Fotodog Posted April 1, 2008 Share Posted April 1, 2008 Hi folks - Anyone had a neck broken like this? Looking for some info - experience with this - Gibson repair only wants me to send it in for evaluation - I doubt this is the first neck on an SG/LP to crack like this - someone must have some info on repair liklihood and guesstimate cost. I think this guitar is a SG/Les Paul reissue - SN says it was made about '68. Mahogany, 3 HB, Vibrola, Binding and LP style headstock inlays. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheLiveSoundGuy Posted April 1, 2008 Share Posted April 1, 2008 Fhotodog, Welcome to the forum. Sorry for your loss. There is a cat on here called ksdaddy who will most likely chime in as soon as he sees your post. If not you could probably send him a pm. He's good. Real good. -TLSG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lous1952 Posted April 1, 2008 Share Posted April 1, 2008 Do not send it anywhere near Gibson unless you want an expensive, shitty repair. Send it to Dan Shinn @ Lay's Guitar Shop. Lay's Guitar Shop His prices are reasonable and his work is excellent. Contact him and he will give you a good idea of the cost. When he is done with it the break will hardly be visible. He has worked on a '69 SG for me, and he has a '65 SG right now, and he will be getting a '70 LP soon. Don't send it to Gibson! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deelaz Posted April 2, 2008 Share Posted April 2, 2008 what a common gibsons neck issue! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yawroc Posted March 22, 2009 Share Posted March 22, 2009 Just stumbled across your thread here. I had to cancel a gig, i had not brought back up guitar with me oh silly me!! I had just been about to start the gig and went to strum the Gibson SG i have and felt the strings collapse at the same time as hearing a loud bang, That loud bang was the headstock snapping on my SG. This guitar is less than a year old, cost £2,600 and is no good to man or beast! It has never been dropped or knocked. The strings have always been tuned correctly, I mean i know what i am doing. The guitar is always cased when not in use and is looked after better than i look after my self. This one is going back to the shop i purchased it from. This was definitely a fault in the neck. Strange i had noticed in the last month or so the guitar going slightly out of tune but no tale tale signs as to what was causing this. Now i know exactly what the problem was down to. I will get pictures so all can see the break. My punters were not too happy on the fact that i had to cancel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SG dude Posted March 22, 2009 Share Posted March 22, 2009 So what was it down to?? oh and sorry to hear that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chongo Posted March 22, 2009 Share Posted March 22, 2009 Hi folks - Anyone had a neck broken like this? Looking for some info - experience with this - Gibson repair only wants me to send it in for evaluation - I doubt this is the first neck on an SG/LP to crack like this - someone must have some info on repair liklihood and guesstimate cost. Repair can be done pretty much good as new by a competent luthier. It's a relatively common neck break. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigKahune Posted March 22, 2009 Share Posted March 22, 2009 Just stumbled across your thread here. I had to cancel a gig' date=' i had not brought back up guitar with me oh silly me!! I had just been about to start the gig and went to strum the Gibson SG i have and felt the strings collapse at the same time as hearing a loud bang, That loud bang was the headstock snapping on my SG. This guitar is less than a year old, cost £2,600 and is no good to man or beast! It has never been dropped or knocked. The strings have always been tuned correctly, I mean i know what i am doing. The guitar is always cased when not in use and is looked after better than i look after my self. This one is going back to the shop i purchased it from. This was definitely a fault in the neck. Strange i had noticed in the last month or so the guitar going slightly out of tune but no tale tale signs as to what was causing this. Now i know exactly what the problem was down to. I will get pictures so all can see the break. My punters were not too happy on the fact that i had to cancel.[/quote'] sorry for you loss... of late, gibson has gotten into a bad habit of not using straight grained wood in their necks which can lead to warpage or even breakage from seemingly no cause. if you're purchasing a gibson that has a finish which allows you to see the neck grain, check it out - it should run parallel to the long axis of the neck and not on an angle (causing the grain to run off the neck before the end of the headstock - your grain appears to be running off the neck in the area of the nut and just below, right where it cracked). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sgTime Posted March 23, 2009 Share Posted March 23, 2009 I swear to god, im just waiting for some ***** fender lover to come in and start preaching about how awesome Fenders are because cases like this never happen... GODDAMN FENDER LOVERS, THE REASON YOU NEVER SEE SOMETHING LIKE THIS IS BECAUSE YOU HAVE BOLT ON NECKS! Goddamnit they piss me off so ****ing much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freddairy Posted March 23, 2009 Share Posted March 23, 2009 I swear to god' date=' im just waiting for some ***** fender lover to come in and start preaching about how awesome Fenders are because cases like this never happen... GODDAMN FENDER LOVERS, THE REASON YOU NEVER SEE SOMETHING LIKE THIS IS BECAUSE YOU HAVE BOLT ON NECKS! Goddamnit they piss me off so ****ing much.[/quote'] Fenders have their own issues... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
