Played a LP Standard with a repaired neck today... Wow!

[Wattage]

Re: Played a LP Standard with a repaired neck today... Wow!

Yeah Michael Schenker swears his V's all sounded better after headstock repairs

[67Mopar]

Re: Played a LP Standard with a repaired neck today... Wow!

Here's what I think... A repair at the neck decreases the resonating effect by acting as reflector, or dampener. Resonance decreased = attack and sustain are improved. I always laugh when I hear neophytes discussing acoustics. "You'll love this guitar... It resonates like crazy!"

[Jacew]

Re: Played a LP Standard with a repaired neck today... Wow!

Here's what I think... A repair at the neck decreases the resonating effect by acting as reflector, or dampener. Resonance decreased = attack and sustain are improved. I always laugh when I hear neophytes discussing acoustics. "You'll love this guitar... It resonates like crazy!"

Yea, but it also makes guitars more lively and warmer sounding. That's why I like thin bodied SG's over LP.

Often more resonating strats are the better sounding ones as well.

[67Mopar]

Re: Played a LP Standard with a repaired neck today... Wow!

Yea, but it also makes guitars more lively and warmer sounding. That's why I like thin bodied SG's over LP.

Often more resonating strats are the better sounding ones as well.

Yeah, I suppose there's a fine balance there. Gibson added the maple top to help quell resonating effect. Each has there place, of course. For "liquid" lead tones, I always go with my Firebird V. For chunky attack and fat rhythm, I go with my LP Custom.

I've been playing since '78, and I've never owned an SG! I've been looking at them for the several days now, but I want one with P9O's and a thicker neck than what most SG's have. It's either an SG or a PRS McCarty. I'm actually leaning more toward the McCarty, but the McCarty has a maple top. I'm thinking maple may not be the way to go with P9O's?

[Boogie Bill]

Re: Played a LP Standard with a repaired neck today... Wow!

I have three Gibsons with repaired headstock breaks. Two are Les Paul Supremes in Root Beer and HCSB. Both were brand new, damaged in shipping. The tech at Guitar Center did adequate repair, though no effort was done to improve the cosmetics. I bought both guitars from Guitar Center for pennies on the dollar. Tuning stability is excellent in both guitars, as is sustain.

My Vintage Sunburst ES-335 is a 2012 model that fell off a stand at the Seattle Cuitar Center. Again, repaired by their tech, with no real thought to cosmetics. Didn't play right and it had a buzz. Took 30 seconds to figure out why, and I kept it to myself. I made them a low, but resonable offer and again got if for pennies on the dollar. A quick trip to my luthier to have him adjust the nut action, file the bridge saddles to match the fingerboard radius, AND firmly reseat one of the saddle's intonation screwheads back into the ABR-1...THAT'S what the major problem was with the buzz and the playability.

And of my three 335s, it is my favorite. There's really something special about this one. I really like the neck. Can't say it sounds noticeably better than the others, but it is sweet.

All three have appropriate sustain and resonance for their body types. They are great guitars, and I'm lucky to have found them.

I would not hesitate to buy another Gibson with a headstock break, as long as the faceplate is not damaged. A break through the faceplate is cosmetically unacceptable to me, and expensive to repair. My old 1975 Martin D-28 fell and snapped the headstock clean off. I elected for a neck replacement rather than repair, ruining the value of a vintage guitar, but for a number of reasons it was the best choice to make.

I won't say a broken headstock makes a guitar better, but a quality repair isn't a tone killer or a deal breaker for me.

Bill

[Boogie Bill]

Re: Played a LP Standard with a repaired neck today... Wow!

Here's what I think... A repair at the neck decreases the resonating effect by acting as reflector, or dampener. Resonance decreased = attack and sustain are improved. I always laugh when I hear neophytes discussing acoustics. "You'll love this guitar... It resonates like crazy!"

