Is repair possible?

Aqmltd · December 2021

Hi, my guess is no, but can this be glued?
Cheers

Aqmltd · December 2021

Roland · December 2021

Picture gallery here https://imgur.com/a/4791ETH

Aqmltd · December 2021

Thanks @Roland

Tannin · December 2021

It is messy. Simply cutting off the headstock cleanly at the existing join and making a new headstock is the obvious solution. Alternatively, gluing as best you can and then routing channels for carved-to-fit reinforcements. By the time you do all that, wouldn't it be easier to make a headstock?

ICBM · December 2021

Yes, it can - but it’s a very difficult one and may be beyond the economic value of the guitar if it’s something fairly inexpensive.

Mellish · December 2021

Poor little chap! How did *that* happen?

Aqmltd · December 2021

Mellish said:

Poor little chap! How did *that* happen?

One of my girlfriends clients has an electric wheelchair. Guitar got nudged off clients bed, straight into the path of the e-wheels. It stood no chance!

Mellish · December 2021

@Aqmltd aww, that's a shame

HarrySeven · December 2021

Tannin said:

Alternatively, gluing as best you can and then routing channels for carved-to-fit reinforcements.

^What he said - this approach has worked for me a number of times (and on some particularly hideous neck/headstock breaks, I might add).

Wazmeister · December 2021

Im not an expert, but Id say that’s well and truly fuckt.

BillDL · December 2021

The most important aspect about whether it is repairable is whether the jaggy bits of wood on the broken ends will slide in between each other and allow the two pieces to mate very closely. If so, there might still be enough surface contact of wood to make a reasonably strong glued joint. The weak point is across the tuning gear holes. The strength could be improved by planing or sanding off the face of the headstock a little bit and gluing on a thin faceplate of mahogany or even the black composite material used on some guitars. If you glued a faceplate right on top of the headstock it would be too thick for the length of the tuning gear posts. Saving the Fender logo would be impossible unless you created a neatly cut line below the logo and only planed or sanded away the area below that line to the depth of the wood or composite material being used for the faceplate. Making accurate channels for glued-in splines that bridge the glued joint at right angles usually requires the accuracy of an electric router, but I have managed quite neat ones using a very narrow chisel and a lot of slow and careful work. You would have to have channels to a depth of about half the thickness of the headstock and make wooden splines perfectly thicknessed so that they need very slight pressure to push them into the channels.

Ossyrocks · December 2021

That’s actually not as bad as the break to my old Gretsch Jet Firebird. I gave it to Brian Eastwood, who did take a sharp intake of breath when he saw it. But two weeks later it was done and you literally could not see the repair. I played it for five more years without issue. Repair cost £100, but it was 20 years ago.

BigPaulie · December 2021

Everything's repairable.

It's just down to whether the cost of the repair is economical.

If you can get the loose splinters out and the pieces "dry-mate", glueing them together with a suitable adhesive will hold it so that it can be brought back to playable condition.

If they don't, and/or if you want a cosmetically perfect repair, it can definitely be done, but will cost (much?) more than a couple of hundred quid.

Honkycat · December 2021

Edited to change content.

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Is repair possible?

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