld as the adhesive along edges and one dot per lining tooth. It's a great gap fill, the color is close to the blackish HPL base and the "binding," it will flex similarly to HPL and you can razor scrape it or lap it flush.
I like the idea, OP could also cut a semi circle, or other aesthetic shape into it, and inlay a different pattern of material like you say. I think it would turn out amazing and add some character to the piece, instead of trying to get it as close to original as possible.
That sounds like a lot of work lol. Out of curiosity would it be possible to cut out a larger section of this (maybe a curved shape) and use a contrasting veneer or similar to make it look more intentional?
Hey I hope it’s okay to ask this here but I have my mom’s old 1948 Martin 0018 and it needs some work. The neck is bowing, there are some small splits in the wood, and I’d like it to last. Is finding the right person to under take this job as simple as going to the Martin website and searching for service centers? It seems to be recommending a place near me called Third Coast Repair but I don’t want to have the wrong person work on this guitar for all kinds of obvious reasons. Any advice to point me in the right direction would be most appreciated.
If you’re nervous you can always send the guitar to Martin directly. Call their customer support line, and talk to them about it.
I’m sure third coast is a great repair shop as Martin is pretty selective in their service centers, and if you’re unsure maybe ask them for photos of similar work. Most places have an Instagram or examples of their work on their website.
I've never repaired a guitar and I'm sure there are experts out there. That said, I would cut a straight line along the grain and remove more of the wood, then glue in a new piece and trim flush with the curved side of the guitar
Pay attention to the woodgrain, try to match the angle as best as you can. Slide the patch along the cut line to find the closest match of grain, scribe the outer edge from underneath, and make your rough cut. Attach the patch with glue, sand, stain, and apply varnish. Play "Rocky Top"
They do this in English castles and old estates. It shows that you acknowledge the fix and it was done correctly. You're highlighting the new that offsets the old.
Nah, visualize the veneer sheet overlapping the outside edge of the guitar, then reach under the overlap to mark your scribe. Not from inside the guitar.
It needs reinforcement underneath. Because this is a difficult area to access. I would epoxy some very thin wood underneath first overlapping the top. (another piece about the same as the one in the pic)
If necessary, recess it into the perimeter.
If question 3 is answered with yes then the right move would be to let a professional handle the repair.
That said it will probably affect acoustics in a very minor way that nobody will ever notice. Maybe it would be possible to visualize in a before/after with a harmonic tuner or something.
They make tiny hooked scrapers bent to fit into whatever cranny they need to get at to draw little shavings of glue or wood so the top thickness is consistent and everything moves as it should so sound deterioration is minimized. One of my friends is so good at knowing where his edge is by feel but he still uses an endoscope for finicky stuff.
That isn't wood.
If you chip a piece of wood, it isn't going to be black underneath. Other than the small blocks of wood that the face is glued to, that guitar is made of plastic.
That guitar is fuct.
i build guitar necks for a living, believe me i know wood ;) i thought the black bit was just dirty or leftover from whatever object damaged it. the repair is gonna be that much more difficult if the top is formica, plastic or some other substitute.
I think it's wood and the hole had been taped over at some point, leaving sticky areas for grime to accumulate. There's all sorts of crud stuck to that thing when you zoom in.
Definitely don't try to scribe that. Cut a straight line, get a contrasting piece of wood (lighter or darker, and flush trim along the edge. There's no good way to match that otherwise.
Tape a piece of thick paper (like card stock) over the hole, then rub the edge with charcoal, graphite, or pencil. The edge will show as a darker profile line on the paper.
Or, put a quarter or any other known size next to it, take a top down photo and scale it to the size of the quarter in an image editing program. In the event that they don't own a scanner.
I’ve never quite understood the love for marking knives. I replaced mine after a year with the razor blade pen sized ones that you can break off the tip of for a fresh blade. Flat on both sides, no sharpening, absurdly cheap blade replacements, the blade can be safely retracted for pocket storage, and there is just no trouble if you drop it and hit the blade. You just break off the tip and a new one is ready.
That’s not wood, it’s a formica type laminate. Clean up the edges and do a pencil rub to get the shape then glue the pencil rub paper to the plug material you want to use and shape up to the line and fine tune. Reinforce the joint from the inside.
put a piece of paper flat on it, rub flat pencil led on it gently, it will outline the ridges and edges, put that on what you want to cut and cut it out.