Well, I got to tell you, about the first thing I do when I pick up an acoustic guitar is to strum the open strings a feel the top of the headstock for vibrations or resonance. I look for the ones that resonate like crazy, including throughout the top. Now all of my Martin dreads do this, and I would say that they also have fine sustain and excellent tone.

And I judge a Les Paul the same way, looking for a balance of dynamics, openness, and resonance. Though I will admit some players prefer heavier Pauls with reduced resonance, longer sustain and less dynamics.

This all seems contrary to your statement. Pehaps I misunderstood.

Bill

[Silence Kid]

Re: Played a LP Standard with a repaired neck today... Wow!

^Agreed. The thing is, the string's energy has to go somewhere. If your body won't resonate that probably means the bridge, or some other component is dampening your string's vibration before it even gets to the body; which is bad for sustain and volume.

[BloodRose]

Re: Played a LP Standard with a repaired neck today... Wow!

In fact, Loverboy guitarist Paul Dean used to claim that some of his guitars with broken necks sounded better after repairs were made, and he experimented by breaking the necks of some of his guitars and repairing them. So... when Hondo marketed a Paul Dean model (actually a decent guitar, and quite rare), Paul asked Hondo to rout slots in the maple shaft of the neck running alongside the truss rod creating the first "chambered" neck way back in the 80's!



So, anyway - food for thought.

Hondo Paul Dean has a hideous headstock....

https://reverb.com/item/4683010-1983-hondo-paul-dean-iii-signature-black-and-red-zebra

Id like to get a Kramer Paul Dean model!

[67Mopar]

Re: Played a LP Standard with a repaired neck today... Wow!

Again, I think there's a balance. I'll say this... I can definitely hear a difference between a poly coated instrument vs nitro. I once stripped the poly off of an '85 San Dimas Charvel. Crazy, I know, but the result was nothing short of phenomenal! I then sealed the body and neck using boiled linseed oil. That was the best playing, best sounding guitar I've ever owned. I never bothered trying to duplicate it, as nothing would have equaled it.

[RorySquier]

Re: Played a LP Standard with a repaired neck today... Wow!

When Ed Roman was alive he used to break on purpose head-stocks of Gibson guitars and glue them back together and he felt it was much stronger than before it was broken.



;>)/

[Silence Kid]

Re: Played a LP Standard with a repaired neck today... Wow!

I wonder how much that would cost you.

[eclecticsynergy]

Re: Played a LP Standard with a repaired neck today... Wow!

IMO liveliness resides more in the neck than the body. It took me years to realize that. One of the first things I do when checking out a guitar is to tap the back of the headstock and feel how the body and neck vibrate together.

For those who only think in terms of of tone that might seem pretty silly. But for me it's more about liveness. This is where long tenon necks often excel. Here again, somebody who's concerned with tone alone might not recognize that it makes any difference. And I have short tenon guitars that come alive quite well, but I've found that in general long tenon guitars more often tend to be nice and lively.

A headstock repair might be likely to increase brightness and attack - mine did - which is an improvement for some. Yet it's also likely to add stiffness, reducing liveness - mine did that too.

The upside is, I don't doubt the headstocks are stronger afterwards, and the notorious weak spot shouldn't ever be a problem on those guitars again.

[eclecticsynergy]

Re: Played a LP Standard with a repaired neck today... Wow!

Hondo Paul Dean has a hideous headstock....

https://reverb.com/item/4683010-1983-hondo-paul-dean-iii-signature-black-and-red-zebra

Id like to get a Kramer Paul Dean model!

Wow, hideous is the right word for that one!

[devastone]

Re: Played a LP Standard with a repaired neck today... Wow!

Hondo Paul Dean is hideous!

Fixed that for ya.

[devastone]

Re: Played a LP Standard with a repaired neck today... Wow!

When Ed Roman was alive he used to break on purpose head-stocks of Gibson guitars and glue them back together and he felt it was much stronger than before it was broken.

Bringing up ER never goes well.

FWIW, the repair most likely makes the neck to headstock connection stiffer, it is weak to start with and probably has some flex in the joint. I don't think there is any magic involved.