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Les Paul headstock...what to do?


saturn

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27 minutes ago, Sgt. Pepper said:

Some one can steal a guitar from a gig, just as easy as they can from your house, probably more easily from your house. I know most of this has been about damaging it, but this might be a concern too.

 

So this February is 50 years playing for me, 46 of them in bands and out in bars and other not great places for a kid to be in.

In my whole life I have not ever heard of or known of anyone having a guitar stolen at a gig.  I've known an awful lot of guitar players in my life, from all over the place, plus the internets in the early 90's when that started.  Not a one.

rct

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3 minutes ago, ghost_of_fl said:

You don't think the "pros" do that?   They do.  

 

Really?  The "pros" I know don't do that at all.  Most of them are not looking forward to the day they can't take out this guitar or that one anymore because it can't be re-fretted again.

rct

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1 minute ago, rct said:

 

So this February is 50 years playing for me, 46 of them in bands and out in bars and other not great places for a kid to be in.

In my whole life I have not ever heard of or known of anyone having a guitar stolen at a gig.  I've known an awful lot of guitar players in my life, from all over the place, plus the internets in the early 90's when that started.  Not a one.

rct

Yeah, but it has happened. Jimmy Page had his Black Beauty stolen from him. He got it back 45 years later.

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Jay I'd take it to a really pro luthier if there's one you can get to and I'd expect they'd be able to tell you if it can be fixed with absolutely no risk of it coming apart - the top guys should know, I know mine would. Then just size up their bill and how much you like the guitar versus the cost and your capacity to replace it with similar.

i think I recall your Goldtop was given to you when your great friend was dying...your gut will tell you better if you want to play it out rather than me or anyone here.

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52 minutes ago, rct said:

 

I am blessed with some stupid good guitars.  I don't exactly pamper them, I definitely don't abuse them, I need them, I rely on them to perform, so I have to take the care that requires.

Oh, sure, some guitar that has family or other value beyond a guitar I could see not taking it anywhere.  Maybe.  If I was Saturn's passed on best friend, and I'm not,  I'd want him to wail the tar out of that thing.

rct

agreed ...

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2 hours ago, Sgt. Pepper said:

Step one - buy expensive guitar.

Step two - bump it into something.

Step three - cry for a minute or two.

Step  four - its  now road worn and you can gig the s-hit out of it.

thats one reason I love used guitars. better price and pre-dinged ...

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Man, this went ugly fast. 

Every Gibson Les Paul I have ever owned was taken to the very next gig, and I played them like I stole them. 
I played them because I was proud to strap them on, and because I wanted to see how they performed and sounded live thru all the stage mix and PA. 
Never mind the 'somebody might steal it, or somebody might knock it over' stuff.


Funny thing is, and this is the yin and yang of the universe I guess, I now own a used, beat-to-****, hard-worn Gibson Les Paul, and we can't seem to get to a gig until this covid nonsense is over. 

I really hate it. 

😐

 

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I have had lots of rode hard name brand guitars and a few virgin ones. After a while my collection of old guitars just got old and my new ones got old, then the nitro started falling apart. My new fleet is polyurethane, even the oldest still look new and at their price I have no fear of modding them. But I do occasionally one that isn't up to snuff and it gets eliminated. On the flip side on occasion I get graced by one that is so superior that I can't stop playing it.

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58 minutes ago, ghost_of_fl said:

Well that says it all right there.  Just how many $4000 guitars have you owned?  I can't say I've been able to afford one.  Not because I haven't generated that kind of money but because other priorities got in the way.   

Nobody is trying to convince you or anyone else that you shouldn't take your best guitar to every single show.  Go for it skippy, have a ball.  Some people are trying to defend their using a "banger".   Live and let live man, I have my reasons and some other people do too.  🤷‍♂️


I have never spent $4,000 on a Les Paul.
And it's extremely unlikely that I ever would. 

But I have spent  a quarter of that on a few of them. 

1971 Gibson Les Paul Deluxe gold top. 
1996 Gibson Les Paul Studio.
2001 Gibson Les Paul Studio copper top.
2013 Gibson Les Paul Sully Erna signature. 
2017 Gibson Les Paul Custom Studio.
2018 Gibson Les Paul Faded.

I gigged all but one of them. 
And the year is young yet. 
No apologies, and no advice shoved down anyone's throat. 