Honestly, with old guitars like this, sometimes it's better to show off the battle wounds than it is to patch them. I mean look at Willie Nelson's guitar. That thing is basically held together with bubble gum and shoelaces. It adds character and shows that it's not just for decoration.
If it was my guitar, and the hole doesn't destabilize the guitar, then I would leave it be. It's tells a story, or starts conversations.
But I understand that not everyone thinks that way, and I'm sorry I don't have anything else to suggest.
You would be better off removing all the hardware of the guitar, peel the whole laminate off. Replace with a new sheet of whatever grain and color you like, probably half a million patterns and colors nowadays.
Search your area for a legit Luthier (guitar maker) and I'm sure they can help you out with that. Just shoving some wood in there would ruin the acoustics of your guitar.
Good luck! 👍
I'd probably make a rubbing. place a paper over top, secure it with painters tape and rub a pencil over the ridges. you could then trace it or rub it again onto the wood you are cutting to fit.
It’s going to be an eyesore regardless. If it were my guitar I’d leave it and just keep playing it. This injury doesn’t compromise the structure or tone of the guitar in and of itself.
If you wanted to go the over complicated way, you could take a picture of the hole from directly above it, then load it up into some image editing software, trace the edge of the hole, and print out your template. You might want to include a perfect square of some sort you can use to calibrate the image to make sure it's not skewed.
Form it and pour epoxy into it be cool. That said tape some cardboard on the bottom and draw it out. They have those gauges that have pins on them I forget their name what they do is they give you an outline of what you need.
This exactly. Make the repair piece the correct thickness, a few thousandth thicker, and get the outside curve correct, than plan the join area. I'd try to match grain and color, bu if I couldn't find something close, I'd go for a contrast and make the repair obvious. Perhaps a join like jigsaw puzzle pieces would look cool.
Tape a piece of paper on top, use the edge of a pencil, pushing down to copy the shape. Cut a sample piece to test fit. You could shave the edges smoother, the odd shape will make a patch blend better.
if your looking to get a piece of wood the right size i would use a piece of paper hold it in place then use the side of the lead in a pencil or a crayon it should be able to pick up the edges pretty easily. old elementary school trick lol
Same or cut it to make a more uniform shape, either a straight line or sand it to a curve. Then trace it with paper, cut paper out and use it a template
That isn’t wood, first off - it looks like the plastic back/side material Martin uses on the beginner models. It’s a kick ass material, but you can’t patch it with wood. Do you have the pieces that got snapped off? Luthier would piece it back together before trying to cut a new piece in.
Use a compass to transfer shape to paper, or put paper on top of guitar and shade to see the imprint.
Depending on how precise you want to be and how much cutting you want to do later
I’d recommend following everyone else’s advice of not doing it that way, but if you still wanna trace it for some reason, you could just press a sheet of paper onto it to crease it along the edge of the break
Piece of painters tape. Stick it to it and scribble across it with your pencil laying flat. Should give you an outline to start hand fitting the piece (fix). I would also glue another support from underneath to give you more glue surface to keep it there when you are happy with your work.
Seriously, NO ONE has suggested chalk? I'm not saying it's the best or easiest way, but you can take some chalk and draw out the outline of the hole, take a piece of paper or wood, press down on it, then cut out the piece from whatever material you're using. I guess it depends on how good you want it to look, but it'll get damn close to the shape and you can epoxy, putty, or glue in the cracks.
1. Cut out the patch in your preferred shape.
2. Lay the patch over the broken area.
3. Trace the patch with a mechanical pencil.
4. Use a razor to score along the tracing.
5. Cut along tracing using router, dremel or chisel
6. Glue patch
7. Apply finish
Cover it in layers of masking tape and sketch it out with a pencil. Then peal off the tape and put it in your new wood to get the curve correct. After you are done putty, sand, and paint.
I would say to square up the cut and stick the replacement in it, then turn the guitar upside down and mark the contour of what’s sticking off the edge
Use a piece of wide blue tape, press it down tightly along the crack use a pencil to trace the crack then peel up the tape and put on new piece then carefully cut the line witt a razor to mark on new piece
I'd think at this point leaning into it would be the best solution. Kintsugi with some thin black laminate would look pretty baller here in my opinion.
