2000s Fender GJ-46SCE Cutaway Jumbo Guitar

This model is a nice, Korean-made Fender acoustic of better-than-average quality. It has a solid spruce top over ply rosewood back and sides, a mahogany neck, and rosewood bridge and fretboard. There's nice pearl rings at the soundhole and it has nice-looking tortoise binding throughout. It has a clean, Taylor-like, balanced sound that projects well and carries.

This is a local customer's first pick guitar and he's owned it since new and it's traveled around with him all over. It arrived in quite a state, with the neckblock and fretboard extension and neck having moved almost 1/4" into the soundhole and causing fault-line cracks all around the soundhole. In addition there were a number of dryness cracks wide-open and needing cleating as well.

The problem with modern, cutaway, factory-made flattop guitars like this is that there's usually not enough strength in the joint area if it gets damaged to trust it to stay put with extra reinforcement/bracing installed and the joint reglued "as-normal." I suppose if one took out all of the above-soundhole bracing and fit a giant block in there that butted-up against the neckblock and took over the role of the upper-bout bracing it might work, but when the damage is as bad as on this one my preference is to install a dowel that runs from the neckblock to endblock -- as I've done here.

I use a mix of various clamping efforts to arrange the guitar's neck angle and alignment before installing the rod and then after the rod is fit and the guitar is structurally sound again (rigid), I then can install any additional cleating/wing bracing/whatever to help support the damaged neckblock/top area as well.

This one went together so well that all it needed besides this work was a level/dress job and nut adjustments. The action was spot-on with the factory saddle height.