I Dropped A Guitar Today:

Clockworkmike said:
I know one trick pros will do to strengthen a broken headstock to near original quality is to use a spline joint after the headstock is rejoined.

Basically, you route 2 notches from the headstock to the neck, roughly 1/2-3/4" deep depending on the thickness of the headstock and neck itself. A popsicle stick/tongue depressor is actually a fairly good jig for cutting the splines, typically made of a very hardwood. You glue and insert the splines and then ultimately will have to refinish the back neck, but it's an incredibly strong repair system.
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I am very familiar with this technique. It is more appropriate for breaks the leave the neck looking like a Steinberger where there isn't a whole lot of surface to glue.

Some like to use a hardwood no matter what, while others (like me) prefer to use the same type of wood. I have never seen a spline joint break regardless of wood used, type of break, and I have never seen a headstock that was previously broken ever break in the same place at the glue joint when splines weren't used.

I'd say that all the techs I know in my area, and other parts of the country I went to school with, are split pretty evenly about when to use a spline joint. Some will use it for every single break, while others do the same as me. Granted, my sample size is maybe 30 people, so take it for whatever it might be worth.
 
Far Rider said:
If I dropped my prize Strat, this would be me....


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You have to really try in order to break a strat headstock off.
 
Don O said:
Here’s the Dean Zelinsky solution, they route/CNC away over half the surface area. I think they call it EZ Glide.

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I have seen and played a Dean with the EZ Glide neck. It's a trip. Feels weird at first, but I think most could get used to it. Good idea in principle and execution, less surface means less area to get stuck on.

Unfortunately a lot of good ideas never catch on. Guitarists are a weird bunch. Bass players are more likely to embrace new stuff like that.
 
Sapient said:
Robert, the fix looks good, but it seems you could fudge the stain and clear-coat to make it go completely unnoticed and non ascetically interrupted?
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Yes, absolutely. However, I've always gone down the "Rabbit Hole" in trying to make things "too good," and in this case, I decided to just make this repair functional and not worry about making it perfect.
 
StrumerJoe said:
I am very familiar with this technique. It is more appropriate for breaks the leave the neck looking like a Steinberger where there isn't a whole lot of surface to glue.

Some like to use a hardwood no matter what, while others (like me) prefer to use the same type of wood. I have never seen a spline joint break regardless of wood used, type of break, and I have never seen a headstock that was previously broken ever break in the same place at the glue joint when splines weren't used.

I'd say that all the techs I know in my area, and other parts of the country I went to school with, are split pretty evenly about when to use a spline joint. Some will use it for every single break, while others do the same as me. Granted, my sample size is maybe 30 people, so take it for whatever it might be worth.
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I was totally on my own with this repair, so I read everything I could and just went for it.

One interesting point is that with regard to how the break happened, the string tension is pulling the break closed as opposed to trying to pull it open...
 
Robert Herndon said:
I was totally on my own with this repair, so I read everything I could and just went for it.
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Yeah, that’s how it was for me when I broke the headstock on my ‘74 SG. I was on my own and didn’t take it anywhere to get fixed. I don’t even think I did much research other than to select the right glue. I’ve been working with wood since I was a teenager so I pretty much just jumped into it.
 
smitty_p said:
Yeah, that’s how it was for me when I broke the headstock on my ‘74 SG. I was on my own and didn’t take it anywhere to get fixed. I don’t even think I did much research other than to select the right glue. I’ve been working with wood since I was a teenager so I pretty much just jumped into it.
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I just didn't want to let it beat me....
 
Robert Herndon said:
I just didn't want to let it beat me....
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I totally get that!

For me, my guitar broke before I was even involved in any guitar forums ... or even really knew of such a thing! Otherwise, I certainly would have solicited advice. But, I was in no position to pay a luthier to fix it, so I just set about fixing it as seemed best to me at the time.
 
smitty_p said:
I totally get that!

For me, my guitar broke before I was even involved in any guitar forums ... or even really knew of such a thing! Otherwise, I certainly would have solicited advice. But, I was in no position to pay a luthier to fix it, so I just set about fixing it as seemed best to me at the time.
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I have now become a demigod of guitar repair at work.
 
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