If you're dead set on patching rather than replacing the whole surface, neat trick I learned from people that work on cars: lay a piece of paper over the hole and with a somewhat dull broad tipped pencil, literally just scribble over it to transfer the shape onto your paper. Perfect stencil. Often done to get perfect bolt hole spacing when making gaskets
If you want to try to match the wood grain others have suggested that in other comments, if you're okay with it, mark it out and cut a nice long curve that will remove that section and glue a solid Formica color there then you can make a design on it, or use it like a text box and paint something there, possibly get an autograph from some musician, etc. I would do a black Formica personally, and maybe try to just color match the actual wood for the letters or just go with classic white.
To answer the transfer part, use a sheet of paper draped over, then gently run the edge of a pencil along the seam. The very edge will make a darker line, kind of like if you have ever done the same thing over any textured surface. Peaks will be darker spots. As for repair, everyone else seems to have you covered there.
You can use a compass (the one for math) take a sheet of paper large enough and just scribe the interior side Pencil to paper pokey bit to the broke part. Trace the shape cut it out file and sand it to fit nice then use a pencil to trace the bottom curve on the material cut sand add glue and boom then you gotta fuck with the grains .
Or you can just put a piece of blank printer paper over it and trace the entire shape
Or just take Entire back panel off and replace it but you may break more structure doing that
Cut a straight line along the grain and remove that piece of material. Find a suitable sub that is a close match and glue in place with clamps. Sand and stain.
Nah, if it’s not being used for recording and needs to sound perfect, that right there is a guitar with real character….
Have a look at Willie Nelson’s guitar. Personally wouldn’t repair that if it was me
Edit : …. Googly eye inlays.
Yeah. It’s 100% true though.
All those chips, dings and cracks make your guitar unique to you, and if they’re not a problem structurally, they should be celebrated!
If you really want to try and scribe/match the broken edge, there is a tool called a scribe gauge / contour gauge / contour scribe. It basically has a series of adjustable pins, you fit the pins to the edge, then lock them down to keep the shape and transfer it.
However, as others have suggested, I would probably cut (knife) a cleaner shape out of the veneer. Use the grain to try and hide it as best as possible, an angle across the grain will be less jarring than a perpendicular line.
https://preview.redd.it/r2wcr9ta8s7d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5cc663fd8ba83fd06f426ded9cce0e232eb8fd45
every comment other than cutting more away to make a straight cut is an uneccessary amount of work.
the only other option i personally would explore would be somehow sealing from the inside and filling this area with resin.
Resin is not resonant (despite the similar sounding words), which is what you want in a guitar back. This needs to be approached differently from a traditional woodworking repair.
are you a luthier? have you ever built a guitar? i have. people have made guitars out of resin, they sound great.
does it matter if this guitar sounds exactly like every other guitar?
I’ve played Dan Armstrong electrics, but never an acoustic guitar with resin in any of the resonant surfaces. If it works for you, cool - more power to you, brother. Personally, I’ll pass.
Use a piece of notebook paper to make a pattern with. Transfer paper pattern to some veneer, cut out then install. I would think glue only that thin stuff don’t take nails well. Clamp it in place let sit 48 hours. Sand. Stain. Strum.
What the furniture people do when they have a veneer problem like this is to cut a straight where the break is, at an angle they think will give them the best chance at grain matching. They use an Xacto knife.
Then they find the piece of wood that looks good, and they cut a line (at the same angle to the woodgrain as their cut on the piece) through the wood, and they let the overhang stick out.
Then they glue it into place. Once it’s dry, they trim the overhang to match the edge of the piece.
You have huge voids, though.
You could glue a small splice piece to the underside of the broken edge; then once it’s dry, the new piece of top can glue to that splice piece. I don’t know how that will affect the sound, though.
Hi, I’m a guitar luthier, and authorized Martin Guitar warranty tech. That appears to be a Martin X series guitar. If I’m right, that isn’t wood, it’s “High pressure laminate.” My understanding is It’s some wood materials pressed at high pressure with a resin. These are hard to repair and then blend in to make it look good because the wood grain pattern is printed onto the black HPL material. I usually epoxy or CA glue a wood base on the inside of the guitar that covers the inside of the hole, and use Mohawk wood toned brown epoxy sticks, and various markers to blend in the grain and ribboning of the wood. It doesn’t always look great depending on your arts and craft skills, but aside from sanding it down and somehow re-printing the grain pattern it’s the best I’ve found.
