Opinions on a cracked neck SG

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CaptainCrunch
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Re: Opinions on a cracked neck SG

Post by CaptainCrunch » Sat Jun 15, 2019 8:00 am

Couple thoughts... Is part of the reason it's so ugly that it broke on the road, and he was able to get a tech to glue it up but hasn't wanted the downtime of getting the finish repaired? Could you or he take it to a good tech to inspect it and get a thumbs-up-or-down from a pro? Would you be willing to pay to get the finish repaired?

For $650, I would also give it some thought, if that was a model I really wanted or this particular guitar was KILLER. And I can say with 98% certainty that the next time this guitar is sold, it will be prettied up.

But also when I search "SG" on local Craigslist, I see plenty of them (including Standards or the newer mini-hum model) that aren't broken-and-repaired for a little more, basically the same money, or cheaper.

https://milwaukee.craigslist.org/msg/d/ ... 97768.html
https://racine.craigslist.org/msg/d/ken ... 71198.html
https://chicago.craigslist.org/nwc/msg/ ... 48783.html

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Larry Mal
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Re: Opinions on a cracked neck SG

Post by Larry Mal » Sat Jun 15, 2019 12:07 pm

A headstock repair is no big deal if done right. But the fact is, with effort, you can make a headstock repair look so good that you would never know that the break had occurred.

That's not what was done with this. This was just slopped together.

I would not pay 650 for this.
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Re: Opinions on a cracked neck SG

Post by RIORIO » Sat Jun 15, 2019 1:44 pm

CaptainCrunch wrote:
Sat Jun 15, 2019 8:00 am
Couple thoughts... Is part of the reason it's so ugly that it broke on the road, and he was able to get a tech to glue it up but hasn't wanted the downtime of getting the finish repaired? Could you or he take it to a good tech to inspect it and get a thumbs-up-or-down from a pro? Would you be willing to pay to get the finish repaired?

For $650, I would also give it some thought, if that was a model I really wanted or this particular guitar was KILLER. And I can say with 98% certainty that the next time this guitar is sold, it will be prettied up.

But also when I search "SG" on local Craigslist, I see plenty of them (including Standards or the newer mini-hum model) that aren't broken-and-repaired for a little more, basically the same money, or cheaper.

https://milwaukee.craigslist.org/msg/d/ ... 97768.html
https://racine.craigslist.org/msg/d/ken ... 71198.html
https://chicago.craigslist.org/nwc/msg/ ... 48783.html
Im 99% not going for this thing...

It was not broken on the road- a shop (that I really like) in Oregon apparently did the fix. It looks horrible but I guess it holds....
I dont think Im going to be able to take it to a tech before I buy
I might be willing to pay for a better fix if its reasonable...but I have no idea what it would cost...would they basically need to start from scratch?

I'm drawn to this specific model...I think its a combo of the 3 pickups, 6 way selector, surprisingly good maestro vibrato, the color and how good the pickups sound to me. Would these be different than the ultra hot ceramic garbage from 2010 era gibson? I had a NR firebird with those pickups and they sounded like trash...

Anyway- I appreciate all of you!

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Re: Opinions on a cracked neck SG

Post by mgeek » Sun Jun 16, 2019 9:19 am

Larry Mal wrote:
Sat Jun 15, 2019 12:07 pm
A headstock repair is no big deal if done right. But the fact is, with effort, you can make a headstock repair look so good that you would never know that the break had occurred.

That's not what was done with this. This was just slopped together.
Surely the structural repair parts of both these types of repair are identical though, assuming this wasn't done with superglue or pritt stick or some other kind of inappropriate adhesive

If it were me I'd add the price of the touch ups to the price and see how I felt about that. Maybe talk the dude down a bit too. I got a sixties Hofner Verithin with an ugly but functional headstock repair, but the price was so low I just don't care...it's on the 'might tidy up some day but probably won't' list ;)

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Re: Opinions on a cracked neck SG

Post by Larry Mal » Sun Jun 16, 2019 11:00 am

mgeek wrote:
Sun Jun 16, 2019 9:19 am
Larry Mal wrote:
Sat Jun 15, 2019 12:07 pm

That's not what was done with this. This was just slopped together.
Surely the structural repair parts of both these types of repair are identical though, assuming this wasn't done with superglue or pritt stick or some other kind of inappropriate adhesive

Well, I'm not sure about that. For one, you really should not be seeing so much visible glue here. This tells me that the person who did this repair used too much glue to start with, and furthermore, it wasn't clamped together very well. Neither speaks to a professional job.

