Luthier Tips du Jour - Murphy's Law

Luthier and Instructor, Robert O'Brien, offers solutions for problems that arise when building guitars

[@applebutter4036]

Love this. I actually don't even call them mishaps anymore. When something goes wrong, it's just as natural as the sun rising in the morning. Embrace it. The worst mindset a craftsman can have is going into a project expecting things to go smoothly.

[@lgiachin_prive]

Thank you very much for this very valuable video, even in 2023! 😁 I also found the wire technique at luthier H.S. Wake (specialized in violin). I share his method for placing a cleat precisely because it seems more methodical (in one of your answers "It is like threading a Needle... blind", it's like you're making your life complicated). 1. DRILLING 🕳 Drill one hole (not two) straight over the crack. Drill another one (not two) on the cleat. 2. THREAD 🧵 Pass the end of a nylon thread (or fishing line) through the crack hole. Then go through the soundhole. And finally, through the cleat hole. Make a knot. 3. PULL THE OTHER END 🤏 Put a dab of glue on the cleat. Pull the other end to naturally bring the cleat into place. Once glued, cut the excess thread.

[@jrtruthguy]

Thanks for being so kind as to share your expertise. Greatly appreciated by all.

[@seanearnest]

Great tips, Robert! Thank you.

[@FredQuann-vs1qh]

Very helpful article and easy to follow. Thanks

[@FiveStringCommando]

I love the use of the Price is Right "Loser Horns"!

[@imasubtech6389]

Murphy's law states: Anything that can go wrong will, and usually at the worst possible moment. O'Flannigan's law states: Murphy was an optimist... Many thanks for the excellent tips Robert!

[@OBrienGuitars]

haha. I like that. Happy Building!

[@infectedgoose]

Fantastic, as always!

[@marsdwarf]

Love the tips, and the humour!

[@ser.oido.s]

Very nice ideas, thanks a lot from Argentina

[@sagecreekwitt3301]

These are excellent videos. For furniture I often use a German glue called doris express. It's similar to tightbond but sets about twice as fast and is slightly more flexible when dry. It's great for certain applications.

[@carlrudd1858]

Good solid advise. I appreciate it.

[@OBrienGuitars]

Thank you and Happy Building!

[@waltersguitars3336]

i love all your videos. helps soo much!!

[@OBrienGuitars]

Thank you and glad to hear you are enjoying my videos.

[@OBrienGuitars]

I appreciate your gratitude. It means a lot to me. Happy Building

[@IamtheActionman]

Great tips! Thanks so much

[@GameLevelEditor]

Wow your like a magician for guitars! Excellent tippage!

[@nedo4773]

Thanks Murphy, thanks a lot Robbie ;)

[@adelioramosdesousa854]

MUITO BOM!! Este vídeo fez com que eu aprendesse muita coisa boa. obrigado ROBERT O`BRIEN. DEUS O ABENÇOE.......

[@FiveStringCommando]

Patch it somehow. Finding that "Somehow" is basically my question. I love your videos. They're very informative and thorough. Maybe you could show us in a video on a spare piece of soundboard?

[@AjustedeGuitarrasGBRCenter]

I actually dropped (by accident) a mechanical pencil on the top of my guitar while i was building it. The graphite was out and "stabbed" the top. It hurt, but i left the mark to remind me "don't be stupid!" haha

[@KleshGuitarsOfficial]

Thanks for the great video, learned lots of these tricks at Roberto-Venn, of course a split acoustic side like that would be firewood IMO. ...although it's true that CA glue is the closest thing to magic on the planet. Also, I found that a nail head heated with a torch ( held with pliers) on a wet rag will allow you to focus your steam injection a little more aggressively.

[@dieconashi]

@OBrienGuitars Thanks!

[@zoommair]

Awesome vids my friend! Subbed!

[@tmiles8213]

Nice job thanks

[@OBrienGuitars]

You are welcome Matias. Thanks for watching.

[@OBrienGuitars]

@sweetsweetjanice I use menzerna compounds on my buffing wheel and Mcguire's liquid when doing it by hand

[@OBrienGuitars]

If it is on the centerline and a clasical guitar it is difficult to use cleats as tere is usually a fan brace there. For steel string guitars definitely use a cleat along the seam on the inside.

