OMZ, thanks! I hope to do repairs that won't ever fail again, that's my goal. I've since had another Epi with nearly identical break, and that has gotten me wondering about their lumber choice. I'm hesitant of doing any more Epi neck repairs where it's broken clean across like this one. I expect this "overkill" repair to be far stronger than the neck ever was, and at the same time I now worry that the neck will just break somewhere else. The concern I have with this neck lumber is that it is so light and weak, I don't know if neck will just fail around the repair. This did turn out great and is very strong, yet I worry for the future.
This is really good work. Making the splines follow a radius was really inspired in terms of maximising the interfacing surface, and that sealer seems to have worked perfectly to hide the joins. As someone who does a fair bit of electronics repair on random broken electronic musical devices, I love seeing something fixed that might otherwise be considered economically unviable to repair.
ThreeDayMonk, thanks for watching! This repair went really well, and I borrowed ideas from a lot of different sources/inspirations. I agree, the radius spline offer a great variety of bonding surface, short and long grain, no abrupt end grain... easy to work with too ( now that I have it figured out ). The poly sealer is a really great product too, and very similar to what was on the guitar originally. The stuff sands well, but is really tough - interesting. I hate seeing good things get discarded too, and since this was a brand new guitar, I wanted to give it a life. It's better than the day it left the factory now. Hope all is well, take care!
Thanks for watching! It really did look pretty cool, and would have been a nice battle scar to leave alone, but it needed to go back to black. Maybe the next neck repair will go naked, it could happen. Hope all is well, take care!
Excellent repair worth many times more than the instrument, lol. Awesome work, I always learn from your videos. And glad you removed the disclaimer about your playing! Playing is good man!
Mr. Manley, thanks for watching and I agree, an expensive repair for an affordable instrument. Thank you, I appreciate your compliment, and glad you're getting something from the videos. That's really why I do these vids, hoping others get ideas, inspiration, find a work-around, or avoid a catastrophe. It's all good. This video was running a bit long, so I skipped the warning disclaimers. I figure if anyone watches through to the end, they are pretty tough and can handle a few extra/missed notes here and there. Thanks for your second compliment too. I'm learning, aren't we all. I hope you are doing well, be safe and take care!
Hey John, thanks for watching I tried to play it, then I thought "how does this go?". I won't quit my day job, LOL. Hope you are doing well, take care!
This project did turn out great, an invisible repair. However... the clear coat that I used on this project ( and a few others ), has proven to be defective. I've since had to repair the finish on 5 separate projects, all that I had used the Car-Rep 2K clear on. So disappointing and a huge loss of time. My limited experience with the Car-Rep 2K clear has been this. It looks great for a month, or two... or ten. Then it starts to show cracks, like and aged lacquer finish. That was not what I was after, so things are getting refinished using my tried-and-true automotive urethane clears. Never had an issue with old school. All the old issues are now repaired and I'm not looking back, I know what works for me and I won't gamble on that product again. That said, some people still give it high praise. Hope all is well, be safe and take care!
Great job, looks as good as new and certainly is more sturdy now! 👍 I'd like you to tackle a guitar that's not made of wood, that would be a great next project!
Steroq, thanks for watching! Hmm, a guitar that is not made of wood. An acrylic guitar, or epoxy, or...hmm. A steel resonator perhaps. A fellow at Ninety2 Guitar Shop has a great video series on a resonator build. ua-cam.com/video/DHNJ4otHqVM/v-deo.html I'd have a LOT of studying to do before I could go there. Hmm, what else, IDK? We'll think about it. Be safe, take care!
Dave , thanks for watching! Man that buffer is so nice to use. I'll probably get myself in trouble using it at some point, but I'll enjoy it! Take care!
Jim, good to hear from you and thanks for watching! If this breaks again, it will be somewhere else - not that that would be a good thing either. I'm really happy with the way the buffer works too. So much easier than my old process, so much easier. Hope all is well, take care!
Defender, good to hear from you and thanks for watching! Start scrounging part for your buffer, you'll love having it. I had thought about if to a few years, always thinking "I don't buff that many projects..." Oh, but now I want to, it's so much better. Hope all is well, take care!