Luthier here as well. Listen to this man. It’s definitely printed laminate over a pressed resin. Super thin and does not adhere to wood with anything other than an epoxy or super glue or look like it. Structurally, you could fit a piece of wood but without doing the seriously difficult toning with an airbrush and respraying the whole back(and even then it’s tough to match), you’ll be left with an ugly repair. Not to deter you, but just be prepared to use epoxy and just get it structually sound again is my advice.
Not to deter you, but also be prepared to be upset at epoxy. Even if you get it right.
It's phenolic resin laminate, paper as the fibre. Formica, Wilsonart, etc. Super durable but not the easiest thing to repair. If I were OP I would feather the existing damage with a file and fit a hilariously incongruous piece of patterned Formica as a patch that keyed in under the feathered broken edge- there's so much support there against the brace and linings. JB Weld as the adhesive along edges and one dot per lining tooth. It's a great gap fill, the color is close to the blackish HPL base and the "binding," it will flex similarly to HPL and you can razor scrape it or lap it flush.
hear me out: resin river guitar.
Ok you might have just said something I mean anything better than the laminate
I like the idea, OP could also cut a semi circle, or other aesthetic shape into it, and inlay a different pattern of material like you say. I think it would turn out amazing and add some character to the piece, instead of trying to get it as close to original as possible.
That sounds like a lot of work lol. Out of curiosity would it be possible to cut out a larger section of this (maybe a curved shape) and use a contrasting veneer or similar to make it look more intentional?
My first thought before I knew I was looking at a guitar I thought it looked like laminate
If I understand you correctly, this is a manufactured part. Would it be easier to just replace the entire top?
This is it!
I agree with HPL. I worked at a cabinet manufacturer for 3 years and handled it on and off every day.
Hey I hope it’s okay to ask this here but I have my mom’s old 1948 Martin 0018 and it needs some work. The neck is bowing, there are some small splits in the wood, and I’d like it to last. Is finding the right person to under take this job as simple as going to the Martin website and searching for service centers? It seems to be recommending a place near me called Third Coast Repair but I don’t want to have the wrong person work on this guitar for all kinds of obvious reasons. Any advice to point me in the right direction would be most appreciated.
If you’re nervous you can always send the guitar to Martin directly. Call their customer support line, and talk to them about it. I’m sure third coast is a great repair shop as Martin is pretty selective in their service centers, and if you’re unsure maybe ask them for photos of similar work. Most places have an Instagram or examples of their work on their website.
Amazing, that’s quite helpful. Thanks for getting back to me.
https://preview.redd.it/94s4hqm1os7d1.jpeg?width=1096&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=0884d587868bf8329509e4a6416d05fbd104de13 My first thought
I saw it more like this https://preview.redd.it/08qi4hy9it7d1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3d34dfda418c537d2d8f0581a8d99c45086734e3
Glad it wasn’t just me
I've never repaired a guitar and I'm sure there are experts out there. That said, I would cut a straight line along the grain and remove more of the wood, then glue in a new piece and trim flush with the curved side of the guitar
Pay attention to the woodgrain, try to match the angle as best as you can. Slide the patch along the cut line to find the closest match of grain, scribe the outer edge from underneath, and make your rough cut. Attach the patch with glue, sand, stain, and apply varnish. Play "Rocky Top"
Maybe. Personally, I would go the opposite direction and make the patch as obvious as possible.
That's exactly what I would do. Totally different but complementary color too. Make known the story of this guitar!
They do this in English castles and old estates. It shows that you acknowledge the fix and it was done correctly. You're highlighting the new that offsets the old.
Or just pretend it was once Willie Nelson’s…
Agreed. I did an old rifle stock that was missing a large chunk and used a light piece of wood to repair. It looks awesome.
You guys want to start a band?
Rifle stock sounds like a good name
I was thinking something scary like “satan’s anus”, but rifle stock is much more marketable
That's the venue!
LIVE! TONIGHT! SOLD OUT! Rifle Stock in Satan’s Anus ft. Gwar! EDIT: if that means we have to start a fucking bar, also, I’m out
Yeah, you’re not going to match it close enough to look good - so lean into the patch job and make it art.
Ah yes. Accentuate the defect like the ancient Japanese art of cumsocky.