[@OBrienGuitars]

I used side struts on the inside of that guitar to support the cracks.

[@OBrienGuitars]

@martinaxman Without a pic it is difficult to say but I think the moisture from te rag clouded the finish.

[@OBrienGuitars]

@t0umart0u I am glad my instructions helped. Happy Building!

[@OBrienGuitars]

@concussedcarneous You must refinish the neck. Sometimes you can touch up the area with CA glue and or lacquer depending on what your finish is. Stop jumping off the amplifiers while playing.

[@guitarshreder777]

cool video

[@OBrienGuitars]

@yoheff988 Super glue will darken the crack. If the humidity trick works then come in from the inside and put cleats to secure the crack. Sometimes that is all that is needed.

[@Sasasala386]

3:04 that was soooo strange... but helpful at the same time

[@martinaxman2033]

@OBrienGuitars thanks. I'm wondering what I can do about that. Any ideas?

[@sirgreggins8824]

@OBrienGuitars the reason i ask is b/c homdepot and walmart have magnets. but i dont know if they'd be strong enough to do the job.

[@OBrienGuitars]

@concussedcarneous Finishing is much harder than you think. Urethane must be finished with urethane. Sand back and respray, sometimes CA glue can do small touch ups but will always be visible. There ain't no short cuts.

[@al3xand3rg]

@OBrienGuitars Fantastic. It is a steel string. Do you think the cleats will effect the tone a lot or do you think it will be minor? thanks for your help

[@5onCover]

Thank you for the video (; What kind of magnets do you use?

[@steveassante6797]

Here's a bit of trivia that I can't help passing along about "Murphy's Law". The truth is "Whatever can go wrong , will go wrong" isn't really the whole statement Murphy made. Murphy actually knew better than this as he was an Engineer by Trade. He was actually talking about a particular person or persons of his group ,who through incomplete thinking of certain problems that occurred would find a way to "screw things up" ( For lack of better explanation of the exact language he used) by not following procedures more closely .

[@ChineseProletariat]

Which types of coating will not be compatible with CA glue? I have a Les Paul and a Strat that have finish cracks in them and I want to fill them and polish them to look new.

[@FiveStringCommando]

How would you repair a dent larger than one like the chisel made? Had a sanding coat rack put a pinky finger sized dent/hole in the soundboard of my 12 string. :-(

[@al3xand3rg]

would this method also work for a hairline crack on the front of the guitar at the center book-match joint? would you still recommend that I make cleats for it? thanks in advance. You videos are fantastic btw.

[@sweetsweetjanice]

Hi, I'm fixing a crack in my Guild bass. Thanks so much for the great and thorough tutorial! Are you using some sort of a buffing compound? If so, what do you suggest?

[@yoheff988]

my flamenco guitar just developed a top crack between the bridge to the end of the guitar (pretty devastating), the crack is about 4" long. what I'm doing is trying to swell back the wood, I put a small glass of water in the guitar, closed the sound hole, and let it seat there in the case until it closes back (hopefully it will work, then I'm planning to super glue the crack, do you think that the glue will hold without clits? I really wouldn't like to add any wood from the back.

[@ImperialistRunningDo]

I managed to crack the spruce top last night. Not a good evening... Fresh out of rosewood cleats. Are there other woods you could recommend?

[@martinaxman2033]

I tried to use the steam method on my sound board. Instead of hot metal, I used hot water from the tap. Held the wet rag there for a few minutes and removed it. The wood recovered pretty well (three tiny spots), but the finish is all murky and mottled, probably from the pressure on the fabric as I held it. It's a nice Martin and someone told me a fine sand would take the visible damage away, but I'm terrified. Is this possible, or would I end up making it worse? Thanks.

[@yoheff988]

Great tips. Why is it that when you fixed the side crack you didn’t use cleats, and on the back of the guitar you did? I would imagine that the CA glue is stronger than the wood, or is it?

