Calling repair gurus - snapped headstock (pic heavy)

[Anders]

I was given this Epiphone LP Standard by a friend, with some quite obvious problems.

I'd like to attempt repairing this myself. I've repaired a couple guitars with similar damage (by simply gluing them), but this seems a little more complicated than what I've done before.

As you can see, it's a real clean break (scarf joint, right?), and it seems to me like it should be possible to glue this back.

What would be the best way to do this? I'm thinking that it will be easy to fill the truss rod route with wood glue... and I'm guessing that wouldn't necessarily be a good thing?

Also, the fretboard has lifted up to around the 5th fret. As long as I get glue under there, it shouldn't be a problem, right?

Since this didn't cost me anything (so far), it would be cool to strip the entire guitar and finish it in some cool colour. IF I manage a decent repair that is...

I'd guess that there's only a super thin veneer on these, not a solid maple top?

Any input from our professionals would be greatly appreciated!

[Devotee]

That's an insanely clean break, makes me think that they used UHU stick in the scarf joint instead of wood glue. Either way, it looks like a really easy fix. I advise you to tape around the trussrod as neatly as possible with some painters tape before gluing anything in place. Use a small syringe to squeeze some glue inbetween the fretboard and the neck and clamp it with a piece of wood over the fretboard so you don't mar the frets and board and some other protective material for the neck. Once that's set, apply plenty of glue in the scarf joint and remaining fretboard area, taking care not to get any on the trussrod. When you squeeze the pieces together, you will have some glue seep but that's what the tape is for. Clamp it tightly in the same way, you shouldn't need more than two hand clamps. Once the glue's set, get to sanding.

Sully should chime in as well, he did a really great restoration video where he restored and refinished an LP Studio with a similar but messier neck breakage.

[sully]

At first glance, part of me would want to pull the fretboard before gluing the headstock back on. It's super easy to remove them and glue it back later. Although the fretboard could help with the clamping and holding the headstock in place while you're clamping it, but you'll need to make sure you've got enough glue in there (and not around the truss rod at all). Tape the truss rod off so glue won't get in the way, and use a business card to get glue in there underneath the board (or a syringe - get one from a pharmacy and affix a model glue tip to it).

Practice all of this dry before adding glue, but you'll definitely want to use more than 2 clamps. You'll need to come up with a jig to hold everything in place; the headstock will want to shoot out from the scarf joint as the pressure is applied. You can avoid that if you pull the board and use dowels to help line up the two neck pieces and keep them in place as you clamp everything.

You'll also need to repair that crack that's going down the back of the headstock as well.

[Anders]

makes me think that they used UHU stick in the scarf joint instead of wood glue.

That's my kind of luthiery!

[Anders]

Thanks a lot for the replies guys! Very helpful!

Sully - I think I'll follow your recommendations all the way. It would be interesting to attempt a fretboard removal and use dowels to keep the pieces in place.

I haven't really got much to lose by going all the way... I might even manage to fill my thick skull with some knowledge.

If I take my time and read up on fretboard removal, I should be able to get it off without loosening any frets, right? So basically it would be possible to glue the fretboard right back on without any major problems..?

[sully]

Thanks a lot for the replies guys! Very helpful!

Sully - I think I'll follow your recommendations all the way. It would be interesting to attempt a fretboard removal and use dowels to keep the pieces in place.

I haven't really got much to lose by going all the way... I might even manage to fill my thick skull with some knowledge.

If I take my time and read up on fretboard removal, I should be able to get it off without loosening any frets, right? So basically it would be possible to glue the fretboard right back on without any major problems..?

Removing the fretboard is pretty easy; you just need a clothing iron, some razor blades, a thin metal spatula (that has been slightly sharpened), patience, and time. You shouldn’t have any issues with frets and whatnot. Stewmac has a great article on pulling a board and using locator pins to help you get the board back on while keeping it aligned. Here ya go: http://www.stewmac.com/tsarchive/ts0155.html One thing that you may want to do after you’ve got the board off is to clamp the board to a flat surface; it’ll help keep it flat until you’re ready to glue it back on.

