Fixing Broken Wood on a 768

[cjj]

Well, now that I've been messing with my "new" 768, I've found a little problem. Hopefully Paul will have some tips on the best way to go about fixing this.

Excuse the bad photos, in the move, somehow the cable for the "real" camera seems to have gone missing, so I had to resort to my cell phone.

Anyway, on the 10 string neck, there seems to be a bit of "tuner lift":

This is due to a break in the wood of the top and subsequent warping of the wood due to the tension of the strings:

The screws that hold the tuner assembly are not long enough to go through the top wood, into the side plate, so when this piece cracked at the screw hole, it allowed the wood to move. There doesn't appear to be any glue between the top piece and either the side or the piece of wood under the broken piece. Obviously, gluing in these areas would help hold things together. Longer screws would help too, connecting into the side plate, just need to be careful they don't get too long and poke through.

But first, it would seem like a good idea to get the warp out of the wood and get it to lay down flat where it's supposed to be.

So, what's my best course of action on this little project?

[jingle_jangle]

I can't tell without looking at it in person, just how much resistance that piece presents when pressed down. My guess is that it won't lay flat without cracking again, so this needs to be attempted gingerly.

I think I'd try using longer screws, and re-install the tuner plate. First drill a blind pilot hole into the wood end for each screw, and purchase two screws that are a bit longer to bite into the end. Install the plate, snug up the screws and tighten them a bit at a time over a few weeks to draw the wood down. When it's down all the way you can once again remove the plate and wick some glue into the mating area of the break. Then reinstall the plate once again to clamp it while the glue dries.

[cjj]

There's a fair amount of resistance to going back down. I can press it down with my thumb, I'd guess it takes several pounds of pressure. I'm a bit worried that it'll break on the other side though so I haven't pushed it all the way down.

Would applying pressure and doing some sort of steaming.moisture treatment help?

I was pretty sure longer screws would be the way to go, the big issue is that the wood is so far displaced that getting the pilot holes in the right place will be just about impossible until the piece is pushed back into position.

[jingle_jangle]

Would applying pressure and doing some sort of steaming.moisture treatment help?

I was pretty sure longer screws would be the way to go, the big issue is that the wood is so far displaced that getting the pilot holes in the right place will be just about impossible until the piece is pushed back into position.

If you can push it most of the way with your thumb, it's less risky than I thought, although there's still some risk of breaking the wood.

I suppose that it's only natural for people to think of steaming or moisture treatments when bending wood is concerned. I would not do this, as the downside is considerable, mostly involving finish damage and distortion of the softened wood, even assuming you could somehow direct the steam accurately enough to the area in question.

Impossible to drill pilot holes in the right place? If you're absolutely sure of this, then devise some sort of clamp or weight arrangement with cauls to spread the stress, which would allow gradual tightening. Then remove, apply glue as suggested, and reclamp until the glue is set. Remove, drill pilot holes, and re-secure with longer screws.

Ten strings have a lot of pull--probably in excess of 200#.

[cjj]

OK, thanks! I've got some big clamps that'll reach all the way around from the top to the back.

I'll take pics of the progress in case anyone's interested...