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Advice needed, please!


Pesh

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So a little backstory, first.

 

A few weeks ago I go to a store specialising in imported alcoholic beverages in order to get a friend a bottle of scotch for his 30th. It was down a street I'd not been before and on my way back to the city centre I passed by a music shop I'd not been to (obviously a good thing). I'd looked around and weirdly this place hadn't appeared on any searches I'd done before.

 

Anyway; they have a whole host of awesome stuff. Nice first hand electrics and acoustics, a heck of a great collection of guitars from The Heritage, an original '70s SG, an original Les Paul Recording model in Walnut. Lots of lovely amps and other things.

 

On their second hand wall there was a nice bright red cherry SG Standard from 2006. It had been a bedroom guitar with minimal wear, a few minor dings, and only some slight dulling of the finish and hardware. And a neck profile I've dreamt about since. Fatter that a SlimTaper, yet smaller than a '59 - something I've since found out was called the "SG Rounded" profile, which adorned the standard line from (what I know to be) at least 2005 to 2010.

 

I should have bought it there and then.

 

I left it over the weekend - the Catalan referendum weekend. Which had days added on for strikes and such. I went back the first day the store opened again to make an offer. I'd missed her by two hours.

 

Fast forward a week. The guy in the store tells me he has another SG in. A 2000 Standard with a Maestro (the Bigsby style) tailpiece which apparently came stock (can't see evidence against that). I'd been dreaming of that first one a bit and looked around online for a similar year model.

 

Similar neck - fell in love. The only thing I can see at first is that the term spring isn't very forgiving, but I can swap that for a looser one if I want.

 

Just as I'm about to make an offer, then I notice a problem. There are two cracks in the back of the neck, on curve transition between the neck shaft and the headstock. They aren't the whole way through, and run along the grain rather than through it. It doesn't look like an impact of any kind has occurred - the top of the headstock is clean aside from some slight wear.

 

I've attached an image for reference; I've not seen a crack like this. One guy said this might be where something has shrunk or moved, but I'd like a weigh in from you. They've got a luthier who would probably strip back the lacquer, inject some glue, apply some pressure and refinish it. I could probably talk them down in price to 800€, but now that I'm on this side of the argument I wanna know if you'd go for it, knowing the above.

 

79_FBC9_D9-17_A2-4_CE8-_B824-311_EBBF6024_B.jpg

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As someone who isn't scared away from a Gibson headstock repair that's done properly and correctly, I'd steer clear of this one.

 

First off, seems like ti wasnt mentioned to you by the salesperson when they told you about the guitar, second, it just doesn't look right. My Advanced Jumbo has a great repaired headstock and used to have an SJ200 that also had a perfectly repaired neck.This one looks suspect. Have the shop send it out for repair, and then re-evaluate it afterward to see if it was done properly. Only after they get it repaired properly, then make them an offer, and keep in mind, headstock repairs can reduce the price of a guitar to around 40% of what it's market value would be without the crack.

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Absolutely not.

 

...It doesn't look like an impact of any kind has occurred - the top of the headstock is clean aside from some slight wear...

The guitar has fallen backwards and landed on the tuner pegs / housings which is why the p'head itself is unmarked.

 

Avoid like the plague.

 

Pip.

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Thanks all for your replies on this. I was dubious and this has helped confirm - I will be staying away from this one, sad as it may be to do so.

 

I don't believe that the store was being dishonest in any way - the guitar had come in the same day I went to see it so I would believe it to be a case that they've not had a chance to look over it properly at the time.

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For the record, there is nothing wrong with a Gibson with a broken headstock...IF the repair is done professionally and correctly. I have always looked at those as an opportunity to get a potentially great guitar at a really reduced price. I love when people refuse to buy Gibsons with broken headstock repairs (that are repaired correctly). This one though, is no bueno as we have all mentioned already.

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