When it comes to reattaching the headstock and using dowels; it’s pretty simple; get yourself some wooden dowels (they don’t need to be super thick), and once you’ve got it dry clamped in place, drill into and through the scarf joint (but not through the neck!). Glue them into the neck just before you put the headstock on. Add your glue, get the headstock aligned with the dowels, lay some wax paper on top of the neck where the fretboard was, lay something flat on top of the wax paper (to keep the fretboard gluing surface free of dents caused from clamps) and get it clamped. Again, remember to practice your clamping and get some kind of jig together so that you can get even pressure on the back of that rounded neck. Even a simple block of wood that you cut a half circle in (for the backshape of the neck) will do. Let it sit in the clamps for 36-48 hours (slightly overkill, but you don’t want the joint to fail), and then you can move on to the next task; cleaning up the glue joint on the fretboard side of the neck. We can cover that when you get to that point.

sully

[Anders]

Sully, I really appreciate you taking the time to make these posts! Thanks bro!

[sully]

Anytime, sir!

[xenophobe]

Wow, that is an extremely clean break... And the fretboard is already partially dislodged. With time and paitience, the repair should be easy and very clean. You might want to take it into a real luthier so they can repair the finish between the broken pieces. I dunno about your area, but one of my local luthiers has a finish guy who has been doing this crap since the 60's and he can match any paint or finish with his stock of ancient, secret and forgotten lacquers. And he can do this without refinishing the whole thing, and you wouldn't even notice the repair.

[sully]

That clear coat is polyester; if the finish is only repaired at the break, it's still going to be visible because the new clear coats won't melt into the previous layers like lacquer does. That's not to say that it can't be touched up or that the color can't be matched, but expecting it to be seamless is unrealistic. Besides, a free guitar that isn't worth much to begin with is a great place to learn some stuff as long as you have the ability and patience.

[xenophobe]

That clear coat is polyester; if the finish is only repaired at the break, it's still going to be visible because the new clear coats won't melt into the previous layers like lacquer does. That's not to say that it can't be touched up or that the color can't be matched, but expecting it to be seamless is unrealistic. Besides, a free guitar that isn't worth much to begin with is a great place to learn some stuff as long as you have the ability and patience.

Ah, ok.

My finish guy showed me a 50's Gretsch he had to replace a portion of the binding on. He matched the binding, the aged look and finish. You couldn't tell that it wasn't original. Well I couldn't even after he showed me where he replaced the binding and matched the finish. He does conservatory work and really high end restorations. He's the old finish guru at CB Perkins Luthier's in San Jose. He has original paint from Gibson from the 50's and crap like that and like a secret stash of various shellacks, varnishes and stuff from ages past. If you needed a guy to repair a Stradivarius, he's the guy that would do the finish work. He's an amazing guy to talk to.

[sully]

That's awesome; I really marvel at guys that can do that sort of stuff. Greg at BCR music is another one of those types that can take a shattered headstock and bring it all back to life.

[xenophobe]

Yeah, I love those old guys doing that old fashioned work at quality levels that people just don't do these days.

He's doing the finish work on my masterbuilt showmaster. The luthier decided that the fret ends (the part inserted into the fretboard) needed to be filed down because they were delaminating the finish on the side of the neck. I didn't even notice it. Fender is paying the bill so I said sure, go for it. He's the guy that is going to touch up the the finish on all the frets on either side of the fretboard, without fucking with the original finish of the guitar. When I get it back I'll take some macro shots and see how good his work really is.


Oh, I did manage to capture this, this is a crop from a normal shot... they already filed the ends down, now it's up to the finish guy to fix all the fret ends. He's leaving the original finish intact as much as he can and he assured me that I wouldn't be able to notice that any work has been done at all (though I'm sure macro photography isn't part of that 'not being able to notice', but we shall see:

And in person, they're much more difficult to see. The flash and macro lens I use for normal shots is pretty sharp, so the lighting over-exaggerated the discoloration of the de-lamination... Most of them are about half the size of a fret marker and in normal lighting are barely noticeable...

[sully]

Quite frankly, on a guitar as nice as that, I don't understand why the fret tangs would not have been undercut so that they don't extend out to the end of the fretboard. Then you fill the sides of the slot with a mixture of dust from the fretboard wood + glue, and seal it up.. If done properly, you wouldn't really see the slots on the side of the board, and you'd never deal with the protrusion of the tangs as the climate changes. Glad yours is being taken care of.

Sully

[xenophobe]

I agree completely. I don't understand why either. But the guitar had been sitting there in that shop owner's private collection as a museum piece for 13 years, and it was still considered brand new when I bought it, and Fender is absolutely taking care of all the issues at their expense without question. I have to say, I'm a definitely a fan of their custom shop warranty policy. These repairs aren't gonna be cheap, especially since they need to be fixed up to the spec of CS quality.


Anyway, sorry for derailing the thread.

That Gibson repair should have no issues if you do it correctly. It couldn't have broken any better for you. Even the thinnest portion at the tip of the wedge seems to be mostly intact.