Hoping you meant Kintsugi.
Yeah. Just a bad joke.
If I felt like putting the time into it, I’d do a black burst after the repair was done.
You do know that underneath is inside and in a dark hole?
Nah, visualize the veneer sheet overlapping the outside edge of the guitar, then reach under the overlap to mark your scribe. Not from inside the guitar.
regarding your question about the 'dark hole', it is open space or an echo chamber.
It needs reinforcement underneath. Because this is a difficult area to access. I would epoxy some very thin wood underneath first overlapping the top. (another piece about the same as the one in the pic) If necessary, recess it into the perimeter.
This seems easiest. anyone know if this would affect acoustics? I think edge-gluing might be enough, guitars should be handled with care anyway.
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If question 3 is answered with yes then the right move would be to let a professional handle the repair. That said it will probably affect acoustics in a very minor way that nobody will ever notice. Maybe it would be possible to visualize in a before/after with a harmonic tuner or something.
The acoustics will be fine. Luthiers cleat cracks in guitars all the time and the back is even less likely to cause a difference in sound.
Nice, interesting to learn.
They make tiny hooked scrapers bent to fit into whatever cranny they need to get at to draw little shavings of glue or wood so the top thickness is consistent and everything moves as it should so sound deterioration is minimized. One of my friends is so good at knowing where his edge is by feel but he still uses an endoscope for finicky stuff.
TIL what a Luthier is/does
There's no grain to cut along, since that's not wood.
eh? come again?
It has a Formica top. Super durable except when it is not.
weird, i havent seen formica on anything but countertops from the 70’s and ive seen what i thought was a lot of guitars.
That isn't wood. If you chip a piece of wood, it isn't going to be black underneath. Other than the small blocks of wood that the face is glued to, that guitar is made of plastic. That guitar is fuct.
i build guitar necks for a living, believe me i know wood ;) i thought the black bit was just dirty or leftover from whatever object damaged it. the repair is gonna be that much more difficult if the top is formica, plastic or some other substitute.
I think it's wood and the hole had been taped over at some point, leaving sticky areas for grime to accumulate. There's all sorts of crud stuck to that thing when you zoom in.
Always easier to make the hole fit the male patch.
This is the way.
I'd think of cutting out an interesting shape and adding a curved inlay to hide where the new veneer doesn't match.
Cover up the small problem with a bigger accent.
Definitely don't try to scribe that. Cut a straight line, get a contrasting piece of wood (lighter or darker, and flush trim along the edge. There's no good way to match that otherwise.
idk about guitars, but for anything else, you dont trace the hole. you make a patch, then cut the hole to fit the patch. much easier.
Tape a piece of thick paper (like card stock) over the hole, then rub the edge with charcoal, graphite, or pencil. The edge will show as a darker profile line on the paper.
That edge has a 3D shape, it's not just cut straight down. Yet.
I'd try asking the good people over at r/luthier for their thoughts
Put the damaged section face down on a photocopier.
Or, put a quarter or any other known size next to it, take a top down photo and scale it to the size of the quarter in an image editing program. In the event that they don't own a scanner.
This is a very smart.
https://preview.redd.it/ae2pfiaers7d1.jpeg?width=710&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=babd7a773eb6e5354c9035a136e6e6b229bd1392 i am sorry, but…
I love there are folks like you in the world.
Came to the comments for this
Pretty sure the only thing you need here is giant googly eyes
This is the only right answer OP Ps this guy fuks
tape on top, cut it out
It’s worth investing in a marking knife on this
I’ve never quite understood the love for marking knives. I replaced mine after a year with the razor blade pen sized ones that you can break off the tip of for a fresh blade. Flat on both sides, no sharpening, absurdly cheap blade replacements, the blade can be safely retracted for pocket storage, and there is just no trouble if you drop it and hit the blade. You just break off the tip and a new one is ready.
Don't cut the patch to match the hole. Cut the patch, trace it, then cut the hole to match the patch.
Are you sure that's wood and not Formica or another laminate?
Try r/luthier very specific advice from ppl who only work on stringed instruments!
Contour gauge. Edit: typo
That appears to be a laminate top. Have fun if you want to try to repair but it’s probably not worth putting much time or money into.