Texas Tone! 🤔😆 I’ll bet you meant Texas Toast 😉 Repairing/refinishing sections of finish I would think would be a nightmare because you have to match the height and transition to the existing finish! Yeesh! (Funny: autocorrect changed “yeesh” to “eyeshadow” 😆 Seems like every video you have a new set of jigs and homemade tools! Very impressed with that “portable” buffer!
LOL, that's funny. Autocorrect "...eyeshadow". Good stand up comedy routine thanks to autocorrect. The refinish on this went pretty well, there was enough factory build up I was able to sand down through. That gave me room to build back up to factory level. Sadly, I've got another one of these Epi LPs with a nearly identical break. I was visiting with a furniture maker, lumber guy... and he mentioned that the species of mahogany the Epi is likely using is a short grain variant, often used in Lauan floor sheathing material. Fast growth, weak. I can see that. The headstock weighed nothing, very very very light. Sorry, I rant. Ah, the buffer, why didn't I make that years ago? Great machine!
Tim, good to hear from you and thanks for watching! The repair turned out really great, and the color is interesting. I was told it is a "purple" guitar, then when I first saw it, it looked pink, then I moved it through the light and it's pink, purple, lavender...it is pretty cool. I looked up the Epiphone Muse LP line, they apparently have number of colors, and the electronics are interesting too. Coil split on both vol pots, and a phase switch on one of the tone pots = all way over my head, LOL Hope you are doing well, take care!
Tor, thank you for watching! The repair turned out really well, and I'm actually really impressed with this guitar once it was all put back together. The frets are really level, could use a little polish, but not buzz and I have it set up pretty low. It also has interesting electronics, coil split on both volume pots and a phase switch on one tone pot. Of course my level of playing doesn't need those bells and whistles. All good. I have a low-end Fender Strat coming up next. It is one of those guitars built to compete with First-Act guitars I'm guessing. It will be a great machine when done. Be safe and take care!
Tom, thanks for watching! I'm really happy with the buffer at this point. If you haven't seen my "build" video of the buffer, here's the link to that vid. ua-cam.com/video/x9euFi_tUUA/v-deo.html Here's a link to my part list and idea resource list. www.dropbox.com/s/wy0ljjunfk7omiw/Benchtop_Buffer_Idea.pdf?dl=0 One thing I want to change, and was in my original plan, is to use a precision shaft with threaded ends for the buffs to run on. I'm currently using a 1" threaded rod. It works, but there is some wobble. If you know a good machine shop, or if you're a machinist, you should go with a precision shaft as an upgrade from the start. Good luck with your project!
Hey Mike, good to hear from you! Many thanks, it really did turn out nice. Someone should be really happy with this guitar, it's actually a pretty solid machine. Take care!
Amazing work there John. No doubt its better than factory finish. I know I've said this to you before, finishing is a dark ark as far as I'm concerned. I need much more practice I think 😂
Hey Brian, good to hear from you, and hope you are doing well! I feel like a little kid at times when I try to paint stuff. I'm sooo out of practice too, but this turned out great. I'm really impressed and surprised by how well the 2K spray can clear seems to have "melted in" to the existing urethane. I know that's not how it works, but it sure looks like it. Take care my friend!
Gary, good to hear from you and thanks for watching! I may be spelling it wrong also, at least we know what we mean - that's the important part, LOL. This was my first time using it, and I like it too. Hope to have more things to spray it on soon. Hope all is well, take care!
I don't know how i missed seeing this episode... Definitely slacking on keeping up... This is just my thoughts but if that was my guitar i would have sanded all the black off the guitar and let that repair show .. i am weird when it comes to buying and owning instruments. Guitars depending on the style and brand it can be a solid color like jacksons, esp, etc.. but like a PRS or Gibson I like the stain on the top and natural neck and back. My PRS is a 408 10 top with trampus green top with mahogany back Brazilian rosewood neck and fretboard.. For basses i prefer natural wood. I don't know why I'm against solid colored instruments
Hey Bun, good to hear from you! I hear ya, the repair looked pretty cool, and hiding it under color was a bit sad, but wasn't my call. The current LP I'm working on had a nearly identical break... I went another direction and made a complete neck. Not sure what I was thinking, LOL. Take care!
