Is it always possible to repair a guitar?

A broken guitar can be repaired, but sometimes it is impossible, especially when the body has been heavily damaged. On the other hand, you can always rebuild a guitar neck.

I broke my guitar!

Invited to a wedding, you played a few songs. The evening being extremely wild while everyone was  drunk, you thought you were a rock star and you broke your guitar on stage. It was obviously not on purpose, but it happened and now you are biting your fingernails. The body is destroyed. Is the damage significant, should you throw it away or is a repair by a luthier possible? The answer is obviously a guitar repair specialist who can give you the answer. Again, it all depends on the nature of the problem, so it requires the advice of an expert.

How to Repair a Guitar

You'll laugh, but sometimes you just need a little glue to repair a guitar. This is not a joke, there is a special glue used by guitar makers. However, let's face it, most of the time broken guitars end up in the basement or attic, or the trash. Not everyone is lucky enough to sell their broken guitar like Bob Marley's Ovation Balladeer which went up for auction for more than 150,000 euros! Luckily, it was repaired, but the bill was still very high.

Did you know it's possible to repair a guitar headstock easily?

The most frequent breakage is of course the string breakage, but it's also the neck breakage, either by accident, put in the wrong place or because it's a cheap, low-end guitar. It is therefore at the level of the body junction that it usually breaks because this assembly is held together with glue. If this happens to you, don't panic, it can be repaired. Someone who has knowledge in guitar making (people who have repair services in their garages, also known as a tinkerer for example) can do it quickly and without the renovation being too visible. A luthier will check everything and restore the guitar, making sure that your neck will not break again. He will reinforce this joint with small screws for example, they will be hidden. Finally what could make the repair more delicate is the loss of a fret.

The work is considerably long if you want to repair your guitar yourself. You have to remove all the strings first and then align the neck perfectly. The most difficult part is to hide the screw holes that you will have added. Making a dowel is a common thing in lutherie, the hardest part is to find the wood that looks like the one on your guitar. Then, you need to work on the aesthetic finish, probably you will have to do some varnishing and of course tune the guitar strings completely.

Our advice: If the broken guitar is of financial or sentimental value, having it repaired will be preferable if at all possible, if it is a low-end instrument, replace it. In both cases, ask for a luthier's opinion or estimate, it may cost you less than you think.