Finish cracks in Acoustic guitar tops

[backinit]

Today I saw a Ovation Balladeer for a decent price that had what looked like a finish crack. Is this easily repairable? The price was decent and it sounds great.

[RoyB]

Today I saw a Ovation Balladeer for a decent price that had what looked like a finish crack. Is this easily repairable? The price was decent and it sounds great.

A finish crack on an ovation is not worth fixing because of the finish they use. Ovation finishes crach, but it's just cosmetics most of the time.

[DavidE]

Make sure it's just a finish crack. I just got a guitar that had a "finish crack" that turned out to be an actual top crack.

[Uncle Thor's Hamer]

The older Ovations used a nitrocellulose finish that is well known to crack, especially with severe temperature shock. The classic scenario is you buy the guitar from afar and it arrives on the UPS truck in January, cold soaked to 30 degrees. You bring it inside and immediately open up the case to see your new beauty. For about three seconds you see this beautiful mint guitar, and then a crack races across the top as the warm air in your house stresses the cold finish on the guitar.

A finish crack makes zero difference in tone or structural integrity of an Ovation. It is good reason to get a small discount on the purchase price due to the minor cosmetic issue. I would not hesitate to buy an Ovation with a finish crack.

I've heard of people filling the cracks with cyanoacrylate glue and it supposedly completely hides the cracks. I would not do that myself due to potential future problems with refinishing the top. The other option is to send it to the factory for a refinish job. They do flawless work for very reasonable prices.

You can look at the crack and see if it runs along the grain or if it crosses the grain. A cross-grain crack is almost certainly only in the finish. If it exactly runs along the grain then I would want to look much more closely to see if the wood itself is cracked.

The switch in finish to the thinner modern version was in the 90's I think. Someone more knowledgeable can chime in, or you can ask over on the Ovationfanclub dot com forum. A crack in a guitar newer than about 15 years old I would be very cautious about. The new finish just doesn't crack like the old finish.

The older Ovations used a nitrocellulose finish that is well known to crack, especially with severe temperature shock. The classic scenario is you buy the guitar from afar and it arrives on the UPS truck in January, cold soaked to 30 degrees. You bring it inside and immediately open up the case to see your new beauty. For about three seconds you see this beautiful mint guitar, and then a crack races across the top as the warm air in your house stresses the cold finish on the guitar.

A finish crack makes zero difference in tone or structural integrity of an Ovation. It is good reason to get a small discount on the purchase price due to the minor cosmetic issue. I would not hesitate to buy an Ovation with a finish crack.

I've heard of people filling the cracks with cyanoacrylate glue and it supposedly completely hides the cracks. I would not do that myself due to potential future problems with refinishing the top. The other option is to send it to the factory for a refinish job. They do flawless work for very reasonable prices.

You can look at the crack and see if it runs along the grain or if it crosses the grain. A cross-grain crack is almost certainly only in the finish. If it exactly runs along the grain then I would want to look much more closely to see if the wood itself is cracked.

The switch in finish to the thinner modern version was in the 90's I think. Someone more knowledgeable can chime in, or you can ask over on the Ovationfanclub dot com forum. A crack in a guitar newer than about 15 years old I would be very cautious about. The new finish just doesn't crack like the old finish.

[backinit]

It did cross the grain. I took a led flash light and a small mirror with me and checked it out from inside and it looked clean. Further inspection told me it needed 4 frets replaced soon. I used the crack and the frets and made a reasonable offer, but they were not willing to meet me. It was a pawn shop so they probably paid the former owner $75 for the guitar. I'll go back in a month or so and see if it's still there.

I dig the honeyburst finish it has on it.

[Uncle Thor's Hamer]

An old balladeer with original case should sell in the $350 to $500 range if in very good condition with some finish cracking. Figure $100 of that is the case, so that leaves $250 minimum for the guitar.

If you were to get the guitar for, say, $150, without a case, you would still be in the ballpark if you had it refretted. If a good case is included, this is an even better deal.