A Morris Guitar

Stuart Ablett

Member
Messages
15,917
Location
Tokyo Japan
My lovely wife and youngest daughter went by the clothes recycling place on Sunday, on their way out to Costco, they dropped off a BUNCH of clothes, stuff I don't wear anymore, and a bunch of cute little girl clothes that don't fit my two big girls anymore :rolleyes: All the clothes go to charity. While leaving the place my daughter spied an acoustic guitar, and while she was looking at it, one of the guys their asked her if she wanted it, but it was busted and needed fixing. She took one look at it, turned to my wife and said "Papa can fix that...right...?" :D My wife had confidence that I could fix it, so they got the guitar for free, with the bag/carrying case included.

Now I know next to nothing about guitars, but as luck would have it my buddy Stu (Yes I know another Canadian named Stu here in Japan :rolleyes: ) was at my house, we were working on his crashed bike, and he knows guitars, and in fact plays guitars. He said that the Morris guitars are from fairly good to outstanding.

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This one looks to be a "Fairly Good" guitar, F-01/NAT, selling for about $250 US street price here. It is made in China, but it is still a Morris. :)

here is what the guitar should look like......
morris_f01_nat_1.jpg morris_f01_nat_3.jpg

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And a look at the problem :D

Well, I figured I could fix that fairly easily, just some way to inject some good old white glue, a couple of clamps and it should be fine.

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I used two boards to protect the guitar and very lightly clamped it in my vice, then I took a drink straw, and stuck it in my glue pot, I sucked up a fair bit of glue, then I lightly heated the area just behind the end of the glue in the straw, and squeezed it with some pliers, sealing the straw. The I could stick the straw up into the crack on the guitar and squeeze the straw, making the glue inject into the crack. I put a fair bit of glue up there, and then I started to lightly clamp the guitar neck, while wiping off the excess glue that was being squeezed out......

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Clamped up and wiped off, I hope it holds once restrung.

My 13 year old daughter has now taken an interest in learning the guitar, that is cool with me, I think being able to play the acoustic guitar is a good thing.

Tonight when I'm done at the L shop, I'll be heading to the Dungeon to unclamp the guitar and give it a light refinishing, then I'll restring it, and try to tune it. For the tuning I have the Mac, in the app Garage Band (free with the Mac) there is a section on learning the guitar and a tool to tune your guitar, you pick a string and the Mac listens to your guitar, and tells you to tighter or loosen the string, very cool.

I hope it works out that my daughter's confidence, as well as my wife's, in my ability to fix this bears out. I sure don't want to disappoint my little girl!

As a bonus, the guitar looks almost brand new, there is next to know wear on the guitar, even the fret board looks very new, and the thing plastic cover on the pick guard is still in place. The guitar bag has all of the warranty card and when it was made (May 2006) etc right in the bag.

Wish me luck that the glue job holds, I think it should :dunno:
 
Yep, Stu is just fine, he has a small scab, about the size of a quarter, on his right wrist, there was a space between his short gloves and his jacket that touched down, other wise fine. He lost the front end in a fairly slow speed corner, the bike slid out from under him, and as it left the pavement, the bike dug into the soft shoulder and stood up, so it could pancake right into the stone cliff like wall on that edge of the road. Mainly cosmetic damage.

Stu is a good buddy, I've known him a very long time here, and while we don't ride bikes together anymore, he still comes around for some wrenching and lie telling :D He is a good egg, he ALWAYS buys the pizza. I told him I like having him around, the conversation is good, the pizza is great, but reminder he brings about how cheap my woodworking hobby is compared to the motorcycle riding hobby is just simply fantastic :rofl: The bike he was riding is a 2005 Kawasaki ZX10R, used it is worth $8000, heck, my SawStop ONLY cost $5400 and will outlast his bike by many decades ;) :D

Geez, look at me hijacking my own thread :doh: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:
 
uh-oh, we're about to lose Stu to the luthier forums... :headbang:

Quick, someone create a luthier sub-forum here! :guitar::guitar:

Friend of mine is really into guitars, and he was telling me about trying to fix a neck on a guitar of his -- he used a broken esspresso machine to generate steam, and injected it into some holes (he had to drill) where the neck meets the body, so that it loosened the glue up and the neck popped off.