@@theNextProject everything is fine ! I finished my Marshall closet, I just need to find some protective corners fitted to what I made (probably going to 3D print them) and a bigger Marshall logo !
Hey, thats an amazing job dude!! I have a question for you, because it looks like you know what you are doing... If i want to paint my headstock and half of the neck black to hide a repair, do i have to sand the clearcoat away or can i just sand the clear coat a little and spray black on top of the clearcoat and then finish it off with at new clearcoat on top????
Thanks for watching! In general, you should be able to sand the clear and apply topcoat(s) over the prepped clear. Not knowing what kind of paint is in the guitar, or what kind of paint you'll be using to respray, you should be cautious of possible incompatible paints. If the neck has urethane on it, you cans sand and spray just about anything over it. If it is lacquer, there could be some issues. Sorry not a direct yes or no answer. Hope all goes well for you, good luck with your projects!
Hello and thanks for the good advice... It is a Gibson Les Paul standard, from 2023, I believe it is nitrocellulose and that is also what I have to spray over with... It's dark brown on the back so the plan is to paint the headstock black and then fade it together with the brown midway down the neck.. so if I just tape the body of and sand the whole neck a little so the clear becomes Matt, then it will be ready to spray? In other words, I don't need to sand down to the color??..... And when im done with the black, i will give the whole neck new clearcoat... that's the plan.. thanks again!
Thanks for the added info That sounds like a good plan you have. Lacquer can be a challenging paint. It is susceptible to humidity and temperature. So, don't spray if the humidity is high, or if it's cold out (cold probably won't be an issue). Put the coats on thin, allow plenty of time between coats.... An issue I constantly hear when others spray lac, is that the surface is dry to the touch, but the paint it still soft, days or weeks later This is typically too thick of coats, not enough dry time between coats, and possible too many coats total. You've probably heard this too. The same issues are true for color and clear. Humidity can/will cause blushing, which is often seen as a milky or cloudy discoloration of the paint. So don't rush the job, wait for dry weather. No need to worry, just set aside more time than you think you'll need, prepare and don't rush the process. Even if you need to stop, you can come back to Lacquer another day, lightly scuff and re-prep the surface and pick up the process again. Be sure to have adequate ventilation, lac isn't good for your lungs. I'm sure you'll have a great project, be safe and take care!
Thank you very much, if I wasn't living in Denmark I would have taken it to you and paid you to do it hehe! I hope you keep this channel going! Have a nice day!
I cannot stop asking myself. There are many of the same issues with the Les Paul neck. Why does that company not change the wood and add a carbon fiber stick in the neck to avoid the neck Brocken.
Jeffrey, thanks for watching! Great question, and depending on who you'd ask (at Gibson), you'd probably get a variety of answers. I've given this a lot of thought over time and I completely agree with you. They could spend a little upfront, do a "little" retooling and slight change to their production process to largely solve the issue. A company the size of Gibson could have carbon fiber inserts custom made that would fit into the headstock and traverse into the neck. CNC everything along with the truss rod channel, glue in the CF, cap the headstock as they already do, place the fingerboard on it and the chance of catastrophic breaks would decrease by a huge percent. The per-guitar cost would be lowered by doing this to every neck, spreading out the R & D, and machining costs. An extra 10 minutes of milling time per neck, an extra 2 minutes of assembly time per neck, an extra $10 in materials per neck... but, it won't happen. Those minutes and dollars are red flags to the bean counters, too much impact to the bottom line. They need someone at the top to step in and say "no more, fix the issue". Sorry, I rant.
Achim, thanks for watching! I was concerned about the stamped serial number too, as it was barely visible from day-one with the broken headstock. I ended up filling the stamped number with some paint before the clear coats. So what stamping was there is now colored and sealed in for eternity. Not a factory option, so I'll call this an upgrade, LOL. You may be able to catch a glance of it as I roll the guitar around in the opening bit, or another glance at ua-cam.com/video/jFXyUq3xWZU/v-deo.html Hope all is well for you, take care!
