Guitar decapitated! Help!

[Beautiful Sin]

I need a quick fix guys...

I foolishly knocked over my acoustic, and the head snapped off more or less completely... the strings are the only things holding it together!
So whats the best way to fix it? the snap is slanted, from 2 inches above the nut, to 2 inches below and behind it.

Is strong wood glue enough to hold it? or will i need to screw it back in place?

 

[guitar junkie]

how much money is the guitar worth? if its not a cheap guitar then you will want to take it in a shop and have somebody that knows what they are doing fix it. othwise get some good clamps and some strong titebond wood glue and use it do not try gorrilla glue as it will foam up and look like trash when you are done make sure you can line things up as best you can. does this guitar have a warrenty? what brand is it?

 

[Beautiful Sin]

It's an epiphone AJ-10, it's a nice sounding guitar which i got next to nothing secondhand... a great find (i got it for about $95). In which case, i'm guessing getting it fixed at a shop would be pointless...
Anyways, i'd like to fix it myself anyways - this baby has served me a long time, so i'd like to return the favour! lol

 

[goldtopchas]

I concur with guitar junkie. If it's worth anything at all, Take it to a luthier and get an estimate. Maybe you'll be pleasantly surprised at what it will cost to have it professionally repaired.
A word of warning:.....if you decide to do it yourself, and it doesn't hold, it will be extremely hard for anyone to take a second shot at gluing it. This is what I've heard from someone else. It makes sense though since the first application of glue would probably have to be removed in order to get a good bond. Good luck!!!!!

 

[Krakit]

Unless you named it or something, I suggest a new one.

<click me for a few>

Carl

 

[Beautiful Sin]

It does hold great sentimental value actually... And i can't really afford a new acoustic, or pricey repair work at the moment.

How about gluing AND screwing? Or is that just crazay talk?

 

[goldtopchas]

GUITARIST"S BEWARE!!!! This happens more often than you think. Because of the obvious tension from the strings, the headstock is very prone to break if it gets a bad Jolt or knock. I saw a guy lose his headstock on a relatively expensive Charvel. You know the style with the "hockey stick" shaped headstock. He was taking it off after a set and misjudged the clearance of a ceiling fan above him. OUCH!!!! He looked as is he was gonna faint!! I felt so bad for him. I couldn't imagine this happening to my favorite guitar.
Let's be careful out there.

 

[onlyfingers]

(i got it for about $95). In which case, i'm guessing getting it fixed at a shop would be pointless.. lol

Maybe you have to consider replacement cost rather than what you paid for the guitar. My vote is to take it to a pro, even if you are low on funds. You could hear some advice or tips, and may hear why not to attempt it yourself. I think, in a pro's hands, this kind of thing is 100% fixable, though you will have to be careful forever that heat and humidity don't weaken the glue joint.

There are a few luthier's forums, and if you want some guidance about how to proceed, you might look there, too. http://www.mimf.com/

 

[philboyd studge]

Two small dowls and epoxy glue will make it stronger than ever but the repair cost will be close to what you paid for it, but if you are attached to the guitar, why not fix it?

 

[Adam B]

I agree with most of the others. If the guitar has value to you, fix it.

I had the same thing happen to a brand new Faded SG I had been saving for nearly a year.

It was in my house about a week and made the incredibly stilly move of setting it on the floor and leaning it against the counter for a second while some kids were harrassing me...

I know, I know... what the hell was I thinking...

Anyway, blamo! She crashed down on her face and the headstock snapped nearly off the guitar. Only the strings and some splinters were holding it together.

I thought I was going to cry... but then I realized how lucky I was that it was not my Strat Ultra.

I took her to a luthier and he fixed her up good as new for $75.00. Sounds the same and you can hardly even see the crack.

I asked him about fragility and he told me the glue he uses is stronger than the wood and that joint would never break again. Period.

That was almost a year ago and I have seen no change in the guitar whatsoever.

I am a lot more careful with her now.

 

[lpdeluxe]

Yeah, bite the bullet and get a luthier to fix it. If you can't afford it now, wait until you can. If you fix it yourself and screw it up, it's all over. And tell yourself, "I will be careful with my guitars. I will be careful with my guitars. I will be careful with my guitars...."

Think of it as a lesson that you needed to learn.

 

[reshp1]

I've broken 2 guitar headstocks. One was a cheap beater acoustic the other was a Gibson SG. I glued and clamped the acoustic and it lasted about 3 months before it broke off in it's case. The Gibson I took and got repaired professionally for 60 bucks or so. It's still in one piece. If it means something to you get it done by a pro. You don't have to get it done right away either, save up the bucks, it'll still be just as broken. Good luck man, sorry to hear about your misfortune.

 

[Krakit]

It must be something about guitarists.

There's another thread about what name you have for your guitar.

Excuse the eyeroll, but as a keyboard player, I don't see it. I have strong attachments and loyalty to the make and model of my boards, but not the individual specific board itself.

If part of my rig requires 70% of resale value to repair, I'm going to buy another one and use the old one for parts. That's all there is to it.

I won't blink, cry or shudder about it either.

Is it the wood or something?



Carl

 

[Adam B]

It could be that we are holding, fondling, caressing, and occasionally b!tch slapping our guitars. The guitar sits on your lap, or the back rubs against you while you are playing.

There is a lot of contact going on!

Where as a keyboard player only "fingers" his "board"....

You can probably see where this is going...

 

[Armistice]

It is something about guitars, rather than guitarists. I can't imagine in the keyboard forum that there are people waxing lyrical about how keyboard X that they tried seemed so much better that keyboard Y which is exactly the same make and model. Identical mass manufactured pieces of technology. It would be like getting excited about a screwdriver. It's just a tool.

A guitar, however, is something completely different... and as we know, guitarists get laid far more than keyboard players, but perhaps not as much as singers, to our eternal surprise....

 

[faderbug]

if light would've still been here he would have told ya to get your ass to the nearest repair shop to get it professionaly fixed!!!!!!

 

[crazydoc]

https://homerecording.com/bbs/showthread.php?t=115788
https://homerecording.com/bbs/showthread.php?t=38233

 

[Sloan]

You could just start playing Fenders and not worry so much about popping off that headstock!

I've heard many a story of someone's beloved Les Paul falling from the guitar stand or something and BAM! headstock gets blasted off.

At this point, I own no Gibsons, but I can't tell you how many times I've knocked my Fenders/Squiers off the stands; run them into ceiling fans/light fixtures; dropped them down stairs; had the car door slammed into them; had them fall off the strap; etc, etc... And they still work perfectly.

 

[goldtopchas]

You're right Sloan. The traditional Gibson headstock is angled more than most, including the Fender. The sharper angle produces more tension at the nut and therefore more tone and sustain, or so I've read.
Older models with one-piece necks are dangerously more prone to this than newer models. My 80' model Deluxe has a 3 piece laminated neck and it's pretty much been thru hell and back. Dropped many times over the years from stands. Bumped and banged on stage after stage, not to mention, I like to grab the headstock and and manually whammy it once in a while(pretty hard too!) I've started to think it's indestructable. ........not any more! We should all be more caring with these wooden treasures. YES IT DOES HAVE SOMETHING TO DO WITH BEING MADE OF WOOD. I love my vintage Marshall too, but I'd throw it off the top of a building. before I'd let harm come to my "Paul".