I should ask him how that turned out. :huh:

Anyway, it makes me think that the whole neck should be replaceable if this repair were to fail. But anyways, it was free so what's the loss!?

...art

ps: Vaughn, very forward-thinking having that guitar icon available. ;)
 
Neat. But, personally, I would have reinforced with dowels or threaded brass rods like are used to repair gun stocks. The strings on a guitar, when tightened, put a lot of stess on the neck.
 
Stu...

I've watched some of your posts on YouTube, and based on the things I've seen you do in the dungeon I'd say your daughter's faith in your ability to fix anything is probably well-founded.

The angle of the break will cause it to want to separate as the strings are tightened, so I'd guess it would a good idea to let the glue fully cure (maybe 3 or 4 days??) before stressing the joint too much. Some brass pins as Frank suggests might be good as well.

Also, if you string it with gut (now nylon I think) strings instead of steel strings, they "might" not exert as much force...also be easier on your daughter's fingertips. Then later when her fingers are stronger and she has those guitar player's calluses you could go to steel.

Good luck with that. That's a pretty nice looking guitar, and the price was certainly right.

Cheers.
 
uh-oh, we're about to lose Stu to the luthier forums... :headbang:

Quick, someone create a luthier sub-forum here! :guitar::guitar:

...art

Luthier Forum......:eek: I did not think of that, I'll go and look and see what some of them say :wave:

Neat. But, personally, I would have reinforced with dowels or threaded brass rods like are used to repair gun stocks. The strings on a guitar, when tightened, put a lot of stess on the neck.

I was thinking something similar my self Frank, maybe it would be worth while to do just that, a couple of short dowels or some threaded brass rod just might be the trick!

Stu...

I've watched some of your posts on YouTube, and based on the things I've seen you do in the dungeon I'd say your daughter's faith in your ability to fix anything is probably well-founded.

The angle of the break will cause it to want to separate as the strings are tightened, so I'd guess it would a good idea to let the glue fully cure (maybe 3 or 4 days??) before stressing the joint too much. Some brass pins as Frank suggests might be good as well.

Also, if you string it with gut (now nylon I think) strings instead of steel strings, they "might" not exert as much force...also be easier on your daughter's fingertips. Then later when her fingers are stronger and she has those guitar player's calluses you could go to steel.

Good luck with that. That's a pretty nice looking guitar, and the price was certainly right.

Cheers.

Thanks Ed :)

I think I'll be making some guitar picks for her, but I'll also be buying some plastic picks too I guess.

Cheers!
 
Nice find! Typically that type of break occurs when it's laid with its back to the wall and pressure is applied. Make sure she lays it face first to the wall or puts it in a stand..
 
From that site frets.com I understand that this is a common break, usually caused by the guitar being dropped backwards, and the head striking something like an amp or a wall (like Darren said).

I'll be sure to show her how much the guitar costs new and make her take care of it.

Cheers!
 
From that site frets.com I understand that this is a common break, usually caused by the guitar being dropped backwards, and the head striking something like an amp or a wall (like Darren said).

I'll be sure to show her how much the guitar costs new and make her take care of it.

Cheers!

I see this as an opportunity to design and build a guitar stand....go finish the apartment and get on it.:D :wave:
 
Stu,

Just a little idea I have for this repair. Use the brass threaded rod for reinforcement, but drill and TAP the holes so you get the advantage of the threads in the wood. I would go no bigger than 1/8" diameter. You should be able to run the rods into the wood pretty well if you lubricate them with some soap or wax and turn the rod with a pair of vise-grips. You can grind off the excess flush to the neck after. Place them so they look like they belong there. Maybe two rods would be enough.

