Crack in Fingerboard

[touji]

Okay, heres the deal. 3 month old Yamaha SA2200, crack in the fingerboard. I don't have a camera that can capture the damage. It doesn't really affect my playing, but I'm wondering how bad these cracks can get over time. Has anyone had this happen to them before? I love this guitar to death and I'm a bit worried as to what will happen.

The first one doesn't really look like a crack in the picture.

[jlw001]

Ebony fretboard, right?...put Lemon oil on it a couple times a week for the next couple of months and then oil it once a month from now on.

[touji]

Is it just a lack of moisture? The board itself seems to have quite a bit of moisture in it.

[Buzzkill]

Originally Posted by touji

Okay, heres the deal. 3 month old Yamaha SA2200, crack in the fingerboard. I don't have a camera that can capture the damage. It doesn't really affect my playing, but I'm wondering how bad these cracks can get over time. Has anyone had this happen to them before? I love this guitar to death and I'm a bit worried as to what will happen.

Don't they have some sort of warranty? If they do I assume they would cover it. did you get it new or "pre-owned"

I hope it turns out alright buddy

[touji]

They do have a lifetime warranty, but their policy is that we need to go to the dealer from whom we bought it with original receipt so they can confirm that I am the original owner by verifying it with the store as well as the serial number on the guitar. Just got off the phone with my dad (I'm currently at school) and we don't know where the receipt is (knew the guitar was going to be a definite keeper, never thought about returning). Gonna make an emergency trip home this weekend to get to the store. Hopefully even without the receipt, we can find the sales person who sold it to us. Thanks for the vibes.

[touji]

Edited with pictures... the cracks are in all different places.

[Rosewood]

Ebony dust and CA glue and you're done, well after a little sanding. You can sand the crack lightly with 400 - 600, leaving the dust in the crack and then gluing and sanding. I have plenty of ebony so I just sand a scrap piece for the dust. Oil with your favorite oil and it will practically disappear.

[touji]

Seems kind of hard to do in a college dorm room. Where can I get Ebony dust and how hard is the process of gluing and sanding so it looks good and not like its been half-assed.

[JBG]

You can get some black powder from stewmac.com. Take a small amount & rub it into the crack (so there's not a pile of it on the fretboard... just enough to fill the top of the crack). Use some CA glue (the thin stuff) & apply using an applicator tip, as this stuff gets messy.

Basically, just lay 1 drop on the crack & let it wick into the crack/wood/powder. Less is better as you probably don't want a big blob of glue dried on the board... do it a few times. Then take a razor blade & scrape the board flush to remove any excess glue & schmutz. Scrape WITH the grain of the fretboard to minimize scratches.

You can do it without the powder too, but it might leave the crack visable (albeit repaired). You also might want to dab some naptha into that crack before repairing to clean it & give the glue the best chance for bonding to the wood.

[touji]

Since I'm going home this weekend, I think it might be easier to just let the shop take care of it. I've done simple maintenance on guitars (set up, pickup installation) but I've never worked with the wood itself. Thanks for all the insight but this is one guitar I don't want to ruin (not confident about myself for something like this, especially with this guitar). Again, thanks for all the help guys.

Also, how bad do those cracks actually look?

[AndrewSimon]

Hmm... that Ebony must be really thin.

My tech would make those disappear like they never happened.
Glue in the crack, sealed with a layer of petroleum jelly and water to expand the wood... but don't do it unless you have experience with this.
You only get one shot at it, if you mess it up it will be ten times as hard to correct it.

[gulliver]

Just let your tech do it, mine didn't even charge me as it was with a setup ... couldn't find it it was such a good job.