Great job on the repair and as you said better than new and one other thing your guitar playing ain't that bad! Also what was your experience like with the Harley Benton order, I got the problems with the craftsmanship and hardware but how was shipping and speed of order time? Thanks for your great projects.
Gunsmith, good to hear from you again and thanks for watching! Harley Benton orders... my personal experience has been all over the board. I've purchases 5 or 6 times total, some orders arrived in a couple weeks, one order was 2 months out. Only had 1 order get stuck in US Customs, cost me an extra $20 customs fee. Thomann does/did have a notice on their site about this, but it caught me off guard. I had one complete HB that looked good at a distance, but looked like a "B" stock up close. Thomann gave me some credit for the issue. Another complete HB guitar was unplayable, which didn't really matter to me as I planned to cut it up and modify it. But, if I would have wanted to just plug-n-play, it would have been a disappointment. The HB SG kit I put together a couple months back was also unplayable right out of the box. It had neck/nut/trussrod issues. Again, I planned to mod the guitar, but not really that mod. My overall take on HB is this. Every HB I've had, complete guitar or kit, needed work. Fretwork and strings at a minimum, with 2 out of 6+ being unplayable. That said, they are so affordable, I overlook some issues and my plans always include cutting and modding, so I'm pretty safe getting a turd now and then. I've had other brand kits years back mostly from either Amazon or Ebay, before I started doing videos. I can't say those were any better. One that I recall was a Solo kit, it was bad, bad, bad. I honestly think it was a fluke, as Solo gets pretty good reviews from what I know. I'd like to try them again someday soon. Kits are a roll of the dice, you never know if it will be good, bad or a mix. You may also want to check out GuitarKitWorld.com. I had swapped a few messages with the gentleman from GKW, seems like a nice fella. I've also thought about trying one of his kits... too many ideas, too little time. Hmm, maybe I should save my money and buy better kits. Hope my rambling helps. Good luck with your plans and projects, take care!
Thanks much with your sg I watched your series so I saw the problems. Like you I am interested in what I can do with the parts. Not going to get a silk purse for the price of the sows ear, but if it's big enough can we make a real guitar, you did with a lot of work. Me I'll think about it some more... Or there is an SG template on ebay to be made with a tele style neck, hmmm. Thanks again.
This is really good work. Making the splines follow a radius was really inspired in terms of maximising the interfacing surface, and that sealer seems to have worked perfectly to hide the joins. As someone who does a fair bit of electronics repair on random broken electronic musical devices, I love seeing something fixed that might otherwise be considered economically unviable to repair.
ThreeDayMonk, thanks for watching! This repair went really well, and I borrowed ideas from a lot of different sources/inspirations. I agree, the radius spline offer a great variety of bonding surface, short and long grain, no abrupt end grain... easy to work with too ( now that I have it figured out ). The poly sealer is a really great product too, and very similar to what was on the guitar originally. The stuff sands well, but is really tough - interesting. I hate seeing good things get discarded too, and since this was a brand new guitar, I wanted to give it a life. It's better than the day it left the factory now. Hope all is well, take care!
Great repair! Seamless!
Now it's actually stronger -better than new!
guitarzleo, thanks for watching.
I'm really happy with the end result, even with my sanding blunder. All good in the end.
Be safe and take care!
I mean, you'd have to work to break that sumnabich now. Great work.
OMZ, thanks!
I hope to do repairs that won't ever fail again, that's my goal.
I've since had another Epi with nearly identical break, and that has gotten me wondering about their lumber choice. I'm hesitant of doing any more Epi neck repairs where it's broken clean across like this one.
I expect this "overkill" repair to be far stronger than the neck ever was, and at the same time I now worry that the neck will just break somewhere else.
The concern I have with this neck lumber is that it is so light and weak, I don't know if neck will just fail around the repair.
This did turn out great and is very strong, yet I worry for the future.
This is really good work. Making the splines follow a radius was really inspired in terms of maximising the interfacing surface, and that sealer seems to have worked perfectly to hide the joins. As someone who does a fair bit of electronics repair on random broken electronic musical devices, I love seeing something fixed that might otherwise be considered economically unviable to repair.
