Epi LP headstock repair.

DeeTee

Morning all. Does anyone know how much it would cost to repair this? My local music shop is selling an LP body with a headstock break for £20. They've stripped the hardware off for parts, so it could be a fun little project if the repair isn't too much.

It looks like a clean break with the truss rod intact.

ICBM

It depends how bad the break is and how invisible you want it to look afterwards. Anywhere between £20 and £200, depending on those things and who's doing the job.

But the fact that they're selling it for £20 should probably tell you something.

Fine if you can have a go at it yourself - not much to lose really. But I wouldn't buy it if you have to pay someone else to fix it.

DeeTee

I was wondering about having a go myself. For twenty quid, why not?

GazLion

I don't know where you are based but whenever I want to check something like this I get in contact with this guy, as I've used him before and his work is excellent, and his prices are realistic - http://www.fcstrings.com/services/repairs

So he quotes - A basic repair where you are not cosmetically concerned will cost a lot less than trying to achieve a nearly invisible repair on your valuable instrument. For a neck split where the headstock is still attached the cost could be as little as £38.00. For a detached headstock, the cost could be as little as £75.00.

ICBM

Yes, why not - if you're not fussed about how pretty it looks it's worth a go.

Just use the right type of glue - not white PVA, it creeps under load and will fail again eventually; aliphatic resin (Titebond Original) or heated high-strength epoxy (NOT quick-set epoxy) is best - make sure you prepare everything really well so the joint will close up perfectly, and that you can clamp it really tight.

Good luck!

DeeTee

Noted, thank you. To the DIY shop!

DeeTee

I bought it. There's a tiny chip missing from the back and a strip of the headstock facing missing from the front, so it's never going to be pretty.

The break:



How it fits together:



As you can see, the truss rod is untouched as the break is well above it. We'll see how it goes. At worst, I've wasted twenty quid.

Panama_Jack666

The previous owner did you a favour removing the fugly headstock!

In all seriousness though, good luck with the repair. Keep us informed how you get on!

DeeTee

Will do! I forgot to mention, I've already got some LP style hardware kicking around from something else. I've just checked and the bridge and stop bar fit properly. Let's see how little cash I can knock this thing together for! Anyone got any other bits and bobs for an LP going cheap?

DeeTee

Also, please excuse the state of my nails in the picture. I'd just been picking off the tape residue from where the headstock had been taped to the neck. I'm not actually Stig of the dump.

Rox

Yeah yeah. 

I'd be tempted to reshape that headstock for fun.    After all, it's only £20 if you fudge it up.  There's a few tutorials on Croxguitars on how to do that.

What's the rest of it looks like?  I've had a few Epi LPs and generally they're quite good.  A decent wiring loom and pups and you'll have a cracking sounding guitar.

When I did a project a while back, I used 'Gorilla' glue which goes rock solid.  No doubt the pros will have better suggestions - but make sure you use a really good clamp.  Some of the cheaper ones seem to 'slip' under pressure - I've got some Irwin ones that are unbelievably strong.

Hope you're going to keep this updated - I love these sorts of threads.  I love guitar projects (even if I've stuffed up a fair few projects in the past!!). 

DeeTee

The rest of it's in good nick. There's a small dent in between the pickup routs, probably from the fall. It's also quite dirty, so I'll clean it up a little and post a picture. I will keep this updated, even if the last picture is me flinging something into a skip.

Rox

DeeTee said:

The rest of it's in good nick. There's a small dent in between the pickup routs, probably from the fall. It's also quite dirty, so I'll clean it up a little and post a picture. I will keep this updated, even if the last picture is me flinging something into a skip.

You've paid £20 for something that's had a few hundred quid worth of relic-ing. 

DeeTee

You mean I've accidentally bought a relic? It's definitely going in a skip then! Joking aside, this'll just be a fun project. I'll need to learn to wire an LP, how to fit a nut, etc etc. The chap in the shop offered me some Grover tuners for £25, which I might go back and grab if the headstock repair holds.

Edit - If it all works, I might try daft things like taking the gloss off the neck.

ICBM

That's a very nasty one - I can understand why the shop didn't want to try. It's not going to make it easy to make it strong just with glue, the break area is fairly small (badly oriented wood grain in the neck, so it broke at a steeper angle than directly in line with the back of the neck) and the wood is very fibrous and chewed up, so getting a perfectly tight fit is going to be tricky - it has to be a lot tighter than in the pic where you're holding it together or you'll be relying on the tensile strength of the glue (weak) rather than a wood-to-wood joint.

You really need to 'splint' it - two strips of new wood inlaid across the break either side of the truss rod - to make it likely to hold together. Do this after you've glued the break as tightly as possible. It may be a bit of a challenge if you're not good at woodwork… yet! This may be as good as any way to learn .

DeeTee

So would that be a matter of gluing it, letting it dry, then drilling carefully either side of the truss rod to insert a sort of dowel with glue in there?

Rox

ICBM said:

That's a very nasty one - I can understand why the shop didn't want to try. It's not going to make it easy to make it strong just with glue, the break area is fairly small (badly oriented wood grain in the neck, so it broke at a steeper angle than directly in line with the back of the neck) and the wood is very fibrous and chewed up, so getting a perfectly tight fit is going to be tricky - it has to be a lot tighter than in the pic where you're holding it together or you'll be relying on the tensile strength of the glue (weak) rather than a wood-to-wood joint.

You really need to 'splint' it - two strips of new wood inlaid across the break either side of the truss rod - to make it likely to hold together. Do this after you've glued the break as tightly as possible. It may be a bit of a challenge if you're not good at woodwork… yet! This may be as good as any way to learn .

My entirely amateur approach (!) would be to glue it, then perhaps dowel it..?  I suppose sanding off the pretend veneer and gluing a proper full-face piece of wood or veneer may help too?

Or, nail a 2x4 to the front and the back.  Easy. 

I love mucking about with knackered guitars.  Perhaps I should open an eBay shop. 

ICBM

DeeTee said:

So would that be a matter of gluing it, letting it dry, then drilling carefully either side of the truss rod to insert a sort of dowel with glue in there?

No, like this - you need the splints along the length of the neck:

http://massresonator.com/2012/11/repair-shop-spot-broken-headstocks-repaired/

I doubt dowels through at right angles to the neck would strengthen it enough.

Richardj

I'll get some extra popcorn and beer in for this one.  Looking forward to seeing more.

DeeTee

ICBM said:

DeeTee said:

So would that be a matter of gluing it, letting it dry, then drilling carefully either side of the truss rod to insert a sort of dowel with glue in there?

No, like this - you need the splints along the length of the neck:

http://massresonator.com/2012/11/repair-shop-spot-broken-headstocks-repaired/

I doubt dowels through at right angles to the neck would strengthen it enough.

Wow, that's some serious stuff! Right, I need to work out how to rout those holes for the splints and what wood to use.

Rox

ICBM said:

DeeTee said:

So would that be a matter of gluing it, letting it dry, then drilling carefully either side of the truss rod to insert a sort of dowel with glue in there?

No, like this - you need the splints along the length of the neck:

http://massresonator.com/2012/11/repair-shop-spot-broken-headstocks-repaired/

I doubt dowels through at right angles to the neck would strengthen it enough.

What brilliant work.  I know if I took a router to a neck, I'd end up with a lot of sawdust and very little guitar!