My son's guitar (a reasonably good one ~$500) got the top of it's neck broken while he was moving home from college. I'm not a guitar player, so excuse the poor component terminaology. It broke near the end where just below where the adjustment knobs for the strings are. There did not seem to be any loss of wood (appears to be tiger maple) as the two pieces fit snugly back together. Am I dreaming that this could just be glued back together? If it could, what would be the best glue, just regular yellow glue? Seems wrong to to just toss it.
This is the end of many guitars lives.... that said, if it's still a real tight fix you can try yellow glue, but I'd be inclined to use a slow curing epoxy. You may want to add a spline or bowtie at the break to give it more strength, and/or adding a wood plate ( or a couple laminated together) to the front and or back of the headstock assuming the crack is that far up). Even if you do all of these things and rebuild it with every last splinter of damaged wood, It still might not last, but is worth a shot.
If it's a bolt on neck you can often find a direct replacement neck on sites like ebay.
I think this may be an end-grain glue problem. End-grain gluing is at best IF-y.
A guitar repair man just might use some sort of double tenon. However, some guitars have a short steel rod inside the neck (saw this on cable TV.) So how much space is there for a mortise on both ends of the break? I vote for an expert to do the repair, or at least get his suggestions / inspections before doing anything on your own.
Spoken like a true musician. I second the opinion expressed above. Reminds me of a story...
Many years ago, I was working on a marketing program for a startup company. I was talking to one of the founders of the company when I mentioned to him that I had to travel, the next day, about 80 miles north of the city where I lived. He became quite excited and asked if he could go with me. I was happy for the company and it would allow me to find out more about the company and its products.
It turns out that this guy is a professional musician and plays every conceivable type of bass. His electric bass was ailing and there was a shop about an hour north of the city that was the go to place for ailing stringed instruments. It was a retail shop type place in a very small town. It was the home town of the guywho ran it. And people came from hundreds of miles away for his services.
I got a lecture on how few people really understand stringed instrument repair. And this guy was one of the best. I will never forget the "interview/diagnosis". He took that instrument into his hands in a gentle loving way. They talked intensively for about ten minutes. He wrote a half page of notes. I felt like a total outsider peering into another world. These guys just loved that electric bass guitar.
It made an impression on me. A good instrument repair guy is worth his weight in gold.
This is a common repair, and usually can be done with the guitar being just as good as it was before....IF you get someone competent and knowledgable to do the repair. Don't try this yourself, not for the first time on a valuable guitar. If you want to learn how to do it, get some junkers from the pawnshop. Otherwise, get a "Luthier" to do it...make sure they are trained, have a certificate, whatever. Don't give it to a "Guitar Tech", not the same thing. A google search in your area on luthiers will find what you're looking for.
Listen to The Swingman. I know a few luthiers who will give you the same solid advice. If you're in luck, however, that neck might be removable and replaced. Either with a factory replacement or a custom one. If the luthier is any good, you may end up with an even better instrument.
All I can do is shudder at the thought what kind of impact it must have been to break that.
Seconded. A good luthier will be able to fix it brilliantly. A brilliant woodworker _MAY_ get lucky and make it marginally useful, but I wouldn't count on it.
Go to a few different music stores, and ask the staff on the floor if they can recommend someone. Look in the phone book for instrument repair. Don't try to do it yourself.
An acquaintance of mine in Rochester NY owns an antique late 50's LP sunburst. He received an e-mail from another antique Gibson collector who wrote him with a line in it that he 'broke his neck'. His reply was: "you better be talking about falling off that dirt bike of yours."
To the OP: Where are you located? Anywhere near Port Huron MI?
Well, I'm not a professional luthier, but have repaired two; a guitar that had a classical style (pins in slots) tuning setup above the fretboard that broke in the middle of the tunning section, and a 3/4 upright base that broke in exactly the spot you describe along with some additional damage. Both repairs were successful from a players standpoint (had son's music instructor do the setup and put the base through its paces post repair, declared it perfect. The guitar is the one my sons reach for when they are around, like it better than two others that were more expensive and supposedly better, whatever that is worth).
I did extensive research on the repair and rebuild section of the stringed intrument forum
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prior to proceeding. Many resources there, particularly for the base. I would not have done the repairs without the research and I have a woodworking background.
And for good reason. Besides _playability_, a neck repair on a stringed instrument will most certainly alter the tone in some manner, even on an electric instrument.
Hell, even the act of taking the neck off of a vintage electric guitar/bass will often affect it's tone in some way, and quite possibly it's value. AAMOF, one of the first questions usually asked by those expert in buying vintage electric instruments is: "Has the neck been off?
Granted, most folks would not be able to tell the difference, but most of your top "players" would, and can tell you if someone other than themselves, or their instrument tech, even so much as put a set of strings on their favorite instrument, or worse, played it!
I've had repairs done by some of the best, and even then ended up selling (for about half of what it would have originally brought) a "magic" bass, that was much less "magic" after a "world class" repair to a broken headstock ... we're talking five figures here, _after_ the repair.
I would rather put on a new neck on non-vintage/cheaper instrument ... it will probably cost less, and be more satisfactory in the long run.
An acoustic guitar with medium gauge strings has about 190 lbs of tension on it. Doesn't actually take much of an impact to snap the headstock off - there isn't much wood right there. When I ship a guitar or put it into checked luggage I ALWAYS loosen the strings to reduce the stress on the neck because of the risk should the case fall over or be dropped.
I agree with those who recommend having an experienced and trusted guitar repair person do this repair. And many luthiers are not in that category. I'm a luthier, but I am not qualified to do this repair. If you're in Northern California, I'd recommend taking it to Michael Lewis in Grass Valley.
If, on the other hand, the instrument is a bolt-on electric guitar, the best course of action would be to replace the neck. I CAN do that, as can almost any builder of solid-body instruments.
Well, that's a tough spot for a break. BUT it is a fairly easy fix since most guitars are designed to allow for replacement. Still a luthier would be needed. There are adjustment issues that the average woodworker wouldn't be capable of making for playablity.
The neck is generally made up of a hardwood with a slot for the tensioning rod. On top of the neck is the fretboard covered with Frets. It's usually made from ebony and its playing surface is usually surfaced simular to a road with a slight rounding of the play surface. All the frets are also level. There is also the top nut (that piece that all the strings go across at the tunning end of the guitar.) And another one at the bottom of the guitar. These are used to establish the playing height of the guitar.
I would recommend getting the neck replaced because of the tension that is on the neck applied by the strings.
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