ThreeDayMonk, thanks for watching!
This repair went really well, and I borrowed ideas from a lot of different sources/inspirations.
I agree, the radius spline offer a great variety of bonding surface, short and long grain, no abrupt end grain... easy to work with too ( now that I have it figured out ).
The poly sealer is a really great product too, and very similar to what was on the guitar originally. The stuff sands well, but is really tough - interesting.
I hate seeing good things get discarded too, and since this was a brand new guitar, I wanted to give it a life. It's better than the day it left the factory now.
Hope all is well, take care!
That spline job looked so good I would've done a clear finish in the neck...
Thanks for watching!
It really did look pretty cool, and would have been a nice battle scar to leave alone, but it needed to go back to black.
Maybe the next neck repair will go naked, it could happen.
Hope all is well, take care!
Excellent repair worth many times more than the instrument, lol. Awesome work, I always learn from your videos. And glad you removed the disclaimer about your playing! Playing is good man!
Mr. Manley, thanks for watching and I agree, an expensive repair for an affordable instrument.
Thank you, I appreciate your compliment, and glad you're getting something from the videos.
That's really why I do these vids, hoping others get ideas, inspiration, find a work-around, or avoid a catastrophe. It's all good.
This video was running a bit long, so I skipped the warning disclaimers. I figure if anyone watches through to the end, they are pretty tough and can handle a few extra/missed notes here and there. Thanks for your second compliment too.
I'm learning, aren't we all.
I hope you are doing well, be safe and take care!
Woah, invisible repair! I don;'t know why but the huge bolts on the ends of the buffer made me laugh a lot.
It's like magic!
Glad you got a laugh too.
Hope all is well, take care!
Very nice!. A little Leslie West at the end is a nice touch too!
Hey John, thanks for watching
I tried to play it, then I thought "how does this go?".
I won't quit my day job, LOL.
Hope you are doing well, take care!
Nice finish, in all meanings of the word!
This project did turn out great, an invisible repair.
However... the clear coat that I used on this project ( and a few others ), has proven to be defective. I've since had to repair the finish on 5 separate projects, all that I had used the Car-Rep 2K clear on.
So disappointing and a huge loss of time.
My limited experience with the Car-Rep 2K clear has been this. It looks great for a month, or two... or ten. Then it starts to show cracks, like and aged lacquer finish. That was not what I was after, so things are getting refinished using my tried-and-true automotive urethane clears. Never had an issue with old school.
All the old issues are now repaired and I'm not looking back, I know what works for me and I won't gamble on that product again.
That said, some people still give it high praise.
Hope all is well, be safe and take care!
@@theNextProject Unfortunate! Perhaps those others are relic-heads who praise it FOR the cracking and checking properties? 🤔
Great job, looks as good as new and certainly is more sturdy now! 👍
I'd like you to tackle a guitar that's not made of wood, that would be a great next project!
Steroq, thanks for watching!
Hmm, a guitar that is not made of wood.
An acrylic guitar, or epoxy, or...hmm. A steel resonator perhaps.
A fellow at Ninety2 Guitar Shop has a great video series on a resonator build.
ua-cam.com/video/DHNJ4otHqVM/v-deo.html
I'd have a LOT of studying to do before I could go there.
Hmm, what else, IDK?
We'll think about it.
Be safe, take care!
Nice work John! Good practice with the new buffer!
Dave , thanks for watching!
Man that buffer is so nice to use. I'll probably get myself in trouble using it at some point, but I'll enjoy it!
Take care!
Nice work on the Epi. Always a good idea to make something better than the factory made it. The buffer is awesome by the way.
Jim, good to hear from you and thanks for watching!
If this breaks again, it will be somewhere else - not that that would be a good thing either.
I'm really happy with the way the buffer works too. So much easier than my old process, so much easier.
Hope all is well, take care!
That turned out fantastic! I need a buffer someday, too.
Defender, good to hear from you and thanks for watching!
Start scrounging part for your buffer, you'll love having it.
I had thought about if to a few years, always thinking "I don't buff that many projects..."
Oh, but now I want to, it's so much better.
Hope all is well, take care!
