Martin D16 in real trouble

 

This is what happens when you take a flat top guitar and throw it at a wall.

Scroll to the bottom to get the full story in sequence.

Ready to play. Was it worth the trouble to repair?
Absolutely says the owner.

The back refinished quite well.

It's virtually impossible to match the original lacquer.

ready for lacquer.

The owner liked my idea of making a Japanese style
Kintsugi repair by gold leafing a raised epoxy
line over the crack.

The spirit level is securely taped to the neck with a guitar pick between its extremity and the bridge. This ensures that the neck is correctly set when the back is glued back on.

Glueing the back on.

cleats being fitted to reinforce the repairs to the back.
I use neodymium magnets as clamps.

This shows the cleats that I fitted to reinforce the rib crack
and the broken tail block.

Preparing the top for refinishing.

Glueing the large crack around the rib.

I had all but one piece which I cut from a spare piece of
mahogany from my wood pile.

The back also needed reassembling. The finish was flaking
off so I was forced to strip it.

With the back removed I could access all the areas damaged
by the impact. Loose braces, missing kerfed lining, etc.

There were a couple of missing pieces which I fabricated
from the original Martin sound hole cutaway which the
owner also supplied

                    

Fortunately the owner had thought to save all the shards of wood

I had no choice but to cut the back off!

 Take a D16 Martin Flat top guitar and throw it at a wall.

  This will be the result.