Taking off back (not really mandolin related)

[Nick Alberty]

Hello,

I was given a small body Regal guitar in a trade. The inside has a brace that needs reglued and the back is seperated at the lower bout (spelling?). Anyway, how do I go ahead and remove the back? Some parts are still glued very well. Is the a "seperator" to loosen the glue? Any tips or advice is GREATLY appreciated. It's not a real valuable guitar so I'm not concerned with a GREAT job. It's just something I'm going to put together just to have a "beater". Like I don't have enough guitars already!!

[Nick Alberty]

O yeah......What glue do I use to glue all of it back together? Where can I buy it? Lowe's? Etc.

Thanks again

[Bill Snyder]

I have used a hot, thin, flat spatula to remove the top of a guitar. I did the operation in the kitchen near the stove. I filled a sauce pan with water and brought it to a boil. I dipped the spatula in the boiling water and loosened a bit of the top, dipped it again and loosened a bit more. I did this all the way around.
The top I was removing was smashed so I was not worried about salvaging it. I was concerned with the sides and kerfed lining. It worked pretty well and some day I may get around to building another top and finishing the job.
If you clean off ALL of the old glue you can use Titebond with the RED LABEL. It is available at Lowes, Walmart, Home Depot etc... #It needs to be fresh - no more than a year old. Look for the date code on the bottle. (See attached pictures) The date code tells you when the glue was made. The first character, a number, is the year it was made, the second character, a letter, is the month (A= January, B=February, etc.).

[Nick Alberty]

Bill.........Thanks so much for the response. I may try the spatula method. Do I need to do my gluing inside (because the garage gets pretty cold)?

Thanks again.

[billhay4]

Gluing inside is a good idea.
Use the boiling water method to heat the spatula so you don't get it too hot. If it's too hot, it will scorch the wood.
Go slow and easy.
Bill

[sunburst]

One loose brace? Is there some other reason to take the back off?
Surely you can glue the brace working through the sound hole.(?)

[Nick Alberty]

Thanks for all the info. Actually, I heated the spatula (knife in my case), slid it into the crack and the back just started to pop right off. Basically it just came off real easy. Then, not one, but ALL of the braces were loose and popped off. I think the glue used was just so old that it didn't want to hold anymore. So now, I have lightly sanded the edges, and braces, and inside of back just to remove the old glue. I now have clean edges everywhere and am ready to glue. My question is this: How long do I let the glue dry?

I have to glue to braces on the back first. Then glue the back on the guitar. How long do I wait until it dries before moving on to the next step?

Also, how do I remove any unwanted glue from the outside of the body that I know I will probably have around the seams?

Thanks again and sorry for such a long post.

[mandolooter]

If your using Titebond and have enough clamps I'd glue all the braces back on one day and tackle the back the next. Ya do wanna glue it inside if the garage is too cold. Get yourself a wet rag (fairly damp not dripping) to wipe away all the excess glue squeeze out and go for it. You may find the back no longer lines up as perfect as it did when it was attached so be ready to deal with that if it happens. The glue cleanup will be the easy part! http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

[Bill Snyder]

As mandolooter alluded to there can be problems getting the sides and back alligned properly. Take a look at this thread (http://www.mandolincafe.net/cgi-bin/ikonboard.cgi?act=ST;f=7;t=48542)(click on the link). John Hamlett gives some good advice with pictures on how to handle that problem.
Frets.com (http://www.frets.com/) is a wonderful resource for luthiers, repairmen and would be repairmen. Frank Ford of Gryphon Stringed Instruments put it together and maintains it. You might take a look at it before you start gluing anything up.

[Bernie Daniel]

Would you use the same technique to remove a mandolin back?

I am asking this because I know that when Randy Wood removes a back (like for a old post-war, dark-days Gibson) to re-graduate it he has found the best way is to use a jewelers saw and essentially (as I understand his description) to cut between the top and the side -- basically sawingthrough the glue that binds the side and kerfing support to the top plate.

I would assume this is pretty tricky procedure to carry out.

However I can tell you that about 90% of the people who would look at or play my Gibson F12 (without peering into the f-hole with a light) would not have a clue that Randy took the back off from it to re-graduate it.

So I assume the reason Randy does it this way is because it is faster (easier?) than using a hot knife?

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