Texas Tone! 🤔😆 I’ll bet you meant Texas Toast 😉
Repairing/refinishing sections of finish I would think would be a nightmare because you have to match the height and transition to the existing finish! Yeesh! (Funny: autocorrect changed “yeesh” to “eyeshadow” 😆
Seems like every video you have a new set of jigs and homemade tools! Very impressed with that “portable” buffer!
LOL, that's funny.
Autocorrect "...eyeshadow". Good stand up comedy routine thanks to autocorrect.
The refinish on this went pretty well, there was enough factory build up I was able to sand down through. That gave me room to build back up to factory level.
Sadly, I've got another one of these Epi LPs with a nearly identical break. I was visiting with a furniture maker, lumber guy... and he mentioned that the species of mahogany the Epi is likely using is a short grain variant, often used in Lauan floor sheathing material. Fast growth, weak.
I can see that. The headstock weighed nothing, very very very light. Sorry, I rant.
Ah, the buffer, why didn't I make that years ago?
Great machine!
Excellent work! I also love that lavender top.
Tim, good to hear from you and thanks for watching!
The repair turned out really great, and the color is interesting.
I was told it is a "purple" guitar, then when I first saw it, it looked pink, then I moved it through the light and it's pink, purple, lavender...it is pretty cool.
I looked up the Epiphone Muse LP line, they apparently have number of colors, and the electronics are interesting too. Coil split on both vol pots, and a phase switch on one of the tone pots = all way over my head, LOL
Hope you are doing well, take care!
@@theNextProject that’s some fancy switching!
Great work and result, as well as humor. I love your video as always, and looking forward to the next project.
Tor, thank you for watching!
The repair turned out really well, and I'm actually really impressed with this guitar once it was all put back together.
The frets are really level, could use a little polish, but not buzz and I have it set up pretty low. It also has interesting electronics, coil split on both volume pots and a phase switch on one tone pot.
Of course my level of playing doesn't need those bells and whistles. All good.
I have a low-end Fender Strat coming up next. It is one of those guitars built to compete with First-Act guitars I'm guessing.
It will be a great machine when done.
Be safe and take care!
Superb job! I REALLY like that buffer. I am going to build one inspired by yours that will work very well for my workbench and setup. Thanks!
Tom, thanks for watching!
I'm really happy with the buffer at this point.
If you haven't seen my "build" video of the buffer, here's the link to that vid.
ua-cam.com/video/x9euFi_tUUA/v-deo.html
Here's a link to my part list and idea resource list.
www.dropbox.com/s/wy0ljjunfk7omiw/Benchtop_Buffer_Idea.pdf?dl=0
One thing I want to change, and was in my original plan, is to use a precision shaft with threaded ends for the buffs to run on. I'm currently using a 1" threaded rod. It works, but there is some wobble.
If you know a good machine shop, or if you're a machinist, you should go with a precision shaft as an upgrade from the start.
Good luck with your project!
Man you nailed it! You did someone a fantastic job. Kudos my friend.
Hey Mike, good to hear from you!
Many thanks, it really did turn out nice. Someone should be really happy with this guitar, it's actually a pretty solid machine.
Take care!
Amazing work there John. No doubt its better than factory finish. I know I've said this to you before, finishing is a dark ark as far as I'm concerned. I need much more practice I think 😂
Hey Brian, good to hear from you, and hope you are doing well!
I feel like a little kid at times when I try to paint stuff. I'm sooo out of practice too, but this turned out great.
I'm really impressed and surprised by how well the 2K spray can clear seems to have "melted in" to the existing urethane. I know that's not how it works, but it sure looks like it.
Take care my friend!
Boy you do nice work. I have used the Simtec sealer on two guitars and 3 necks and love it. But probably spelled it wrong.
Gary, good to hear from you and thanks for watching!
I may be spelling it wrong also, at least we know what we mean - that's the important part, LOL.
This was my first time using it, and I like it too. Hope to have more things to spray it on soon.
Hope all is well, take care!
It sands so easy dry also. Also I never mentioned nice playing.
I don't know how i missed seeing this episode... Definitely slacking on keeping up...