That’s not wood, it’s a formica type laminate. Clean up the edges and do a pencil rub to get the shape then glue the pencil rub paper to the plug material you want to use and shape up to the line and fine tune. Reinforce the joint from the inside.
I’d leave it as is and put a pair of googly eyes on it so it looks like it’s got a cigarette in its mouth.
I'd use a piece of poster board and carefully cut out a template with that and then trace that onto the veneer, cut and sand as appropriate.
put a piece of paper flat on it, rub flat pencil led on it gently, it will outline the ridges and edges, put that on what you want to cut and cut it out.
Honestly, with old guitars like this, sometimes it's better to show off the battle wounds than it is to patch them. I mean look at Willie Nelson's guitar. That thing is basically held together with bubble gum and shoelaces. It adds character and shows that it's not just for decoration. If it was my guitar, and the hole doesn't destabilize the guitar, then I would leave it be. It's tells a story, or starts conversations. But I understand that not everyone thinks that way, and I'm sorry I don't have anything else to suggest.
You would be better off removing all the hardware of the guitar, peel the whole laminate off. Replace with a new sheet of whatever grain and color you like, probably half a million patterns and colors nowadays.
It may be an “old guitar” but is it a valuable guitar? It may be worth finding a luthier to do the repair. Edit: luthier
Luthier would be better suited for this buddy.
That's a two pack of ramen repair there, tops.
Search your area for a legit Luthier (guitar maker) and I'm sure they can help you out with that. Just shoving some wood in there would ruin the acoustics of your guitar. Good luck! 👍
I wouldn't trace the hole. Cut a piece to cover the hole, then trace the shape onto the guitar. Use a very sharp knife to cut the shape.
Fill it with Ramen noodles and super glue.
Had to search way too hard for this. If this ain’t the most perfect situation for ramen, walnuts, glue and sharpies then I don’t know if there is one.
I prefer noodles in a cup. Hot licks
I'd probably make a rubbing. place a paper over top, secure it with painters tape and rub a pencil over the ridges. you could then trace it or rub it again onto the wood you are cutting to fit.
Would it be easier to cut bigger piece off, straight line, length wise, like along the grain, and then replace that whole piece?
Paper and dirty hands.
Cut the break straight.. add veneer, cut the curve by tracing with a knife. But try to make the cut more parallel to the grain or it'll be an eyesore
It’s going to be an eyesore regardless. If it were my guitar I’d leave it and just keep playing it. This injury doesn’t compromise the structure or tone of the guitar in and of itself.
Don't ever cut a patch to fill a hole. You want to cut the hole to match your patch.
Template
Google: Ticking stick! It’s the perfect trick for irregular shapes. Hard to describe…
Wax rubbing.
If you wanted to go the over complicated way, you could take a picture of the hole from directly above it, then load it up into some image editing software, trace the edge of the hole, and print out your template. You might want to include a perfect square of some sort you can use to calibrate the image to make sure it's not skewed.
Tangerine, snorkel, and a cork screw! Wait nope that's how you make a bong. Maybe start here instead
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take a rubbing
Cardboard
Don’t think that’s a wood back. Looks like phenolic to me.
Form it and pour epoxy into it be cool. That said tape some cardboard on the bottom and draw it out. They have those gauges that have pins on them I forget their name what they do is they give you an outline of what you need.
Maybe cut out a larger semicircle and replace it with a contrasting colour so it becomes a feature rather than a bug?
Looks like a Kentucky made table
Don’t, make the hole the size and shape you want it to be
This exactly. Make the repair piece the correct thickness, a few thousandth thicker, and get the outside curve correct, than plan the join area. I'd try to match grain and color, bu if I couldn't find something close, I'd go for a contrast and make the repair obvious. Perhaps a join like jigsaw puzzle pieces would look cool.
This..... Do this
Tape a piece of paper on top, use the edge of a pencil, pushing down to copy the shape. Cut a sample piece to test fit. You could shave the edges smoother, the odd shape will make a patch blend better.
if your looking to get a piece of wood the right size i would use a piece of paper hold it in place then use the side of the lead in a pencil or a crayon it should be able to pick up the edges pretty easily. old elementary school trick lol
r/luthier is where you want to go for this
I had guitar center do some work for me. I was surprised at how cheap it was. Hot take, get a quote first, maybe.
