You probably skipped the airbrush part... you do not grab a double action airbrush like a club, is is pointless, there is no way you can control air and paint flow that way... made me cringe.
@@GroovyDrifter There's always one who tries to piss on the fireworks. I guess you spend a lot of your life 'cringing.' Try acknowledging the positives in life, you'll be a lot happier. 🕊
I have seen many an LP headstock repair and know the difficulty of it. The repair on that devastating break on the burst is the best I've ever seen. Very impressive and incredibly well done. Masterful execution.
Absolutely superb craftsmanship. Very well presented, great command of the English language. Clean, no swearing, no fowl sayings, no slang. Professionally done with surgical accuracy. Thank you very much!
The craftmanship, the ingenuity, the reassuring english accent. All of this makes me want to break my headstock on purpose just to have it repaired by you.
I actually feel like a better human being for having watched this video--totally unexpected. It's like you conveyed the mindset of a master craftsman. Thanks.
This was absolutely mesmerizing to watch. You, sir, are a true luthier. If I have any work that needed doing on any of my guitars you'd be getting a call... Amazing job.
Yes mate,i totally agree,i took an old frankenstrat to him to be fixed up,he was completely honest with me and told me the case i brought it in was worth more than the guitar and it wouldn't be worth fixing it,he could of easily ripped me off but he didnt and was a stand up guy about it. I didnt even know he had a youtube channel until now,look up his guitars on his website,same name as this channel,they are expensive but beautiful hand made guitars.
this guy did an amazing repair with the woodwork,and they are probably stronger than the original.and I think he did a great job,trying to match the color..I've been an auto mobile painter for almost 25 years,,and to all the asswads with the negative comments on the guys spraying,or color matching..your clueless.i paint cars for a living.and make and match every color for every one.and you will not see the repair where the color blends out.heres the difference .these necks don't have opaque paint,wich can be blended into the original color..this is a transparent stain going over multiple. colors of woodgrain , plus trying to cover up the repair.spraining the entire neck,i.m.o. would be the only way to hide that well.thus is comparable to fixing a spot in the middle of a hood with a. candy paintjob.but even tougher because I the inconsistency the wood grain creates.if the necks were a solid color,different story.so for the critics,maybe you should watch and learn,and as far as leaving the repair visible,that's up to the. customer.any aspiring luthierswould be lu ky if this guy let you be an intern and learn by working for free,cleaning up for the guy.
This was so informative and entertaining... I bought a guitar 4 years ago.. it had a broken neck... I glued it... It's functional and I play it 3 to 5 gigs a week 3 hours each time.. this gave me some ideas about the next one I buy...or break.... Thanks
Did you use only glue like Titebond and clamped it or what?I am thinking of drilling 2 small holes on each side of the truss rod and put small wood pegs in it of course first clamp everything then later drill the peg holes.I do not have all the equipment this man has.
Having worked in a guitar shop specializing in used and vintage, I've seen many repared Gibson headstock breaks. I have never seen one done as beautifully as these. Thanks, I've subscribed!!!
@@DougHinVA I don't get what is faulty about it? Usually when you drop something, it breaks. Knowing that Gibson's neck angle is prone to breaking when they fall back, don't drop them. That would be like wondering why a TV breaks every time it falls on it's screen. It's not a faulty design because they're not meant to fall.
Wow!!! What an amazing artist!!! Such craftsmanship!!! I would love that Burst with the biscuits in the neck!!! Everyone look knows a repaired neck Gibson plays better for some reason anyhow!!!
Being a player and a woodworker for some 50 years, I can certainly appreciate the quality craftsmanship and would love to have a go at guitar repair. I have had good luck in powdered blendal type stains done more as an appliqué on noticeable cracks. Interesting to me to witness your technique. The end result is strength and salvaging the instrument. Beautiful result, nonetheless.
@@Wizardofgosz Not a frequent occurence but should a non-70s (Norlin era with the volute headstock , one of the only positive attributes of the 70-83 Gibson era) LP fall backwards on the headstock, chances are it's going to crack at the very least. In the case of this video, I have never heard of a neck snapping like that without an extremely hard hit.
@@kevinsibert3160 I had a 73 Les Paul Custom with a volute which had a headstock break. My understanding was that the volute never worked which was why they stopped using them in the 80s.
I have a 1985 Les Paul Custom and no neck breaks I play it four hours a day and used it on stage extensively when I was younger. They don't pop apart by themselves, but the headstock is tilted back at 14 - 17 degrees and the neck join is tilted back at 4 or five degrees if the thing falls backwards for example a headstock break is extremely likely. The tone and feel is worth it but you have to be sensible. I always carry one of those fold up Hercules stands in my kit bag. Strats and teles are all flat (string pressure is created with string trees and such) hence breaks are much less likely, but they do happen. I've seen it!