This is just my thoughts but if that was my guitar i would have sanded all the black off the guitar and let that repair show .. i am weird when it comes to buying and owning instruments. Guitars depending on the style and brand it can be a solid color like jacksons, esp, etc.. but like a PRS or Gibson I like the stain on the top and natural neck and back. My PRS is a 408 10 top with trampus green top with mahogany back Brazilian rosewood neck and fretboard..
For basses i prefer natural wood. I don't know why I'm against solid colored instruments
Hey Bun, good to hear from you!
I hear ya, the repair looked pretty cool, and hiding it under color was a bit sad, but wasn't my call. The current LP I'm working on had a nearly identical break... I went another direction and made a complete neck. Not sure what I was thinking, LOL.
Take care!
as always, very nice project !
Take care :)
Bob, thanks for watching, and good to hear from you.
Hope all is well, take care!
@@theNextProject everything is fine ! I finished my Marshall closet, I just need to find some protective corners fitted to what I made (probably going to 3D print them) and a bigger Marshall logo !
Great job.
David, thanks for watching!
This project went really well.
Take care!
Wow that turned out great!
STaipari, thanks for watching!
I'm really happy with the results. It's a great guitar - now.
Take care!
Hey, thats an amazing job dude!! I have a question for you, because it looks like you know what you are doing... If i want to paint my headstock and half of the neck black to hide a repair, do i have to sand the clearcoat away or can i just sand the clear coat a little and spray black on top of the clearcoat and then finish it off with at new clearcoat on top????
Thanks for watching!
In general, you should be able to sand the clear and apply topcoat(s) over the prepped clear.
Not knowing what kind of paint is in the guitar, or what kind of paint you'll be using to respray, you should be cautious of possible incompatible paints.
If the neck has urethane on it, you cans sand and spray just about anything over it. If it is lacquer, there could be some issues.
Sorry not a direct yes or no answer.
Hope all goes well for you, good luck with your projects!
Hello and thanks for the good advice... It is a Gibson Les Paul standard, from 2023, I believe it is nitrocellulose and that is also what I have to spray over with... It's dark brown on the back so the plan is to paint the headstock black and then fade it together with the brown midway down the neck.. so if I just tape the body of and sand the whole neck a little so the clear becomes Matt, then it will be ready to spray? In other words, I don't need to sand down to the color??..... And when im done with the black, i will give the whole neck new clearcoat... that's the plan.. thanks again!
Thanks for the added info
That sounds like a good plan you have.
Lacquer can be a challenging paint. It is susceptible to humidity and temperature. So, don't spray if the humidity is high, or if it's cold out (cold probably won't be an issue).
Put the coats on thin, allow plenty of time between coats....
An issue I constantly hear when others spray lac, is that the surface is dry to the touch, but the paint it still soft, days or weeks later This is typically too thick of coats, not enough dry time between coats, and possible too many coats total. You've probably heard this too. The same issues are true for color and clear.
Humidity can/will cause blushing, which is often seen as a milky or cloudy discoloration of the paint. So don't rush the job, wait for dry weather.
No need to worry, just set aside more time than you think you'll need, prepare and don't rush the process. Even if you need to stop, you can come back to Lacquer another day, lightly scuff and re-prep the surface and pick up the process again.
Be sure to have adequate ventilation, lac isn't good for your lungs.
I'm sure you'll have a great project, be safe and take care!
Thank you very much, if I wasn't living in Denmark I would have taken it to you and paid you to do it hehe! I hope you keep this channel going! Have a nice day!
I cannot stop asking myself. There are many of the same issues with the Les Paul neck. Why does that company not change the wood and add a carbon fiber stick in the neck to avoid the neck Brocken.
Jeffrey, thanks for watching!
Great question, and depending on who you'd ask (at Gibson), you'd probably get a variety of answers.
I've given this a lot of thought over time and I completely agree with you.
They could spend a little upfront, do a "little" retooling and slight change to their production process to largely solve the issue.
A company the size of Gibson could have carbon fiber inserts custom made that would fit into the headstock and traverse into the neck. CNC everything along with the truss rod channel, glue in the CF, cap the headstock as they already do, place the fingerboard on it and the chance of catastrophic breaks would decrease by a huge percent.
