Martin Pick Guard Cracks

[Ginridge]

After years of working on mediocre instruments, I've got my first Martin neck re-set on a 1962 Martin D-18. The neck came off perfectly and should make for a good repair. One other thing I've been asked to deal with are the usual Martin Pickguard cracks.





In this case, the pick guard has shrunk over the years and come loose from the edges,particularly at the top and the bottom. There are a series of cracks by the outer edge of the pick guard where it did not break loose; one long crack and several short adjacent cracks.

My feeling is that it would be best to remove the original pickguard before gluing and cleating the cracks, then either replace it a new one or re-use the original. The owner is a local music store and they are concerned about originality and re-sale value since they plan on flipping this guitar. Can I get the opinions of some of you pro luthier's out there on what is considered the best approach in this situation?



The pick guard is loose at the top and bottom and I suspect it would pop off with a bit of heat (not too much) and thin bladed tool.

Thanks in advance.

[Andy Miller]

Yes, you should take the guard off to fix the cracks, to make sure you can get them closed and glued up. I assume you're touching up your crack repairs, which means that guard also needs to be off in order to spray, sand, and buff your finish effectively. For that matter, you're probably going to want that bridge off to touch up the crack by the bass side of the pickguard. If the cracks are too open to glue, humidify the guitar until they close. If they don't respond to that, splint them.

I think that pickguard is too warped and too small to put back on that guitar. It won't look good and it will be difficult to make it lay flat and stay put, so I doubt if it's going to help the resale value to reuse it. Make a new one.

[Greg Mirken]

It's worth saving the original guard, and easy if you don't remove it completely. If you release it along the outer edge and the inner edge so that is attached only along its centerline, the stress that caused the crack is relieved. [No heat, just carefully work a thin blunted spatula.] Then use a caul you can slip under the guard to glue and clamp the cracks. You can then reglue the loose areas of the guard with Titebond, which will hold well to the tiny fibers of wood stuck to the underside of the guard. Finally, any minor touchup on the cracks. Theoretically, with the stress gone, you shouldn't have to put a cleat under them, but it wouldn't hurt, and it is often expected.
Most people would prefer the small line of white wood around a reglued guard to a replacement.

[jim simpson]

If it was sent to Martin, they would replace it with a slightly larger (or more than slightly) pick guard. I personally would prefer to buy one that was repaired and would not attach value to a shrunken pick guard. Typically the existing bracing limits further spreading of the crack.

[pops1]

I usually remove the pick guard and finish the wood underneath then use a stick on pick guard. You can get an oversized one and cut it to original size if you like.

[HoGo]

Look up fets.com how Frank does it.
I would wet the cracks few times little to see if they close and hot HG would close them even more and keep them shut.

[Ginridge]

Thanks everyone for the great advice. After due consideration, here's what I did. The pickguard was clearly causing the top not only to split but also to warp so I decide that it needed to be removed to relieve the stress. When I did that, I found a second crack on the opposite side underneath the pick guard and out of view. As Jim mentioned, the crack was limited by the brace below.

After removing the pickguard and gently cleaning the top, I clamped the top flat for several days to take out the warps. This worked very well. I then heated the top gently with a hair dryer and glued the cracks with hide glue, cleating the larger one from below. I considered re-using the original pick guard, but it had shrunken so much that it left a lot of exposed wood (between 1/6th and 1/8th all around). The owner decided he wanted a new one so I replaced it with a Stu Mac dreadnaught stick on pickguard and kept the original with the guitar for any future collector.