JMHO

Aloha, Tony
 
I'm sure that the fix will result unnoticeable, and it should hold pretty well the tension of the strings.

Getting such a guitar for free with that only thing to fix is a great deal. Now the rest is in your hands and on the fingers of your daughter.:thumb::thumb:
 
Glue joints done right are stronger than the wood it holds together. I am betting it is fine. If it fails it will fail at the joint and you can redo it. But I am betting it holds without any help. Assuming you know how to glue that is. ;)
 
Stu,

Just a little idea I have for this repair. Use the brass threaded rod for reinforcement, but drill and TAP the holes so you get the advantage of the threads in the wood...

Creative idea, but totally not necessary, and adds more chances for something to go wrong with misalignment.

Stu, I've fixed nearly identical breaks in guitars, and as long as you got the pieces lined up in the clamps, it'll be as good as new. (Well, except for the cosmetic aspect...the crack will still show.) :thumb: Oh, and no need for nylon strings, either. They'll sound bad on that guitar, and the repair will be able to handle the tension of steel strings. (Get light or extra light gauge strings. Not for the sake of the guitar, but for the sake of your daughter's fingers)

One of the guitars I fixed was a Gibson SG that had been laid on the floor and accidentally stepped on. I paid $20 for the guitar and hardshell case, and sold it for $300 as I recall. (And this was back in the late '70s when $300 was a big chunk of change.) I sold it to one of my students, and he knew it'd been broken and repaired.
 
Vaughn,

I realize your concern for misalignment, but I should have stated to do what I described AFTER he had it glued back together, (so there would not be a chance of movement) but BEFORE putting any tension on it from the strings.

Now, I have not done one of these repairs myself, so I stand corrected and a little more edumacated. Thank you. I will try to remember this if the need ever arises.

Aloha, Tony
 
I thought rockers only did that with plugged in electrics???:rofl:
Hopefully the repair will hold, and the guitar will get used. Opens up lots of gift ideas for Christmas and birthdays!!
But this thread brings back a lot of memories. Back in College, my SIL asked me to go with her to look at a guitar she was interested. I had a cheap Ventura 6 string and played in a little revival group at our BSU in Jr. College. We walked in, and this place had exactly 2 guitars on the rack. I looked at the one Becky was interested in, then felt someone staring at me. I looked over at the other guitar, and she had this look on her face that said she needed to be saved, without a single note. I fell in love that day. Don't really remember if Becky bought the guitar she was looking at or not. But 34 years later, I still have my Conn 12 string in the closet. :rofl::rofl::rofl: It's one of three things I have around that are older than Glenna and I have been married. The other 2 are my high school and college letter jackets. :thumb: You know, I think I paid about 125.00 for that guitar. But it sure sounds a lot better than that. Jim.
 
Everyone, thanks for the suggestions etc, we just went with the glue and clamps, and it looks good so far.
I went to a guitar store, and boy was I a fish out of water :rolleyes:

I got a new set of strings, as I broke a couple trying to restring it with the old strings, as they were cut short and ended up breaking on the old bend points.

The guy there recommended some "Silk Steel" strings, as being the easiest for a beginner to play. I also bought some picks, and a cheap guitar stand ($6) so, hopefully this "fall down and break the neck" problem doesn't happen again.:dunno:

While I was looking at the selection of picks, I asked the guy if they sold "Wooden" picks, he said they used to, and they sold a fair number, and they were not cheap, but now they cannot get them anymore....... :eek: :huh: :rolleyes: :D :D

I guess I'll have to go and check out Alex's thread on making wooden guitar picks again, might be a way to pick up some extra cash :dunno: :thumb:

I got home and we tuned up the guitar with the Mac free Garage Band software, and then dear old dad (ah, that would be ME) tried to strum the "E" cord.......... about a minute later, my hands were cramping up :eek: :D

At that point, I handed the guitar to Mizuki and she was following along with the free Garage Band guitar lessons on the Mac.:wave:

The repair is holding so far!:thumb:

Cheers!
 
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