The per-guitar cost would be lowered by doing this to every neck, spreading out the R & D, and machining costs.
An extra 10 minutes of milling time per neck, an extra 2 minutes of assembly time per neck, an extra $10 in materials per neck... but, it won't happen.
Those minutes and dollars are red flags to the bean counters, too much impact to the bottom line.
They need someone at the top to step in and say "no more, fix the issue".
Sorry, I rant.
The guitar looks at least like new again.
The only thing I have to ask, is the serial number still visible?
Achim, thanks for watching!
I was concerned about the stamped serial number too, as it was barely visible from day-one with the broken headstock.
I ended up filling the stamped number with some paint before the clear coats. So what stamping was there is now colored and sealed in for eternity. Not a factory option, so I'll call this an upgrade, LOL.
You may be able to catch a glance of it as I roll the guitar around in the opening bit, or another glance at ua-cam.com/video/jFXyUq3xWZU/v-deo.html
Hope all is well for you, take care!
Great job on the repair and as you said better than new and one other thing your guitar playing ain't that bad! Also what was your experience like with the Harley Benton order, I got the problems with the craftsmanship and hardware but how was shipping and speed of order time? Thanks for your great projects.
Gunsmith, good to hear from you again and thanks for watching!
Harley Benton orders... my personal experience has been all over the board.
I've purchases 5 or 6 times total, some orders arrived in a couple weeks, one order was 2 months out. Only had 1 order get stuck in US Customs, cost me an extra $20 customs fee. Thomann does/did have a notice on their site about this, but it caught me off guard.
I had one complete HB that looked good at a distance, but looked like a "B" stock up close. Thomann gave me some credit for the issue. Another complete HB guitar was unplayable, which didn't really matter to me as I planned to cut it up and modify it. But, if I would have wanted to just plug-n-play, it would have been a disappointment.
The HB SG kit I put together a couple months back was also unplayable right out of the box. It had neck/nut/trussrod issues. Again, I planned to mod the guitar, but not really that mod.
My overall take on HB is this. Every HB I've had, complete guitar or kit, needed work. Fretwork and strings at a minimum, with 2 out of 6+ being unplayable.
That said, they are so affordable, I overlook some issues and my plans always include cutting and modding, so I'm pretty safe getting a turd now and then.
I've had other brand kits years back mostly from either Amazon or Ebay, before I started doing videos. I can't say those were any better. One that I recall was a Solo kit, it was bad, bad, bad. I honestly think it was a fluke, as Solo gets pretty good reviews from what I know. I'd like to try them again someday soon. Kits are a roll of the dice, you never know if it will be good, bad or a mix.
You may also want to check out GuitarKitWorld.com. I had swapped a few messages with the gentleman from GKW, seems like a nice fella. I've also thought about trying one of his kits... too many ideas, too little time.
Hmm, maybe I should save my money and buy better kits.
Hope my rambling helps.
Good luck with your plans and projects, take care!
Thanks much with your sg I watched your series so I saw the problems. Like you I am interested in what I can do with the parts. Not going to get a silk purse for the price of the sows ear, but if it's big enough can we make a real guitar, you did with a lot of work. Me I'll think about it some more... Or there is an SG template on ebay to be made with a tele style neck, hmmm. Thanks again.
This is really good work. Making the splines follow a radius was really inspired in terms of maximising the interfacing surface, and that sealer seems to have worked perfectly to hide the joins. As someone who does a fair bit of electronics repair on random broken electronic musical devices, I love seeing something fixed that might otherwise be considered economically unviable to repair.
ThreeDayMonk, thanks for watching!
This repair went really well, and I borrowed ideas from a lot of different sources/inspirations.
I agree, the radius spline offer a great variety of bonding surface, short and long grain, no abrupt end grain... easy to work with too ( now that I have it figured out ).
The poly sealer is a really great product too, and very similar to what was on the guitar originally. The stuff sands well, but is really tough - interesting.
I hate seeing good things get discarded too, and since this was a brand new guitar, I wanted to give it a life. It's better than the day it left the factory now.
Hope all is well, take care!