Re: Broken neck/headstock?
aleclee said:
I know headstock damage happens, particularly to fragile LP scarf joints........
The only real 'scarf' joints I'm aware of are on maple necked Ibanez/BC Rich/Jackson/Epiphone type guitars. Most of the Epi 'Les Pauls' have maple necks, contrary to the belief that they are mahogany, although I DID have an early model that had a scarf-jointed mahogany neck.......haven't seen another one since.
Scarf Joint - Hold your arms horizontal in front of your face, and lay one hand over top of the other..........your hands, in essence, are forming a scarf joint.
The Gibson Les Paul neck is made of one continuous length of wood from tenon to headstock tip. The majority of LPs that have mahogany necks are made of a single chunk of wood, with the exception of the thin 'ears' that are attached to the edges of the headstock. The headstock is NOT a seperate piece attached by a scarf joint. Many of the 'dark era' 70's maple necked LPs have multiple strips glued together to form a neck-width plank of wood, ala Hamer............but I've NEVER seen a Gibson les Paul with a 'scarf' joint.
Back on topic - As far as break go, I've repaired approximately 10 or so in my 20+ years of moonlight guitar repair (mostly hobby, partly profession). The majority of the repairs were to Les Pauls, in the headstock area, but not limited to the headstock-meets-neck area. A few have been splits through tuner holes, 2 or 3 were clean headstock breaks.......headstock seperated from the neck........and a handful were various maple neck breaks - Ibanez/BC Rich/etc. One of those was a mid-headstock snap, and another was a long split through the middle of the neck.
In my experience, most Gibson headstock breaks occur when the guitar falls forward onto its face. The string pressure combined with the slapping action of the headstock going face first causes the wood to break at the nut, since it is the first thing to hit the floor. I repaired a clean-headstock snap on a BEAUTIFUL Custom Shop $3000+ Les Paul Elegant. The guitar was BRAND NEW, and suffered the break during shipping while still in its unopened case (Thanks to UPS). The customer was heartbroken. The repair was undetectable, and the customer was thrilled, but sold the guitar shortly after the repair. His words - "A broken guitar will always be a broken guitar".
SGs, Explorers, 335s........they're all equally prone.
Advice - A GOOD repairman can perform a perfect structural headstock repair, as long as the customer didn't have a go at it first. I've scraped out Super Glue, Epoxy, Elmer's, and I've even filled screwholes!! Think 'Frankenstein'. An even BETTER repairman can make the repair all but disappear. Guitar Center here in Baltimore passed off a repaired Les Paul Custom on to a good friend of mine. HE didn't notice the repair, but I spotted tell-tale lines of demarkation shrinking into the black finish. He promptly returned the guitar, the salesman on duty inspected the guitar and claimed he couldn't see a "repair". Timing was perfect as another saleman walked by and casually stated, "Oh no, not that guitar again". Evidently it was developing a reputation. Needless to say, my buddy got his cash back and was out the door.
Be careful out there guys.
ONE GOOD THING!........a guitar with a headstock repair will NEVER bring top dollar, and for the right price, can make a great workhorse stage instrument.
Once, while visiting a friend's studio, a guy took a liking to a 'parts' Strat that I had loaned the studio. The guy offered up his broken-necked Paul Reed Smith (complete with the afore-mentioned Elmer's and screws) up for trade. I traded the 'Strat', repaired the PRS, and played it to death for a long time before finally reselling it to someone who intended to do the same.
Sorry for the long read, but this thread caught my attention, and I thought I could lend a little first-hand info.
Mike
