My SG's neck finally starts to give in to my abuse and I'm wondering what to do now? I'm not sure if it's just finish cracking or if it's really the neck. You guys probably can't make it out in the pictures either but if I could get some tips on what to do that would be great.
It is my main gigging guitar and I have two important gigs coming up supporting cool bands. Can I still play this guitar? It happened when leaning into the headstock, crashing the headstock onto the floor. Some strings snapped when it happened too. I think I'm going to find a tech to show it to this week. But some advice in the mean time would be great! I hope to save it before I totally destroy it... Here's some pics:
that's fixable. I'd seep thin CA glue in there and then clamp the hell out of it. Add coats of nitro over the repair to build thickness in the cracked finish, then wet sand and polish, should be invisible when done.
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"Ingenuity comes in the face of adversity, and nobody ever becomes a legend by following the rules set by society" -A.A.
Make sure to use the super thin CA. The challenge is to get the glue to penetrate as much as possible. Otherwise it will just be sitting on the surface of the wood and won't give you any bond at all--the crack will just re-appear. I would actually recommend applying some pressure to open the crack up when you glue, again to get that glue in as deep as possible.
Band=InfiniteFluxFlux on Bandcamp
"Ingenuity comes in the face of adversity, and nobody ever becomes a legend by following the rules set by society" -A.A.
1) I wouldn't play that guitar before it's been mended properly, that's a ruined gig waiting to happen. 2) If you haven't done this sort of thing before, just take it to a luthier, a cracked neck isn't something I'd want to have a crack at.
Yeah, without being able to physically see the issue, I would say don't chance it and don't play the guitar. It might hold. But it also may take nothing more than bumping into your band mate with the guitar to put it over the edge and crack it even more.
I took it to a tech yesterday since I definitely wouldn't have been able to get the job done in time myself. Looks like the tech won't be able to do it either but I just asked for pricing and timeframe, so if it's too expensive I think I'm giving it a shot myself. Too bad I won't be able to play my guitar this weekend but thanks for the help guys!
Do it yourself. Take your time, make a check list of things to do/get, plan it out. Before you start, prep the area with glue and clamps laid out and ready to go. It's important to get it clamped up without delay caused by looking for the clamps or whatever. You might want to consider making a jig to apply controlled pressure to open the crack just the tiniest bit. seep in the glue, remove from jig, apply what you will think is to many clamps, but luthiers will say is not enough, let dry, remove clamps, mask all but repair area, build up coats of color nitro to near level, build up clear above level, sand back to level. done.
Auto paint specialty shops will have 3000 grit sand paper. use grits up to this to wet sand and then buff. DO NOT use what home improvement places call "Fine Grit" It isnt, and will leave huge scratches. get the good stuff, I would not use anything under 800. I use a buffing wheel attached to a power drill. You can get that as well as decent buffing compounds at the auto paint store as well. Likely the most expensive things you will need is the paint. maybe some wood and ratchet straps for the jig if you do that.
Band=InfiniteFluxFlux on Bandcamp
"Ingenuity comes in the face of adversity, and nobody ever becomes a legend by following the rules set by society" -A.A.
Haha, only just heard back from the tech I took it to. He's asking 165 euros without restoring the paint, so fuck that. I'm doing it myself. Will be posting here for more advice once I have it back and once I have made some space to build in my new apartment's garage!
Hi guys! Long time since I posted this. Alas, no progress at all since I didn't had the place to work the last couple of months, but that changed now so I'm looking to fix this guy up!
Anyway, I inspected the guitar some more, and it seems to be more than a single crack. In the nsfw below are some more detailed pictures. It seems like it's cracked in more than one place and the fingerboard is coming off too... How would I go about this? I guess I can't just seep glue between the neck and the fingerboard, since it would leek into the truss rod. Also, I don't know if and how much the wood cracked below the paint. Would it be advisable to remove all paint around the cracks so I can inspect more closely? Or can I safely assume that all cracks are exposed? I really hope someone can help, because I really want to revive this beast!
I've built and repaired many guitars. My honest recommendation is that this type of work is beyond what should be done by someone without the skill, tools, knowledge and experience to do so. It's not a knock against you, I have a trained mechanic do the major work on my car. Minor work is done by me, but you gotta know when something needs to be turned over to someone else. This isn't a matter of squeezing some glue in there, clamping it and calling it done. The damage has only gotten worse since your fist pics. A try at another bad repair will likely not succeed and end up costing you more money when you do decided to have it done by a pro. Inheriting someone else's bad glue joints are a time and cost consuming mess to clean up. It's much easier and faster to do the work when the damage is fresh and untouched.....Sell some pedals and get it done right...!!!
That really sucks dude. How is it Gibson gets away with selling guitars with the worst neck/headstock join in history? You would think that they would of came up with a different method of joining them years ago. rant over But yeah I think you would be best off taking it to a luthier for the structural repairs done properly and do the cosmetic repair yourself to save a few bucks.
Band=InfiniteFluxFlux on Bandcamp
"Ingenuity comes in the face of adversity, and nobody ever becomes a legend by following the rules set by society" -A.A.
rant over