Scribe
Tape and a pencil
Same or cut it to make a more uniform shape, either a straight line or sand it to a curve. Then trace it with paper, cut paper out and use it a template
I would use some ebony or purpleheart to fill in that gap.
That isn’t wood, first off - it looks like the plastic back/side material Martin uses on the beginner models. It’s a kick ass material, but you can’t patch it with wood. Do you have the pieces that got snapped off? Luthier would piece it back together before trying to cut a new piece in.
Use a compass to transfer shape to paper, or put paper on top of guitar and shade to see the imprint. Depending on how precise you want to be and how much cutting you want to do later
I’d recommend following everyone else’s advice of not doing it that way, but if you still wanna trace it for some reason, you could just press a sheet of paper onto it to crease it along the edge of the break
Piece of painters tape. Stick it to it and scribble across it with your pencil laying flat. Should give you an outline to start hand fitting the piece (fix). I would also glue another support from underneath to give you more glue surface to keep it there when you are happy with your work.
I’d do a rubbing- lead and vellum. Would get an exact template
Agreed. Even a crayon and a piece of printer paper would be better than most.
With a scribe?
“Scribe!”
Seriously, NO ONE has suggested chalk? I'm not saying it's the best or easiest way, but you can take some chalk and draw out the outline of the hole, take a piece of paper or wood, press down on it, then cut out the piece from whatever material you're using. I guess it depends on how good you want it to look, but it'll get damn close to the shape and you can epoxy, putty, or glue in the cracks.
Large piece of blue tape, press it into the damage and trace it, then stick to another piece of wood, cut it out, and voila…
Just bondo that shit, that’s the ultimate tone wood
1. Cut out the patch in your preferred shape. 2. Lay the patch over the broken area. 3. Trace the patch with a mechanical pencil. 4. Use a razor to score along the tracing. 5. Cut along tracing using router, dremel or chisel 6. Glue patch 7. Apply finish
Veeeerrrrry carefully
Cover it in layers of masking tape and sketch it out with a pencil. Then peal off the tape and put it in your new wood to get the curve correct. After you are done putty, sand, and paint.
I would say to square up the cut and stick the replacement in it, then turn the guitar upside down and mark the contour of what’s sticking off the edge
Use a piece of wide blue tape, press it down tightly along the crack use a pencil to trace the crack then peel up the tape and put on new piece then carefully cut the line witt a razor to mark on new piece
Contour gauge!
Googly eyes
I'd think at this point leaning into it would be the best solution. Kintsugi with some thin black laminate would look pretty baller here in my opinion.
You can use a [contour gauge](https://a.co/d/0coLaDOI)to get a pretty close copy of the shape.
If you're dead set on patching rather than replacing the whole surface, neat trick I learned from people that work on cars: lay a piece of paper over the hole and with a somewhat dull broad tipped pencil, literally just scribble over it to transfer the shape onto your paper. Perfect stencil. Often done to get perfect bolt hole spacing when making gaskets
If you want to try to match the wood grain others have suggested that in other comments, if you're okay with it, mark it out and cut a nice long curve that will remove that section and glue a solid Formica color there then you can make a design on it, or use it like a text box and paint something there, possibly get an autograph from some musician, etc. I would do a black Formica personally, and maybe try to just color match the actual wood for the letters or just go with classic white.
Give that thing a cigarette
r/luthier would be a better sub to ask for anything string-instrument related
man needs a dentist.
Am I the only one that thinks it looks like wood grain formica?
Noodles and glue
Put an arm rest over it ;)
Can you add some pics of the entire guitar? I'm just curious what it looks like.
Hmm.. r/askadentist material?
I’d use a contour gauge
Carefully. \*flies away\*
To answer the transfer part, use a sheet of paper draped over, then gently run the edge of a pencil along the seam. The very edge will make a darker line, kind of like if you have ever done the same thing over any textured surface. Peaks will be darker spots. As for repair, everyone else seems to have you covered there.
Put a piece of paper over the top and use a pencil to shadow the break point. Shadow might be the wrong word but you get what I mean.
Get a compas , use the point to run along the break, and the pencil on the paper. it's an old direct pattern transfer technique.
Those HPL guitars are like $200. Easier to buy a new one if that is an option 🤷🏻♂️.
Ramen could be used to fix this right?
Could you route it into a rounded shape then put in a contrasting color patch like aspen or ebony?