[@OBrienGuitars]

Bummer! Lighter colored woods are harder to repair. If it is a hole then you have to patch it some how. If it is a dent then try and get it level. The repair will still be visible but level will help with the finish.

[@juliantaylor7663]

I was just looking at the magnets What type are they? Would earth magnets work Also If a crack was to happen in a guitar with pickups in it will the magnets affect it

[@OBrienGuitars]

Those are ceramic magnets someone gave me years ago. Any magnet will work. I have never had a crack near a pickup so can't answer that one.

[@juliantaylor7663]

I don't own a soldering iron for the dint repair is there another alternative? I've used a clothes iron and rag for unfinished furniture. also will these techniques work on an unfinished guitar?

[@OBrienGuitars]

This techniques work best on an unfinished guitar. You can use a clothes iron and wet rag.

[@juliantaylor7663]

​@@OBrienGuitars thanks again as always

[@Allencaillou]

Will I really hear that though?

[@edsoneu1707]

Gostaria de especialmente agradecer por fazer legendas em Português. Ao contrário do que possa parecer pra maioria do mundo tem muita gente que não domina o idioma, muita gente interessada. Obrigado mesmo.

[@OBrienGuitars]

de nada.

[@OBrienGuitars]

No it is not absolutely necessary, especially if you are able to glue the crack closed. However, I sleep better at night if I put cleats in.

[@sirgreggins8824]

i'm an amateur builder but want to do repairs as well. how strong should the magnets be?

[@SubliminalSoundEngine9]

Well, I think they should be considerably strong so you can maybe put two in both sides of your finger and feel some pressure of both magnets trying to joint.

[@Fabianvga]

Would I damage my guitar Finish or the wood if I do, what you did to get the dent out??

[@SubliminalSoundEngine9]

It works on unfinished wood, what will happen if you try to do that on a finished guitar will probably cause some kind of melting of the finish, depending on the heat you're using. To the wood itself, it won't make any change because the finish prevents the wood from receiving humidity from the outside.

[@OBrienGuitars]

@sirgreggins8824 My magnets are very strong but they only have to be strong enough to do the job.

[@OBrienGuitars]

@concussedcarneous I recommend you find a professional in your area that can do a repair for you.

[@jfan4reva]

I'm guessing you want 'rare earth' magnets. They're extremely strong. Also kind of expensive. Probably won't find them at HD or WM. Try hobby shops, school supply stores, or search the internet.

[@OBrienGuitars]

It is highly likely that the moisture will ruin the finish.

[@larrytipson4585]

That Ramirez has got to be the thickest classical guitar I've ever seen. Why is it built like that?

[@OBrienGuitars]

Some of what you are seeing is the dimensions of the video. It makes the guitar appear much thicker than it actually is. However, the particular Ramirez guitar is quite thick compared to other classical guitars.

[@justinmccabe7613]

How in the hell do you manage to get the threads into the holes from the inside?

[@OBrienGuitars]

Justin McCabe It is like threading a needle... blind

[@johngunn7087]

There is a fine bent wire device that is made to draw thread through the eye of a needle. It looks sort of like a super light weight hair pin and the bend is acute, not rounded.

[@BorysPomianek]

Really nice video for fixing stuff but the possibility that some people actually do this when building new guitars scared the living shit out of me - I am thinking about ordering another instrument from a small run builder and I would just walk out of his workshop if he handed me a brand new guitar that I waited a year for with "fixed" sides because he run out of sides the day he was fitting them. I have the same reaction to people using drills to turn the tuners to save time - wheres the rush?

[@ImperialistRunningDo]

Spruce it is. I should think of this as an opportunity to learn a new skill, right? #2 has a cracked spruce top: a clean break, it should be fixable. #3 had its koa sides smashed in like an eggshell. I doubt all the kings horses and all the kings men could put #3 back together again. This morning I was about ready to run off and become a baggage handler for United when I watched your video instead. With your tips and some luck, I might be able to salvage #2. Thanks.

[@MoGiMaL]

Hahaha, thanks :O)

[@OBrienGuitars]

What a bummer! Use spruce cleats on a spruce top.

[@OBrienGuitars]

It will be very minor, if at all. I don' t think my ear could hear the difference. haha