labeldd Posted January 12, 2014 Share Posted January 12, 2014 Hello, I recently bought this one and opened the case. First glance and everything looked fine, but then I find that there's a crack in the body next to the neck joint. It appears like the neck is fine, nothing broken as I still can tune it up and play on it. The difference though is that since the body has cracked, the heel of the neck has moved slightly upwards and seems to be a little loose. I can press the body together with my hands, and that also seems to put the neck back in it's place. Hard to find a luthier on my town, so I wonder if I should just try to fix this myself. Maybe I'm naive, but looks like an easy fix, don't you think? I was thinking to just spray some glue in the crack without removing the neck. Has anyone else here tried to do something like this? What equipment do I need? What is the best glue to use? I absoloutley love the guitar and have no plan to sell it, but if this is properly fixed, will it have any effect on the value of the guitar? Hope you can help! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capmaster Posted January 12, 2014 Share Posted January 12, 2014 Very sad incident, Labeldd. Sorry for this bad thing happening to you. :( A cracked body is a serious damage and will bring down the value of the guitar below zero I fear. The costs of a proper repair job including refinishing might exceed the actual value of the immaculate guitar I believe. I think it is not a good idea attempting a repair without detaching the neck off the body. Since this particular model is out of production, I maybe would look for another one used if I liked it and couldn't find a new one anymore. The crack might progress further down the body. To avoid this, I think the next things to do are removing strings and loosening the truss rod nut, in order to relieve any potentially harmful tension. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BR TOAD Posted January 12, 2014 Share Posted January 12, 2014 TAKE THIS TO A REAL LIVE luthier DO not risk loosing the total guitar.. I know several great Luterier's throughout the US also if you MUST contact GIBSON and send the guitar back form the looks of it your guitar will loose the neck sooner then later and all value right now it is worthless as far as selling and will eventually loose the neck .. DO NOT PLAY WITH IT it will only weaken the situation... IF you let me know what area you are located in I can help you with some excellent people.. *)O(* I AM SUre there are several people on this list that havve a guitar tech or master builder that you can contact... LOOSEN THE STRINGS ASAP STOP TOUCHING & PLAYING AROUND WIT THE GUITAR... GET IT TO A REAL LUTHIER not just someone that knows how to change pickups.. IF you really are not close to anyone or any expert SEND THE GUITAR TO GIBSON ASAP Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
labeldd Posted January 12, 2014 Author Share Posted January 12, 2014 Ouch, that was bad news! I actually live in stavanger, Norway, so I doubt you can connect me with a luthier BR TOAD. However, I have found and contacted one who might be able to fix it, hopefully it will not be too expensive. Will the guitar actually loose all value because of this? I've read about broken headstocks which sometimes barely affects the value at all, so I assumed this was no different. I have loosened the strings and put it back in it's case. Will not try to play it again untill it is repaired by a professional. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cjsinla Posted January 12, 2014 Share Posted January 12, 2014 Ouch, that was bad news! I actually live in stavanger, Norway, so I doubt you can connect me with a luthier BR TOAD. However, I have found and contacted one who might be able to fix it, hopefully it will not be too expensive. Will the guitar actually loose all value because of this? I've read about broken headstocks which sometimes barely affects the value at all, so I assumed this was no different. I have loosened the strings and put it back in it's case. Will not try to play it again untill it is repaired by a professional. No, it will not lose all it's value but it will lose some of it. Also might be able to inject glue like you suggest but I would still have it fixed by a professional. I wouldn't worry about refinishing as that might cost a lot and decrease the value even more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capmaster Posted January 13, 2014 Share Posted January 13, 2014 No, it will not lose all it's value but it will lose some of it. Also might be able to inject glue like you suggest but I would still have it fixed by a professional. I wouldn't worry about refinishing as that might cost a lot and decrease the value even more. Didn't want to say the guitar will be worth nothing after repair, but that the repair might be rather expensive. Although it can't be seen clearly when looking at the pictures provided, I guess that the fretboard/neck/body junction is damaged on the bass side of the upper bout, too. The practically parallel lift of the neck heel visible on the back makes me assume that. In case a sufficient glue injection can't be done, neck, body and fretboard have to be separated which would result in at least a partial refinishing. Reasonably estimated, the value of the nicely repaired guitar might be 40 to 50% less in case performance and playbility are close to an unaffected one of same make. I don't think that the repair of an ebony finish and a final clear coat will decrease the value more than obvious remains of the wood repairs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
labeldd Posted January 13, 2014 Author Share Posted January 13, 2014 Thanks for all the replies! I have talked to a luthier, and he believes he might be able to fix it with glue only for about $250 - $300. Capmaster: the fretboard/neck/body junction is slightly lifted too, but I can easily press it down again. Should be sufficient with some glue under there as well I assume. The Luthier will have to decide what has to be done. If the guitar is playable again, I will be more than happy! I will post pictures in a week or two when the job i done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimmyl51 Posted January 13, 2014 Share Posted January 13, 2014 I went through this exact same thing a few years ago. Hate to tell this but this is not an easy fix and anybody telling you so is not telling you the truth as what lies underneath the surface of the guitar is most likely more serious............good luck! jim in Maine Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capmaster Posted January 14, 2014 Share Posted January 14, 2014 To my eyes the pictures seem to tell that, except for the top area of the cracked body, the neck tenon is out of the body mortise, and so the entire neck is held by the body end of the fretboard at the moment. I hope it can be fixed by injecting glue, but I think that a fret dressing could be required after a few weeks of awaiting the glue shrinkage. Good luck also from here, Labeldd! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
labeldd Posted January 22, 2014 Author Share Posted January 22, 2014 Hello again! My les paul Custom lite is now repaired. The break was so clean that the luthier was able to just glue it together wihtout even removing the neck. Now it both looks great and plays great and I couldn't be happier! The finish is cracked at the break location, but it's not really noticable. Hopefully we will now live a long and happy life together :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capmaster Posted January 22, 2014 Share Posted January 22, 2014 Hello Labeldd, this is some good news, and I'm glad you're fine with the repair. As for the finish, I guess if it isn't touchable it wouldn't bother me, too. However, if you ever decided to have the affected area refinished this shouldn't be a problem. There is no hurry I think. Keep on having fun, mate! B) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cjsinla Posted January 26, 2014 Share Posted January 26, 2014 Hello again! My les paul Custom lite is now repaired. The break was so clean that the luthier was able to just glue it together wihtout even removing the neck. Now it both looks great and plays great and I couldn't be happier! The finish is cracked at the break location, but it's not really noticable. Hopefully we will now live a long and happy life together :) That looks much better, I'm sure it will be fine. By the way, you never really told us how you happened to buy a cracked guitar. You said it was like that when you opened the case, I assume that you bought it used. Was that shipping damage? I hope you didn't have to pay a whole lot to get a cracked guitar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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