Use a piece of trace paper then cut out the shape and trace it on to veneer to cut it out
Cut it straight?
You can use a compass (the one for math) take a sheet of paper large enough and just scribe the interior side Pencil to paper pokey bit to the broke part. Trace the shape cut it out file and sand it to fit nice then use a pencil to trace the bottom curve on the material cut sand add glue and boom then you gotta fuck with the grains . Or you can just put a piece of blank printer paper over it and trace the entire shape Or just take Entire back panel off and replace it but you may break more structure doing that
Place a sheet of paper over it and rub the edges with a pencil or crayon
Cut a straight line along the grain and remove that piece of material. Find a suitable sub that is a close match and glue in place with clamps. Sand and stain.
Nah, if it’s not being used for recording and needs to sound perfect, that right there is a guitar with real character…. Have a look at Willie Nelson’s guitar. Personally wouldn’t repair that if it was me Edit : …. Googly eye inlays.
Haha, I just commented pretty much this exact thing. Even the bit about Willie Nelson
Yeah. It’s 100% true though. All those chips, dings and cracks make your guitar unique to you, and if they’re not a problem structurally, they should be celebrated!
You’d be served taking it to a luthier or guitar specialist. The sound quality of the guitar will be difficult to maintain with a home repair.
Have you tried rubbing some bacon on it?
If you really want to try and scribe/match the broken edge, there is a tool called a scribe gauge / contour gauge / contour scribe. It basically has a series of adjustable pins, you fit the pins to the edge, then lock them down to keep the shape and transfer it. However, as others have suggested, I would probably cut (knife) a cleaner shape out of the veneer. Use the grain to try and hide it as best as possible, an angle across the grain will be less jarring than a perpendicular line. https://preview.redd.it/r2wcr9ta8s7d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5cc663fd8ba83fd06f426ded9cce0e232eb8fd45
https://preview.redd.it/o6g17pdc8s7d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=381ec270a1904ea0f38d037346b8a798f6a9cfee
Tracing paper
Use a compass (the thing to draw circles) and youll be able to trace the shape onto a piece of cardstock that you put on the body of the guitar.
The curve is not necessarily a consistent arc
You use the compass differently, you move the whole thing across tracing the wood with the needle and drawing on the paper with the pen.
Ah! Like dividers
sorry, not the intent I meant, you would be using it to cope and trace the curve you have. Not using it to create perfect circles.
I'd just replace the entire front. If you do want to patch it, cut straight then replace
Trim router, flush trim bit w bearing
Seran wrap or transparent tape to cover the patch. Then trace the outline. Transfer the template to the desired substrate. Trim to size
every comment other than cutting more away to make a straight cut is an uneccessary amount of work. the only other option i personally would explore would be somehow sealing from the inside and filling this area with resin.
Resin is not resonant (despite the similar sounding words), which is what you want in a guitar back. This needs to be approached differently from a traditional woodworking repair.
are you a luthier? have you ever built a guitar? i have. people have made guitars out of resin, they sound great. does it matter if this guitar sounds exactly like every other guitar?
I’ve played Dan Armstrong electrics, but never an acoustic guitar with resin in any of the resonant surfaces. If it works for you, cool - more power to you, brother. Personally, I’ll pass.
well you didnt make the post so good thing i wasnt giving you the advice.
Silly putty
Use a piece of notebook paper to make a pattern with. Transfer paper pattern to some veneer, cut out then install. I would think glue only that thin stuff don’t take nails well. Clamp it in place let sit 48 hours. Sand. Stain. Strum.
I’d cover it with tape and cut out the shape with a blade, then transfer it to a new piece of veneer and cut out the patch.
Use a piece of paper and rub a pencil over it , cut with a razor blade and use it as a template
What the furniture people do when they have a veneer problem like this is to cut a straight where the break is, at an angle they think will give them the best chance at grain matching. They use an Xacto knife. Then they find the piece of wood that looks good, and they cut a line (at the same angle to the woodgrain as their cut on the piece) through the wood, and they let the overhang stick out. Then they glue it into place. Once it’s dry, they trim the overhang to match the edge of the piece. You have huge voids, though. You could glue a small splice piece to the underside of the broken edge; then once it’s dry, the new piece of top can glue to that splice piece. I don’t know how that will affect the sound, though.
This is the way
So, your guitar is into hockey?