I just wanted to share a Frankenstein experiment that I have been conducting. I have a Breedlove Passport concert guitar. Itās back has pulled away from the binding in two places, above the endpin and on one side.
The poor guitar received a very poor prognosis from a repair tech at Breedlove and a luthier at a local guitar shop. Calling its family and making plans for last rites were recommended. A 2-way humidifier had a catastrophic failure and spilled all its little crystals in the guitar body. During this time I was recovering from a total knee replacement and unable to get to the room with the guitar. Meanwhile, the crystals were swelling, the guitar was getting damp where the crystals were ā¦and āPopā goes the back.
I decided today that if it was a goner, that I didnāt have anything to lose if I tried to fix it myself. Iād just have to apply some Okie-engineering. This is what folks do out in the western US in rural Oklahoma. You use baling wire, duct tape, butter knivesā¦ what ever you have on hand and get things running.
Steps:
- I took off the strings and sent the iPhone in to take pictures of the innards with the flash on. Whew Wee that was eye open.
- I saw that I needed to started scooping out the soggy crystals. I had lots of plastic takeout spoons, knives and napkins to use for this first round of crystal removal.
- With all the soggy crystals out, I sent the iPhone in for more pictures. I could see that along where the side met the back, that the wood had been grooved so that the bottom of the guitar could be shaped. Those grooves were now packed with crystals. They were going to have to get scraped out.
- But, before I went to all that work, I wanted to make sure the braces were not cracked or separating. I took pictures and I also felt the braces to make sure that they were not coming loose. Luckily that were all really tight. I also tapped on the outside of the guitar, now that I knew where the braces were, to see if there was any rattling. All was well.
- The sound hole would only let ne get my arm in so far, so I used long wooden bamboo skewers to scrape the crystals out of the grooves. They really helped extend my reach and were sufficiently strong and pointy for the job.
- I also used some sculpting tools with long thin wooden handles with various points, and scoops to get even more crystals out.
- My Hoover had a little vac attachment that I used vacuum out the crystal.
- I also put a piece of paper towel on a long pair of forceps to wipe out the inside of the guitar.
- I needed to get some air circulating inside the guitar. At first I thought about using my blow dryer on cool, but I would have to sit and supervise. Then, I remembered this little USB fan that I used to plug into laptopās USB port. I plugged that little ( smaller than the sound hole) fan into a portable USB battery pack and let that run inside the guitar for a little while. Now I have it on the workbench and have my ceiling fan running above it. The humidity in my house is 54% so Iām feeling OK about it being out.
Progress thus far:
So Iāve spent about 6 hours on the guitar today. As I sign off, the two areas of the back that lifted away from the binding have set back down. I can see inside that where the wood looked wet that it is drying out. There is a dark water mark on the back of the guitar that has lightened a tad, but I am not hopeful that that will go away. I donāt want to mess with the finish, so this may be a signature design feature of this guitar going forward.
Next Steps
Iām going to need to keep watching to see how things are drying and keeping tabs on humidity.
I am going to need some spool clamps and titebond original to reattach the two spots of the back that lifted.
I came up with a plan on how to make my own Spool Clamps. These are clamps that you use around the outside edge to clamp a top or a bottom onto the sides of the guitar. If this works I may be able to make about 25 clamps for about $50 dollars. I think Stew Mac sells 5 for $39. As soon as the parts arrive, I will post a Okie-engineering Part 2 on How to make spool clamps.
Oh, I also bruised my forearm from reaching though the sound hole. price we pay.
Have a good night,
Rose
PS Community and @Silvia80, let me know if you have any suggestions.
ā¦ 
I havenāt done many repairs and nothing like this. It also sounds like you have done a bit of research. The first recommendation I would make, if you are on Facebook, is to join a group called Amateur Acoustic Luthier. I have asked a number of questions in that group and the response is amazing. I would also be interested in seeing a picture of the outside of the guitar where the back is pulling away. I am wondering how much has separated. If there is a large amount it might be worth taking the back off. You can do that with some heat. It would make repairing the inside much easier and you could do a better job. I will be following to see how it goes. It sounds like an adventure! 
It is hard to tell for sure, but is that just a layer of veneer pulling up or the entire back? If it is veneer then I thing you just want to glue it down. You would also want to use something as a caul, maybe a thinner piece of wood with wax paper between to avoid it getting stuck. The spindles alone would not be able to spread the pressure sufficiently.