A bad decision has been made

Chris-what kind of glue would you recommend for trying to slap all this back together?

Also the two dowels/plugs they used on the previous repair came out a bit funky. One came still attached to the headstock. One came out still attached the neck. I think I'll need to get them both out of there because it's too wonky to try and line-up the fibers of the actual neck otherwise.
 
I saw a break similar to that at Charlie’s Guitar Shop here in Dallas. They fixed it by removing some wood on the back of the neck, either side of the truss, and in to the headstock as well and making splints, so to speak, that were glued in to the channels, effectively joining the two along with the break being put together as best as it could be, which took a lot of work to get all the wood bits together again. Tweezers and patience involved. Can’t remember how the rest of the repair was done but in the end after paint it looked great.
 
Titebond, of course.
Remove as much loose or wonky wood as you can. You want the two pieces to mate as well as possible.
Then you'll have to replace the missing wood at some point.
This will probably involve making a jig to rout for splines or whatever is needed. Eliminate as many gaps as possible.
I did one years ago that basically glued it up, and then in 3 operations - routed for a section, glued in new wood, shaped it, then routed again and glued again.
Nearly all the original wood was gone - replaced by new, but it was all shaped like the original.
Don't forget to cover it all up with veneer front and back. You'll have to hide the rest with a finish.
Think a lot beforehand, then act.
If you can - work backwards through it in your head.
 
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OK, it looks like you've got some good info to work with.

There is one thing that I do differently than the guy in the videos. I make the spline first, then I make the router template to fit. And I rout on some scrap wood first just to double check fit before going directly to the instrument. That way I'm doing less fitting of the spline into the access made by the router. It's a minor thing, but it works for me, and I think it gives me a better final fit.

Good luck. Keep us informed.
 
That makes sense. I am rather terrified of setting up the template in a way that is stable enough to keep it in place when doing precise work like that. I have a couple of routers but they are on the larger side. I might buy that smaller Colt router for this job. Smaller, lighter and looks less likely to overwhelm a fraglie template setup.

But first I need to figure out how to reassemble what's left of the headstock. It's been sanded down already and it's not flat. I'm still oddly hopeful. I think I'll work on creating a back-up headstock at the same time.
 
Mainly I'm just curious.
Just that it affects how deep you can rout for the spline(s). The greater the angle, the shallower the spline will be, and the more difficult it will be to stabilize the router template.
 
Should be around 14 degrees. Doesn't matter in the long run - you have a problem to solve, and you have the brainpower to figure it out. You've been doing some good work since you bought that V from me, so I have faith in you.
 
Yes, it doesn't really matter much. I was thinking that it was probably 11-16 and hoping, for your sake, that it was closer to 10. Some guitars have as little angle as 6 degrees.
 
one minor update. There was a piece of wood still on the neck that had come loose a bit when I removed the headstock. I cleaned, glued and clamped that back up so now it's solid.

I'm still slowly picking the old glue out of the wood fibers on the headstock as I get ready to glue it back on before adding splines. The dowels that were in there previously are adding a layer of complication as one came out still attached to the headstock and one came out still attached to what's left of the neck. Instead of just pushing the headstock straight on to the remainder of the neck and hoping to match up the wood grain I would now have to do that while also somehow twisting the headstock to align with the awkward dowels. I might just cut the dowels out, put the headstock back together and then re-insert new dowels just to add back in that wood. Fill in the nail and staple holes with little bits of wood and glue as best I can and then see what I got.
 
You're doing it right. Keep a fresh supply of Exacto blades on hand to work out those bits of old glue. Also, use tweezers to either re-align fibers so they'll fit back together, or pull them out if they don't bend to your will. It's painstaking, difficult work. People think luthierie is all fun and games. WRONG. It's a lot of this stuff. Lots of sanding and scraping. You have to love it to do it well.
 
I think I'm a weirdo cause I'm enjoying this. It's also for me and I can do it at my own pace.

If this was my career and I had a deadline I'd be crapping my pants.
 
Like I said, this is a job you'd never make money on. But if it's done well, you'll glow with satisfaction. You took something headed for the trash heap, and made it live again. It still has music inside, and you're going to help it get out.
 
I've been pulled away to some other projects lately and I thought it wise to give myself some breathing room from this one for a bit to make sure I had a great plan. I looked over the headstock a bit more and I think that it's been shaved down post the point of saving. Not only is it full of holes and cracks but I believe the top of it has been shaved down as well. When looking at the stringer that does down the middle of the neck and headstock it looks completely off and asymmetrical.

I've never built a new headstock from scratch or scarfed one on so it should be a fun little adventure. Or terrifying. We shall see!
 
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