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Guitar chord forum - chordie → Guitars and accessories → Martin DM cracked neck
I have a chance to buy a fairly new Martin DM for $75. Only thing is, the necked is cracked up near the headstock. It is definitely a crack in the wood and not just a surface crack. It plays great though and I'm told it stays in tune. My question is, is this something a luthier can fix reasonably or would I be better off passing on the deal? But for $75 I'm thinking what the heck, I'll take my chances.
Pass! Well made is well made. Poorly made is poorly made. Even the best have a bad day sometimes.
Well, We're talking a $900 guitar for $75...I'd have to see how the crack is running and it's location before I said for sure but most can be repaired. I'd snap a few pics of it or borrow it for a day and carry it to a local luthier for an evaluation. For $75 I'd probably buy it regardless... I'd look at it as a project guitar to practice some work on ,if nothing else, but it's probably fixable. Can you give a little more detail about the crack? If you can get pics and post them it would be helpfull also. Welcome to the forums!! -Pix
If you decide to pass on it, drop me an email 
You may find this thread interesting http://www.chordie.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=12021 Tandm3 had a similiar problem and did a great job repairing it himself.
Here's a pic of a late 1800/early 1900's banjo that I'm repairing. The neck on it was split from just above the nut to the 5th fret. About 9 inches and it has gone back together well and holds tension great. Now all I have to do is sand and finish it...It'll be a dark neck due to the amount of repair but once finished you'll never know it was damaged..
Dingo, I bought an Epiphone with a cracked neck at the heel and a countersunk screw installed. My intentions are to one day try myself or have it repaired. Right now it plays so sweet I am just enjoying it. By the way, I didn't get the deal you are getting. Try it you'll like it.
Thanks for the 'sound' advice. I am going to pick it up today and run it buy a few guys here in town. I'll try to post some pics later today.
I picked up the guitar today and took it over to a friend who works at Heritage Guitar. He said my best bet is to send it off to a service center and have the neck replaced. That sounds like the right thing to do, but I wouldn't mind fixing it if it can be fixed. I've got some pics to show, but I have no idea how to do that, and sure could use some help.
You'll have to upload them to a photo hosting site like flickr or photobucket to obtain an htp: address. Then you simply use this [img]before the http and this[/img] after it and it'll show up. If you don't have an account, I'll upload and post them for you, just email them to me... -Pix
I'm gonna try this. If nothing shows up, I'll try again.
We'll see if that works. Thanks for the info.
I got nothin'. Except the web address. Maybe my browser won't allow it. Can you see them?
I think you ommitted the [img]tags
Here they are:
I put them in there, honest. I'm a newbie to the posting photos on the forum thing though. I make my living on a dang computer, you'd think I would know a thing or two.
Yea it'd be hard to repair properly.. You could inject glue and clamp but it probably wouldn't be a long term fix. I agree with sending it to martin for a neck replacement. Was the previous owner the original owner? If so, he may be able to get it fixed or at least partially covered by the company under warranty.
Unfortunately he's the second owner. I am going to ask him if he can get his hand on the sales receipt, though. I'll check with a repair center, (there's a couple of authorized ones near here) and take it from there. Thank you all very much for your help! I'll let you know how it turns out.
I have a GIBSON HUMMINGBIRD with a "decapitation" of the head stock.
These are expensive guitars, and Martin too.
ADVICE: my headstock is glued or fixed by a luthier, I payed a 120$ (3 years ago)
I called a Martin authorized luthier yesterday. His advice is to bring him the guitar so he can see it in person (he's already seen the photos) but gluing should fix it just fine. Apparently Martin carries no necks in stock and only mills them when needed, so the price of a new neck runs about $500. Not necessarily the way to go on a $900 guitar. A $2,000+ guitar yes, but...
I called a Martin authorized luthier yesterday. His advice is to bring him the guitar so he can see it in person (he's already seen the photos) but gluing should fix it just fine. Apparently Martin carries no necks in stock and only mills them when needed, so the price of a new neck runs about $500. Not necessarily the way to go on a $900 guitar. A $2,000+ guitar yes, but...
Check Ebay for a neck... You can find rough cut Martin necks for under $50 or one with fret board and frets installed for around $150-$200. The neck replacement itself will cost you about $200 bucks unless you do it yourself though... If he says he can glue it to last, that would be the way to go IMO. Best of luck man! Thanks for keeping us informed! -Pix
Guitar chord forum - chordie → Guitars and accessories → Martin DM cracked neck