The OP posted here asking advice as to what he should do. 
I offered my best advice. 
It'll either pass muster with him, or it won't. 

I won't lose sleep over it one way or the other. 
😐

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20 hours ago, saturn said:

Some of you might remember my post before. My LP Studio Plus got knocked over and the headstock cracked. I had it repaired by gluing and it was great. For awhile, then the glue didn't hold and it started pulling back up. Guy said glue usually holds but not always.

So now I'm torn. Do I sink more money into a Studio to get a better repair or just cut losses? Even with the headstock I could probably get a few hundred $ for it, right? I still have the R7 Goldtop, but that would be my only LP. and it has sentimental value in addition to being a Custom Shop. I'd hate for that to get damaged at a gig. 

Did you know that Luthiers report that more Gibsons suffer broken necks than any other brand. I have owned several Gibsons that have had neck repair, usually lose half their value.  In addition once repaired there is a high probability that they will break again.

I had a Melody Make that was repaired by a luthier a few times, then I repaired it flooding the break with superglue which survived longer, but broke on an airline trip inside its case..

If you love the guitar, fix it and play it.. No telling how long it will last..

There are many different repair methods but the best is to graft on a new headstock using a scarf joint which will make it stronger than a normal neck.

 

Edited by mihcmac
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Wow. Appreciate all the responses. thanks everyone.

Just to clarify a few things:

I have never not gigged or taken out any of my guitars. Including the R7. But the story of that guitar is that I was with my buddy and helped him pick it out when he purchased that guitar. He brought it to many gigs for me to play over the years, as he was the drummer. I was playing that guitar in his basement as we jammed and he dropped dead off his drum stool at my feet. So it has some memories for me. But I still gig it to this day. Just a little more careful now.

My Les Paul Studio was knocked over just before the start of a gig the night before Thanksgiving 2019 and the headstock cracked. I'll post pics below. I didn't do that earlier because I had made a post on this topic back at the time. Maybe I should have just found that old post.  🙂

Original break

sKns8nM.jpg

Repair

1vVvFpv.jpg

New separation. I slackened strings so it wouldn't pull any more.

  42xODcp.jpg

Edited by saturn
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7 hours ago, saturn said:

Wow. Appreciate all the responses. thanks everyone.

Just to clarify a few things:

I have never not gigged or taken out any of my guitars. Including the R7. But the story of that guitar is that I was with my buddy and helped him pick it out when he purchased that guitar. He brought it to many gigs for me to play over the years, as he was the drummer. I was playing that guitar in his basement as we jammed and he dropped dead off his drum stool at my feet. So it has some memories for me. But I still gig it to this day. Just a little more careful now.

My Les Paul Studio was knocked over just before the start of a gig the night before Thanksgiving 2019 and the headstock cracked. I'll post pics below. I didn't do that earlier because I had made a post on this topic back at the time. Maybe I should have just found that old post.  🙂

Original break

sKns8nM.jpg

Repair

1vVvFpv.jpg

New separation. I slackened strings so it wouldn't pull any more.

  42xODcp.jpg



I'm sorry for your loss, Jay. 
That had to have been a traumatic and tragic experience, sir. 

We lost our drummer, Bob Fillman, nearly three years ago. 
Cancer got him, and as horrible as his demise was (there in the hospital, in a medically induced coma tubes running in and out of him) I suspect that he would rather have gone the way your friend did. 

To the original topic, man, that broken headstock is painful to look at. 
 

😔

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That guitar is toast.  You deserve better.

And who actually takes their lousy guitar to a gig in case somebody bumps into it?  That's no fun!  That's like the contestants on Jeopardy who are the smartest people in the world but they can't bet everything and end up leaving thousands on the table because they're afraid of coming in third and can't stand the thought of failure.

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1 hour ago, Sgt. Pepper said:

A couple of wood screw and that will be fine. 

A luthier should be able to glue that back.

 

2 hours ago, Dub-T-123 said:
That break looks totally fixable from here 


I agree 100%. 

I would drill a fine pilot hole (beneath the truss rod cover) right thru both pieces, install a proper sized bolt, washer, and acorn nut, lay the glue in, insert &  tighten up the hardware, and then leave it clamped for a day or two. 

Reinstall the truss rod cover, string it up, and rock and roll. 

As Peter Criss sang, "You got nothing to lose. "

🙂
images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQQObOdU4xF3XI7x-Pw89X
 

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