Six97s Posted July 22, 2020 Share Posted July 22, 2020 Hi all, need some help finding someone qualified to repair the upper right corner of this ES 225 headstock. I just picked this up on Craigslist here in the Detroit area. I got a really good deal on it. She’s not perfect, bumps and bruises all over but, it’s a 50’s Gibson, something I never thought I’d own. I’m the 3rd owner, got it from the original owners son. It is solid as a rock, neck is straight, joint is solid and most of the important pieces are there. I’ve put the correct vintage knobs and pickguard bracket on. Pretty sure it was an ES-225 TN. It’s an older refin, with lots of flaws. Pretty sure the neck is original finish. The headstock was sprayed in something sort of matching trying to match the body. I sanded some of that color off to reveal the original black finish underneath. I’d like to save as much of the original black as possible, if possible. I know there is Elderly Instruments in Lansing but I’m not sure if they do this kind of work. Please see the pics and thanks for any help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Six97s Posted July 23, 2020 Author Share Posted July 23, 2020 No one? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leonard McCoy Posted July 25, 2020 Share Posted July 25, 2020 (edited) I know of no luthiers in the Detroit area. In the end the dogged headstock ear would have to be filed down flat, a new piece of grain-matched mahogany be grafted onto the headstock ear and color/finish-matched to the rest, and ultimately aged. The blending of old and new material can be a very challenging task for it to look natural on old guitars. The luthier would have to be firm in his knowledge on Gibson finishes as well. Neither a cheap nor particularly easy fix even though one might think so. Edited July 25, 2020 by Leonard McCoy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Six97s Posted July 25, 2020 Author Share Posted July 25, 2020 (edited) It’s pretty worn, all over. I know it won’t be a perfect match but, it’s got to look better than this. I’m going to take it to Koontz Guitar in Ferndale today. Mike Koontz is a Luthier. Not worried about it being expensive, I figured it wasn’t going to be cheap, lol. I’ll see what he says about it. Thanks Edited July 25, 2020 by Six97s Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave F Posted July 25, 2020 Share Posted July 25, 2020 Gibson’s repair shop showed where they repaired a broken neck. After glueing it back together they built up layers of carbon fiber then sanded it to shape and painted it. You could not tell anything had been done to it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Six97s Posted July 26, 2020 Author Share Posted July 26, 2020 Neck isn’t broken Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kidblast Posted July 26, 2020 Share Posted July 26, 2020 (edited) ...he is trying to explain on of the known the processes of reshaping that corner. Edited July 26, 2020 by kidblast Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave F Posted July 28, 2020 Share Posted July 28, 2020 (edited) As stated, I know your neck is not broke and I was directing you to the Gibson Repair Shop to show how they can build up voids with carbon fiber. If you go to face book ( https://www.facebook.com/gibsonrandr/ ) you can see some of their great repair work, I imagine a good luthier could do something similar. Personally, I would not put that much into the guitar and leave it as is unless I had an emotional attachment to it. I have in the past put more into a guitar than it was worth but it was my first guitar my mom got for me in the early 60's. On the other hand I've put some $$ into a guitar trying to make it something it wasn't and eventually moved it on. Edited July 28, 2020 by Dave F 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Six97s Posted July 29, 2020 Author Share Posted July 29, 2020 @Dave F I get what you’re saying about spending too much on the repair. It’s a very small area and the only part I intend to have done. Not like a plastic surgery junkie lol. If it’s too much of course I’d just leave it alone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kidblast Posted July 31, 2020 Share Posted July 31, 2020 Wow.. that's some seriously amazing repair work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave F Posted July 31, 2020 Share Posted July 31, 2020 3 hours ago, kidblast said: Wow.. that's some seriously amazing repair work. If I broke a guitar that was dear to me or very expensive, they would be fixing it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kidblast Posted July 31, 2020 Share Posted July 31, 2020 11 minutes ago, Dave F said: If I broke a guitar that was dear to me or very expensive, they would be fixing it. copy that! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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