Repairing a Split Back
Copyright © 2000 Howard Coleman (text and images).
If left a long time, a split back can move so that what might have been a relatively simple repair becomes a nightmare. I made the tools described here to deal with a very old guitar in which the back had opened up and one side lifted higher than the other.
Click images to enlarge.
"Before and after" pictures would be nice, I know, but this job was time-consuming enough. First, I had to widen the crack to make the edges parallel. Realising that the dimensions must not be changed, I decided to put a thin ebony strip between the two halves. Getting the two sides of the back at the same level was achieved with the tool shown above left. Squeezing them together was done using the home-made waist clamp (above right).
Last revised: October 23, 2000.