TX Pikr

Thanks for the responses! The bridge fasteners are still there as well as the dots covering them on the bridge - they do not look like they have been messed with. I cannot see or feel any damage underneath. I cannot find my inspection mirror right now but am able to get a good look through the "Preamp" hole on the top shoulder. I was looking for glue seepage or any other obvious signs of repair but could find none. Perhaps this is just a finish crack and I should just start collecting the hardware to get this thing up and running? Yeah, I think it is a "Poly" finish as it looks almost "Plastic". How hard would it be later on to strip off all the poly and do a lacquer finish? I have seen sites (such as Stew Mac) where they have completely stripped down the top perfectly and left everything on the sides and back intact. How do they do this? I have an Alvarez Yairi DY-45 with a thin vintage satin finish that has aged wonderfully over the last 23 years. The poly finish on the Takamine may look smooth as glass 23 years from now but I doubt it will do anything for the sound!

I just got this guitar at a Guitar Store "Yard Sale" where they were clearing a lot of "Junk" out of their back room and came across this Takamine EGSF15SC that had been gutted of all hardware and electronics and has a cracked top. $50 and it was all mine! I figured for that price, the worst that could happen is to learn a valuable lesson in what not to do when repairing a cracked top! Here are the photos: As you can see, the crack extends to the outer binding and looks like it probably continues under the bridge. Should I remove the bridge to ensure the crack is fixed underneath? I have read some articles on Stew Mac where they cut a V-channel and insert a new strip of spruce into this channel. Is this really necessary? How is such a determination made? Is there any way I can make this crack as invisible as possible without stripping and refinishing the top? Additionally, I am concerned that this crack has formed right about at the location of the top bridge fastener. Could there be a structural integrity problem? I have not seen any obvious signs of damage underneath. Finally, How can I make a determination whether this crack has already been repaired? I cannot detect any movement and the bracing underneath appears intact. There is a "Second AAAA" stamp in the soundhole but I am not certain if this is due to the cracked top or some other manufacturing flaw. There is some wear on the open position frets so it does look like it got a little use before it was stripped down and thrown into the back of a music store! I just discovered this site and looks like a wealth of information to glean here! I am looking forward to your responses here and I am certain there will be many more questions once I get that crack taken care of!

Wow! If you are making the investment in time and money to build your own guitar from a D-28 Kit, it seems to me that you would want to have something that is of equal caliber to go with it! Is this the kit from Stew Mac? For me personally, I would not cut a gaping hole in the side of my guitar if one did not already exist. I would instead install whatever transducers/pickups I was using, route the signals to an endpin jack, and then run the signal through an outboard preamp for blending/EQ before running out to the final amplification. I am curious about these Artec preamps though. I have a Takamine that I am trying to resurrect and am looking at different options as I do have a gaping hole in the side of my guitar that needs to be filled! Are these Artec preamps at least as good as what originally came with this guitar? This is a Takamine "G Series" we are talking about here. I am looking for something with a tuner (so long as it is something that is useful) and an auxiliary output for a magnetic pickup or microphone to blend with the piezo transducer. On a side note, my guitar has the two-piece saddle so I need a two-piece piezo transducer to go with it. Are these commercially available in the aftermarket or do I need to get these from Takamine! Or should I pitch all that, make some new saddle pieces, and go with a LR Baggs "I Beam" or something like that?