Can a Luthier fix this?

I purchased an Eastland 315 from a private seller and it arrived today, but the scroll was broken off in shipment. It was insured through UPS, so I will try to file a claim, but the real question I have is can a Luthier return this to near perfect condition?

I realize that I can probably glue it on myself, but would rather not risk screwing it up worse, so that's why I was inquiring from the forum on options?

There is no other damage and it is in mint condition otherwise.

anyone familiar with a mandolin luthier in Austin, Texas PLEASE let me know. I also plan on having it set up as well.

Thanks for any suggestions

Kenn

This is a fairly routine repair for a luthier. I doubt it would even be very expensive. However it will never be “like new”. The line where the repair is will always be visible. The glue line can be minimized but not eliminated.

Only about 35,000 of us have asked the same question, and the answer is. "Yes, but not just any luthier." I'd question one who hasn't seen an F-style before, or especially one, like many, who does mostly electric guitars.

I'm fairly handy at such stuff so, when my turn came around, I figured it should be easy, except that proper gluing of wood requires clamping, and... the angles beat the heck outta me. Rather than take a month or two inventing a clamping mechanism, the good folks at Retrofret in Brooklyn did a great job. Specifically, it was Mamie Minsch, who's had a monthly repair article in Acoutic Guitar mag for the past year or two. I believe she left RF to start Brooklyn Lutherie, but I'd trust the folks at either place; but that's probably not much help to you. Which leads me to:

Folks who identify geographic location in their Cafe profile tend to generate a lot more useful suggestions than do those who could live anywhere!

Thanks Ed, I am a new player. To respond to your comment, I live in Austin, Texas (I updated my post to reflect that...thanks again)

Kenn

Quote:

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Originally Posted by MandoKenn

I purchased an Eastland 315 from a private seller and it arrived today, but the scroll was broken off in shipment. It was insured through UPS, so I will try to file a claim, but the real question I have is can a Luthier return this to near perfect condition?

I realize that I can probably glue it on myself, but would rather not risk screwing it up worse, so that's why I was inquiring from the forum on options?

There is no other damage and it is in mint condition otherwise.

........

Kenn

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If you do it yourself, make sure you do it right. The worst thing for a luthier is to correct the bad "repairs" people do. It can sometimes be impossible to make a decent repair after a bodge "repair".

I glued mine back on when that happened to my old Kentucky 675-S, but there was still some binding intact that made clamping it much easier. And, I didn’t care about the glue line showing. If you don’t get any other good suggestions here, check with Fiddler’s Green. If their crew doesn’t want to do it I’m sure they can steer you in the right direction. Nice folks to deal with as well. NFI, but I bought my Rigel CT-110 from them last year.

Of course, the difference with an easy job like this is how invisible the repair is, something like that can be made invisible by a good repairer, it can look pretty bad if done by an amateur

Steve

Collings guitars in Austin may be able to help. Their fit and finish work is renowned for it's cleanliness. They may NOT be able to help through their service center but may recommend someone locally who does the work or one of their workers may do stuff on the side. It certainly doesn't hurt to call.

You could, of course, leave it and call it the Monroe Loar Model Eastman and try to increase it's value on resale. :));)

Jamie

I had that happen so I stained the wood where it broke and said it was a Bill Monroe model Eastman. I sold it to a young man who didn't care and he even has the piece that broke off!

Good luthier can glue it back with no visible glue line (if it is clean untampered break) but the satin finish will still show a hairline crack. Gloss finish would be easier to repair by filling and buffing the cracked finish but you cannot do that on satin. You can have the face of the headstock oversprayed with new layer of satin finish to hide the repair. I would use strong HHG and hold it in place aligned by hand till the glue grabs, then let it dry in safe place. Clamping of scroll like this one holding on small surface is very tricky even with a sophisticated fixture.

The fixture doesn't have to be that sophisticated.
Attachment 189674

Sad but by a skilled craftsman it can be repaired !