callen3615 Posted March 23, 2009 Share Posted March 23, 2009 I had just been about to start the gig and went to strum the Gibson SG i have and felt the strings collapse at the same time as hearing a loud bang' date=' That loud bang was the headstock snapping on my SG. This guitar is less than a year old, cost £2,600 and is no good to man or beast! It has never been dropped or knocked. The strings have always been tuned correctly, I mean i know what i am doing. The guitar is always cased when not in use and is looked after better than i look after my self. This one is going back to the shop i purchased it from. This was definitely a fault in the neck. Strange i had noticed in the last month or so the guitar going slightly out of tune but no tale tale signs as to what was causing this. Now i know exactly what the problem was down to. I will get pictures so all can see the break. My punters were not too happy on the fact that i had to cancel.[/quote'] If that happened to me I dont know If I could buy another gibson. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geff Posted March 23, 2009 Share Posted March 23, 2009 I must admit I dont know a lot but I did think that headstock weakness was a "known issue" with the SG (and maybe other gibson models too?). As such, it makes sense to always have a spare if your reputation/income depends on it. But back to the issue, surely for a manufacturer of "high quality" set neck guitars, straight wood grain and associated strength/resistance to warping of the neck should be a (very) high priority. As someone pointed out earlier, bolt on neck guitars dont have an issue - you can just get a new neck and bolt it on - but we are talking about a supposedly superior product here! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluezboy Posted March 23, 2009 Share Posted March 23, 2009 I swear to god' date=' im just waiting for some ***** fender lover to come in and start preaching about how awesome Fenders are because cases like this never happen... GODDAMN FENDER LOVERS, THE REASON YOU NEVER SEE SOMETHING LIKE THIS IS BECAUSE YOU HAVE BOLT ON NECKS! Goddamnit they piss me off so ****ing much.[/quote'] I thought it was because Fender headstocks didn't have the 17 degree angle Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
80LPC Posted March 23, 2009 Share Posted March 23, 2009 I swear to god' date=' im just waiting for some ***** fender lover to come in and start preaching about how awesome Fenders are because cases like this never happen... GODDAMN FENDER LOVERS, THE REASON YOU NEVER SEE SOMETHING LIKE THIS IS BECAUSE YOU HAVE BOLT ON NECKS! Goddamnit they piss me off so ****ing much.[/quote'] If you made a guitar with a weak headstock design, it would make sense to give it a bolt on neck so that anyone with a screwdriver could fit a replacement. Now Fenders have strong headstocks, bolt on necks and they sound pretty good too. In fact they are a bomb proof gigging machine. Pete Townsend changed to Gibsons because they were far easier to smash up. Have I p****d you off enough ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dickey Posted March 23, 2009 Share Posted March 23, 2009 I swear to god' date=' im just waiting for some ***** fender lover to come in and start preaching about how awesome Fenders are because cases like this never happen... GODDAMN FENDER LOVERS, THE REASON YOU NEVER SEE SOMETHING LIKE THIS IS BECAUSE YOU HAVE BOLT ON NECKS! Goddamnit they piss me off so ****ing much.[/quote'] Sorry, but I play Fender AND Gibson, and I can tell you the reason you don't see this on a Fender is because the necks are made of ROCK HARD maple, AND the headstock runs on the same plane as the neck; in other words, there's no break-over angle between the neck & headstock. Which is why Fenders usually sustain more than Gibsons;no angle to deaden the sustain. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dred31 Posted March 23, 2009 Share Posted March 23, 2009 im really hoping this doesnt happen to my new SG, spent two summers saving up for her, would hate to see her go through that :S Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
80LPC Posted March 23, 2009 Share Posted March 23, 2009 im really hoping this doesnt happen to my new SG' date=' spent two summers saving up for her, would hate to see her go through that :S[/quote'] You'll be ok, just bear in mind the headstock is the achilles heel of a Gibson - particularly the ones with one piece neck and 17 degree headstock angle. The 3 piece necks are much stronger. Be careful, and put it back in the case when not in use. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yawroc Posted March 24, 2009 Share Posted March 24, 2009 I do not know how this happened all i do know is i felt really sick i just could not continue the gig the vision of around 2000 bucks down the drain. Gibson i have contacted but so far no reply. I went back to the shop i purchased this guitar and guess what they went bust! The shop that now has taken over which really same shop different name they told me oh well its out of warranty. I told the guy don't take the mick the warranty has nothing to do with this its a Gibson mistake! in other words this neck must have been weak in the first place. They stated that they would send it back to Gibson but that i may end up paying for it at the end of the day. All i want is this problem sorted and if its going to be fixed i don't want some back street guy going anywhere near it. I am really gutted pig sick. You buy a Gibson expecting it to be the dogs b----x and what happens. I have Epiphones and these have been dropped by accident not one neck break. However no drop not even the slightest tap and the SG just snaps in front of me. The guy was not happy that i never started the gig i thought sod the gig my guitar was more important. Here is the pic of the neck. http://www.flickr.com/photos/93349211@N00/3381652360/in/photostream/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/93349211@N00/3380833559/in/photostream/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/93349211@N00/3380834723/in/photostream/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/93349211@N00/3381656178/in/photostream/ Note i removed the strings as i did not want them flapping about and mark the guitar in anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yawroc Posted March 24, 2009 Share Posted March 24, 2009 Hey people if you get a message saying something like a bad link, just paste the above links into your address bar they will come up there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigKahune Posted March 24, 2009 Share Posted March 24, 2009 Ouch! That hurts to look at. Looks like it broke right through, might need a whole new neck. Good luck with Gibson. