Feeling rather down ... my daughter toppled my Les Paul, and sheered off headstock

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johnnymegabyte

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Also posted this on a few guitar backing track sites

Feeling rather down ... my daughter toppled my Les Paul, and sheered off headstock
Last night, my 6 year old daughter toppled my Les Paul from it's guitar stand, and sheered off headstock at a 45 degree angle
The nut and the top wood to about the tuning pegs is intact. The break is on the underside from around where the neck / headstock meet to around the tuning pegs. The section of the headstock with the tuning pegs is in one piece.

What can I do ? I just examined for a minute and put it asside last night.
I will have a look at it tonight, and if someone wants some pictures, I can post them for feedback

All-in-all, can't afford to replace it, or even get it fixed right now. I have an 1982 Ibanez Blazer Custom "strat", but it doesn't rock like the LesPaul can. I just got my home studio completed after so many years of using old crap, soundblasters etc

I just got a Tascam M-164UF and a huge Ikea desk with 2 shelfs built-in with some Xmas money, got some KRK Rokit 6 last year. Been using a Zoom G7 for almost 2 years. Have no amp. Got my Roland D-70 synth integrated with my Pentium 4 for serious sampling and patch editing for Zoom G7 with a XMIDI 2X2.
I use my Laptop as the DAW with Firewire connect external HD.
Am I setup or what ? Now the main axe is down for the count.
 
I'm sure you can sell her off for a good price to some 3rd World country....


....I'm talking about your daughter. :laughings:


;)


Just kidding....


Hey...I've seen some repairs that looked impossible at the time, so don't get too upset just yet.
Take it to a good luthier and get a pro opinion.

PS
Once reason I like my guitars hanging on the wall rather than on stands. I've almost knocked them over myself at times when they are on a stand.
Also why I don't let anyone into my studio when I'm not there! :p
 
A good repair shop can set it right. Save up your pennies and don't try to fix it yourself.

I hope you've learned your lesson about keeping your guitars out on stands when you've got other people around to knock 'em over. :cool:
 
Pictures please.

Remove all strings and support the break with padding and if it's going to be open for any length of time put some fine mesh around it to stop dirt, grit or fluff from getting in there. You also want to pay particular attention to ambient moisture content around the break as those surfaces need to go back exactly as they came apart if possible. Keep it cased and get it looked at soon as..

Pics and I'll give you an assessment of the work involved if you want one.
 
From what I've read, and if I'm picturing your situation right, that's a fairly common break for LP's. Most can definitely be repaired. Post up some pics. I'm sure it's salvageable dude. ;)
 
It sounds fixable.

One time a band I was traveled 50 miles to try out a bass player. We jammed then took a break and he placed his bass lying down on top of his amp (you know where this is going!) and went to the bathroom.

No one was near the amp when it fell off and snapped off the neck. When he came back from the bathroom he saw our faces, we must have been white as ghosts, and he was saying "what? what? what?" until he saw his bass with the strings all over hell.

Luckily one of the guys in my group was able to take it home and fix it. I never saw the guy again. It was weird though because he didn't know us and to this day he probably thinks one of us knocked it over.
 
Is it a new one or an old one...your homeowners might take a hit...but Id pad the claim with how old it is...and maybe you will get a new one out of this.
 
Dogbreath said:
From what I've read, and if I'm picturing your situation right, that's a fairly common break for LP's. Most can definitely be repaired. Post up some pics. I'm sure it's salvageable dude. ;)
Click to expand...

Definitely. I actually happened to be in a guitar shop picking a guitar up while a guy was fixing almost the same exact break on a LP. It was kind of cool to watch, actually.

The one peice of advice he gave me was don't try to force it back together after it's snapped, because you'll probably just make things worse. The less mangled the wood is around the break, the easier it is to repair.
 
Yeah...lots of the headstocks Ive seen at the Musicians friend returns that were designed like that usually were broken.
 
Seriously. I don't want to comment without seeing pics but this does sound like a common break and a decent repair shop or luthier will be able to handle it for less than you might imagine. Man up and get it fixed ASAP. There is absolutely nothing to be gained by delaying.
 
My two most played electric guitars have repaired necks/headstocks. - My Gibson SG Supreme arrived in a decapitated state (thanks to UPS's interpretation of "fragile" and perhaps the seller's failing to loosen the strings before shipment); My son tripped and stomped on my favorite SG clone (similar neck/headstock design) and I even had to comb the floor looking for one of the frets.

A local repair shop fixed both of them for a lot less that I would have thought - the clone plays [a lot] better than it did before it was broken (that may be true about the Supreme, too, but I'll never know). Take heart!

BTW, later I also had a Fender 12 string that just split along the split-neck fault line (about the same place as where the other two broke - even though the Supreme doesn't have a split neck... um, didn't used to have a split neck). There may have been an impact involved, but I doubt I'll ever get a straight story from my son. I tried to fix it myself with wood glue - didn't work out. Best to go professional :D

And Muttley speaks truth (based on my experience) about getting it done right away - think of it as a severed appendage on ice :)
 
Guitar's got some character now. The market has come down quite a bit on used Les Pauls so unless it's vintage or special the break hasn't cost much in the resale realm. Most people keep 'em for a substantial period of time so that may not apply to you. It should fix up good as new and the repair may be invisible as well.


lou
 
ez_willis said:
same thing happened to my LP bass. never was right again. If it's a clean break at the glue line he MIGHT be okay. If the wood is chipped or split he's f*cked.
Click to expand...

I believe it was Muttley that posted a link to pictures of a headstock repair - I think it was on a vintage Martin. The repair involved, if I recall correctly, cutting out a chunk of neck and inserting a plug, reveneering the headstock to strengthen it and doing some pretty impressive blending of shape and finish. It didn't look like a cheap repair, though!
 
Zaphod B said:
I believe it was Muttley that posted a link to pictures of a headstock repair - I think it was on a vintage Martin. The repair involved, if I recall correctly, cutting out a chunk of neck and inserting a plug, reveneering the headstock to strengthen it and doing some pretty impressive blending of shape and finish. It didn't look like a cheap repair, though!
Click to expand...

and how was the end result? and i mean after a year of string tension, not going out the door. i'm thinking we'll never know. :p
 
Zaphod B said:
I believe it was Muttley that posted a link to pictures of a headstock repair - I think it was on a vintage Martin. The repair involved, if I recall correctly, cutting out a chunk of neck and inserting a plug, reveneering the headstock to strengthen it and doing some pretty impressive blending of shape and finish. It didn't look like a cheap repair, though!
Click to expand...

Wow steady there guys.:)

First the OP needs to at least post a few pics so the we have a better idea of the nature of the break.

Second not all headstock breaks are equal. It depends a lot on how clean the break is and the nature of the original construction, scarf or carved, volute etc. No two headstock jobs are the same but most Gibson breaks are the result of the grain fracturing just behind the nut. If it's dealt with quickly it can be fixed pretty much invisibly if you get it to a decent repair guy.

Third, ZB those pics if they are the ones I'm thinking about were of a mangled break and advice I gave about the best fudge possible. Hopefully not the same thing we are talking about here.

Lets not over complicate the prognosis for the OP here. Let him get some pics up before we berate him too much and flame him for having medlin' kids.:D
 
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