Top crack :: to splint or not to splint?
This guitar has a top center crack caused by low humidity and I've been battling with it for most of the summer. The top was dried to the point of concavity (lower in the center than the edges). Normally acoustic guitar tops have an arch or are at least flat. I have had good luck in the past by humidifying guitars to close small cracks before gluing and cleating them. This crack repair however keeps wanting to pull itself apart, even in my climate controlled shop. I've gone through two iterations of structural / finish repairs and both times tiny checks developed in parts of the repair. Having to wait 3-4 weeks for the finish repairs to cure before rubbing and buffing only to find unsatisfactory results was frustrating. The repairs didn't look terrible, but I knew it could be better.
So I decided that this crack needed to be cut open and the top allowed to work out it's internal stresses. After the crack was reopened, I fit a splint that will be glued in, scraped flush and the area's finish repaired (again).
This guitar's crack appeared borderline at first but I wanted to try closing the crack before using the splint method. Thankfully the owner has been extremely patient, but this will be best for the guitar in the long run.