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yawroc Posted March 24, 2009 Share Posted March 24, 2009 Sorry' date=' but I play Fender AND Gibson, and I can tell you the reason you don't see this on a Fender is because the necks are made of ROCK HARD maple, AND the headstock runs on the same plane as the neck; in other words, there's no break-over angle between the neck & headstock. Which is why Fenders usually sustain more than Gibsons;no angle to deaden the sustain.[/quote']Well this has put me off buying another Gibson I too have a Fender Mexican Strat. I have watched Townsend's guitar smashing rituals and i know Hendrix also did this as well as setting fire to his Fender. I have seen the strats lifted over the head like an axe and a number of smashes on a hard stage floor have still not broken the neck away from the body. I also have a very old Epiphone Les Paul Limited Edition which is like a glitter finish on the face of the body, this guitar had fallen off the stand a couple of times, That was in the day when you could not get stands which had a grab system so the guitar was perfectly held in place by two yokes which move up and lock and the weight of the guitar is put into the the stand. However what you must be careful with is the whole stand tipping over. I have a three tear Hercules stand but you have to make sure that the weight of guitars put on it are evenly placed otherwise you risk the whole lot going over. I have this cheapy Gibson copy made in Vietnam i am very shocked at the sustain it has and is a perfect guitar in everyway it is a Vintge made by John Hornby, i had been playing a gig and the strap which couples to the side of the body gave way it crashed to the floor. On inspection the strap leather had split and this was an original Gibson strap. There were no sharp edges where the strap located. The body of the guitar hit the floor but the damage was out of this world hardly anything. The SG Gibson was never dropped and had not been knocked i did not buy it to use it like a cricket bat. When this happened i can tell you now i was almost physically sick, I looked at the damage and my insides were churning. How the hell could this happen? and Gibson just don't seem to be interested in the fact that there is a flaw in the neck or where the neck joins headstock. I can bet if this has happened to me it will happen to someone else! I would advise anyone thinking about buying an SG Gibson to stop and think and read this first, because the chances of you getting the same thing happen are good. So i am off today to the music store where this item was purchased to see what they can do i will keep you posted on what happens.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
80LPC Posted March 24, 2009 Share Posted March 24, 2009 Looks like a typical drop / impact to the headstock. Can you take a close up picture of the back of the headstock in the area around the serial number ? The picture shows the limitations of using short grain. The warnings of short grain can be found in woodworking books for beginners. Other manufacturers prevent this by the use of scarf joints, laminations and rock maple. Gibson did use laminated necks in the '70s and '80s Norlin era, but of course, people say these are 'inferior' - funny old world... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevezapp Posted March 24, 2009 Share Posted March 24, 2009 Please - no more pics of the carnage! I can't take much more Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yawroc Posted March 24, 2009 Share Posted March 24, 2009 So what was it down to?? oh and sorry to hear that. I have taken the guitar to a guitar repair tech he states more or less what BigKahune states in his post on this thread. I have also contacted Gibson so far have not bothered to answer my emails. So much said for the name Gibson. I won't buy another. Just as well have gone out and purchased a copy or an Epiphone at least these necks are made of Maple. Repair is going to be around 150 to £200. For a problem that was there waiting to go in the first place. Not at all happy with the Gibson brand. I should have purchased a Fender instead. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yawroc Posted March 24, 2009 Share Posted March 24, 2009 Looks like a typical drop / impact to the headstock. Can you take a close up picture of the back of the headstock in the area around the serial number ? The picture shows the limitations of using short grain. The warnings of short grain can be found in woodworking books for beginners. Other manufacturers prevent this by the use of scarf joints' date=' laminations and rock maple. Gibson did use laminated necks in the '70s and '80s Norlin era, but of course, people say these are 'inferior' - funny old world... [img']http://i523.photobucket.com/albums/w352/marscape1/SGbreak2.jpg[/img] This was no drop!! The guitar was not dropped or even knocked this happened literally as the guitar was being sound checked and fine tuned. I don't mind admitting i dropped it if i did i mean this would be my mistake. But no way. I cannot take a closer picture of the headstock as it is being repaired but there are absolutely no marks on the headstock back or front which could suggest it was dropped. The crack this made when the strings collapsed was quite loud. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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