Sure, a professional would have done a much better job re-finishing over the broken parts, but more importantly a professional job would have glued and clamped this together much better to start with. You should not be seeing anything except the most bare of telltale lines where the cracks had been, and you certainly should not be seeing any glue whatsoever.
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Re: Opinions on a cracked neck SG

Post by StevenO » Sun Jun 16, 2019 1:56 pm

Professionals try to do the best job they can because they know the value of word of mouth. If someone showed that guitar to me and they told me what "professional" did the repair, I would be delighted because I would know who not to go to.

Sloppy and unprofessional. Hard pass.

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Re: Opinions on a cracked neck SG

Post by cmatthes » Sun Jun 16, 2019 2:14 pm

Agreed.

HARD pass.

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Re: Opinions on a cracked neck SG

Post by s_mcsleazy » Sun Jun 16, 2019 3:03 pm

ok. a good neck repair (without paint usually) is about £400+ in the uk. that is not a good neck repair IMHO. there is no real support where the cracks are. ideally you'd want channels of wood in there to support it better. honestly, the real question is how much would you want to buy a set of firebird pickups, bigsby, tuners and bridge for? i mean all those parts used is maybe around $300-400 so you could always stick em on a project SG.
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Re: Opinions on a cracked neck SG

Post by mgeek » Sun Jun 16, 2019 4:49 pm

Larry Mal wrote:
Sun Jun 16, 2019 11:00 am

Well, I'm not sure about that. For one, you really should not be seeing so much visible glue here. This tells me that the person who did this repair used too much glue to start with, and furthermore, it wasn't clamped together very well. Neither speaks to a professional job.

Sure, a professional would have done a much better job re-finishing over the broken parts, but more importantly a professional job would have glued and clamped this together much better to start with. You should not be seeing anything except the most bare of telltale lines where the cracks had been, and you certainly should not be seeing any glue whatsoever.
ah yeah hadn't scrolled down...can see the gluelines in the other pictures. Even so- wonder how many professional jobs aren't much better than this, just oversprayed. ;D

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Re: Opinions on a cracked neck SG

Post by Maggieo » Sun Jun 16, 2019 5:07 pm

Well-repaired headstocks are insanely stronger than before the repair, thanks to some extra wood and the glue used to fix them.

I am also told they "teyz hazzz teh M@J@s!!!!!11!!!1!!!!"
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Re: Opinions on a cracked neck SG

Post by matthew a » Mon Jun 17, 2019 11:42 am

Apologies to highjack this thread, but I'm taken by a 90s LP Custom. It's about £500-1000 cheaper than average 2nd hand models. A bucket list guitar since forever, and I don't think I'll find a left handed custom this cheap for a long time over here. But, 2 neck repairs - similar story, toured the world and broken in the case.

I know nothing of neck repairs, and this is a terrible photo. I'm going to call the shop who supposedly made the repairs to get more info. Tidy enough for a 100 mile round-trip to inspect?

Image

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Re: Opinions on a cracked neck SG

Post by Larry Mal » Mon Jun 17, 2019 4:06 pm

That right there wouldn't bother me much.
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Re: Opinions on a cracked neck SG

Post by øøøøøøø » Tue Jun 18, 2019 9:12 am

That LP Custom would be right up my alley. I love Gibsons with broken-off headstocks. They're usually stronger after a proper repair, plus it removes the stress that I might be the one to (first) break it!

And I've never heard one whose sound I thought was harmed after a break and proper repair. I have even heard one or two that I swore were better after the break(!)

The OP guitar... I can't say FOR SURE that it was a poor repair. They may have just elected to do the structural repair and leave the cosmetics alone to save money. But that doesn't mean that the structural repair wasn't sound, or that the finish repair couldn't be accomplished properly later, if-desired.

Nor can I say whether the price is right, as I haven't really kept up with market price for similar guitars.

But what I CAN say is that it was a relatively-nasty break to begin with, not at all the clean "smile" break as seen on the LP Custom immediately upthread.

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Re: Opinions on a cracked neck SG

Post by StevenO » Tue Jun 18, 2019 10:49 am

There's "leave the cosmetics alone" and then there's "leave it looking sloppy"... This is the latter. :whistle:

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Re: Opinions on a cracked neck SG

Post by Larry Mal » Tue Jun 18, 2019 10:52 am

Brad is correct, and I was going to mention it- that break in the original post was also a very bad break, and it would have been hard for even a quality professional to have fixed that.

But it didn't get a quality professional. Skip.
Back in those days, everyone knew that if you were talking about Destiny's Child, you were talking about Beyonce, LaTavia, LeToya, and Larry.

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