es-335 replacement neck

[j.zero]

Hi!

 

I'm new to this forum. I hope you guys can help!

 

I'm wondering if there's a place where I can get a replacement neck for a dot es-335. I bought a used 1997 es-335 and when I got it to the luthier, he found out that the truss rod was turned all the way and could not compensate the neck bending, since the neck was extremely bent and had a torsion towards the downside of the upper frets. He told me that the best solution was to replace the neck, since he could not garantee that changing the truss rod and leveling the neck under the fretboard would work.

 

So, do you think I can find a replacement neck, or can you think of another solution?

 

Thanks!

 

P.S. I contacted Gibson repairs and the only thing they can do is repair the guitar themselves, which would cost me over 1800$, not including shipping costs, which is much more than the price I paid for the guitar.

[Tech21]

Hi,

and Welcome to the forum....

 

Sorry to hear about the neck, it’s not the best of problems you have there is it.

 

Could you possibly post a couple of photos of the problem it makes it much easier than trying to visualise things from a written description.

 

First a couple of questions, the answers to which may dictate your course of action : -

1) How long have you had the guitar?

2) Was the neck like this when you bought it?

3) If you have only recently bought it, get a written appraisal of its condition from any reputable Repair Shop/Luthier/Guitar Tech and take it back to the seller and get your cash back.

4) If it was OK when you bought it, when did it start happening?

5) How far (if at all) have you wound the Truss Rod Nut in?

 

 

OK then, if returning the guitar isn’t an option then the next thing I would do is to get another diagnosis from another reputable Luthier or Guitar Tech.

 

As the first step in solving this I would suggest you have the fret board removed professionally as that is the only real way to get a look at exactly what is happening with the truss rod and this will give you a much better idea of what to do next.... but doing this will mean spending money from here on in.

 

As far as a replacement neck goes I suspect that the only place you could get a neck from (a genuine one that is) would be Gibson themselves and whether they would be prepaired to sell you one is very debatable.

 

Best of luck with this problem.

 

EDITED BIT.....

I would strongly suggest you follow point 3 above i.e.

3) If you have only recently bought it, get a written appraisal of its condition from any reputable Repair Shop/Luthier/Guitar Tech and take it back to the seller and get your cash back.

 

Cheers

T21

[L5Larry]

Your best solution is to sell the guitar for whatever you can get for it and buy another one that is playable. From your original post it seems you bought this guitar is this condition. Chalk this up as a learning experience (lessons are not always cheap), and move on. You now know a few new things to look for when buying a used guitar.

 

I'm sure most of us have made bad deals somewhere along the line, I certainlly have. Live and learn, and hope you don't loose too much money out of the deal.

[tbonesullivan]

hmm... usual treatment for that kind of a warp would be to heat press the neck straight. What i'd do is see if you can get in touch with Dan Erlewine. Not easy, as he is very in demand, but a friend of mine had a les paul with a neck break around the first fret, and Dan fixed it by cannibalizing a neck that had been broken in the middle.

 

He quite literally wrote the book on fixing guitars.

[j.zero]

Hi,

 

Thank you all for your answers. My camera is broken, but I will try to post a picture soon.

 

My tech actually did heat press the neck and it worked for at least four months. Then the neck took back its original curve. So back to the start...

 

I bought the guitar used, this spring. When I bought it, I only saw a slight curve that you often see on guitars that haven't been adjusted for a few months, so I didn't back off. Now I only buy guitars with perfectly straight necks, and I guess you could say I had my lesson...

 

I didn't wind up the truss rod nut myself, but the first thing my luthier found out when I brought him the guitar was that it was broken. The previous owner tighted it to the maximum and it broke. It was replaced.

 

As you said Tech21, I had no luck in finding replacement necks. My luthier, which is renown here in Montreal, told me he could build one for me, but total costs would be around a thousand bucks. And then I guess the resale value would decrease.

 

Anyway, I think the best option is to try to sell it for as much as I could. The guitar is still very playable.

[Tech21]

It may be a long shot but have you trawled E-Bay and the like for a 335 with a bust up body that has a neck in one piece? Someone out there may just have one after stripping it and selling the parts off, it's just the husk you want, not the hardware, so it should be cheap.

Or maybe spend a bit of time and cold call the music shops, you may just get lucky.

 

If you check e-bay search for "Project Guitar", granted most of them have broken headstocks but odd stuff does turn up from time to time, like this.... But this has a dodgy neck anyway, it's just an example of what people actually have out there.

 

....Gibson Frankenstein....CLICK HERE....

 

Best of luck with it.

 

Cheers

T21

[j.zero]

Thank you very much. I found an add on ebay, but the guy says the neck once had a headstock repair and that it has a slight curve, which he was told is not serious but, nonetheless, I don't think I'll take the risk to buy a faulty neck.

 

But I'll keep on looking!

[Tech21]

Best if luck with it,

keep us all informed of progress.

 

Cheers

T21

[j.zero]

Hey...it's been a long time...

 

Just so you know, I decided to sell the guitar as is. I lost 300$ from the price of my purchase, but any repair or even insurance fee (because my insurance company told me they could maybe pay for the repair) would have cost me a lot more.

 

But I still miss my 335. My SG or 135 will never sound as good as this guitar sounded...