You are right about lacquer sinking into any small gaps around the repair and making it more visible. That is why I like to leave the lacquer for as long as possible before I level and polish out the repair.
there is even a solution to this. just build them with a scarf joint. I don't think this is ugly. even with see through finishes. I see it as a multi-part neck, and it makes the neck stronger from the beginning. many "cheap" guitars have a joint like this. Gibson makes one piece necks because of aestetics, which I think is stupid...
you made that look so easy. I quit my job as a surgeon and im gonna start a new career fixing guitars. I am of course NOT kidding. thanks for the awesome video.
Nicely done! As an interest in cabinet making I really appreciate the skill that you put into this, well done. And the critics of the dark backstrap have missed the elephant in the room , which is that the customer was consulted at every stage and the luthier gave him EXACTLY what he wanted. The customer may not always be right but he is always the customer and will be a good referral for you.
My grandmother had a 70s Les Paul. She had it put away in her closet. It was perfectly fine, then when she passed away, we opened the case and sure enough the headstock was snapped off. This is a woman who used plastic on the couches. The rest of it had no dings or damage. Had it repaired and you can't tell unless you use a bright flashlight and look closely, but it's black so that's easier to hide. This repair is beautiful. Very nice work!
This is the first time I have seen splints used in the repair of a broken headstock. Makes perfect sense for this specific type of severe damage. Very informative coverage of the repair proces. Thanks!
@@joshuabarron8535 it's not a gibson, it's people. tell me if you were a gibson les paul fan, would you prefer different design? of course no. masses dictate design, and in this case i agree with them. i love les paul design :)
If you like the LP style of guitar, then try other brands. They will be a much better value. Gibson=overpriced. Something like the PRS SE 245 Single Cut Electric Guitar. Less than half the price. And because its PRS, it won't have quality issues, or a dated headstock design. CHECKMATE
@@joshuabarron8535 hate prs. i'm thinking of getting maybach lester, they are plain amazing. but they ain't gonna hold their value as well as gibson of course.
Wow. I don't own a guitar, never played one but serendipity took me here and watched the video all the way through. A pleasure to watch someone do a job really well with real skill and thoughtfulness. I have done plaster cornice repairs in my house having to hand craft missing pieces of a 200 year old design so nobody can see the join. Luckily, people only ever see my work with a glance from 15 feet away covered in 3 layers of emulsion!
You are a total pro. I went to a guitar doc, and all he did was glue the neck back on. This is the only true way to fix a broken Gibson headstock. Absolute master of your craft
Your skills are inspiring in many ways...the terrible feeling one would experience if such an accident would happen would be extremely depressing..not to mention from an unprofessional view point it would seem hopeless...so yeah the fact that you perform these musical miracles is a sign of great hope!
You said it all... My father's guitar, that i inherited almost 20 years ago broke in the same way as those Les Pauls, and i spent months away from it, trying to forget it rather than remember the pain it caused me. But today i motivated myself to seek a way of fixing it myself (cause i can't afford a luthier to do it, not even with the "friends & family discount" a buddy offered me), and this video insspired me...i might not have the woodworking skills or tools to do it, but i know a ccouple of guys who do, and the simple thought of being able to play that guitar again both made me cry and shed tears...nothing is more depressing than losing a guitar you have an emotional attachment to, and i wish no one shall ever go through it.
@@roulpops2699 on Craigslist a guy gave me his les paul standard because the neck was broke ..so I just used wood glue and clamps to seal it and sanded off the excess and the guitar has been fine for 3 years so far
I am not a musician and have no real interest in guitars but I am a woodworker and I always gain knowledge watching master restoration videos. Yours was fascinating in both presentation, education and results. Many thanks.
@@flameguitars5770 It also takes considerable skill, and (as is evident in you) a fine sense of artistry. As I say above, watching this is incredibly inspirational.
I am about to repair my first broken Les Paul headstock and have watched this video twice so far in preparation. To echo what others have said, this video is put together wonderfully, the work itself is unbelievably spectacular, and it all makes me feel a lot better about diving into something I have not done yet.
Glad that this video has given you the confidence to tackle this repair. I repair about a dozen LPs a year. The repairs do get easier with practice. I have a second neck repair video on my channel that you may want to look at.
It's a good job you're not trying to repair the headstock of a Paul Reed Smith guitar . there aren't any videos out there showing you how to do it because it's never had to happen before
Excellent! I’ve been waiting 2.5 years for my les paul custom to be repaired. I wish I had known about you when I shipped it off. Keep up the good work!!
@@francoamerican4632somebodies taking the p### on that time to repair any guitar never mind a broken headstock .I’d go to see if they’ve still got it and they ain’t sold it ..
Seriously impressive work as always Sir - love these videos - it is always interesting to watch a craftsman at work and marvel - take care hope to see you soon once the world returns to normal - p.s my strat still plays like a dream after your treatment
You've done a beautiful repair. Finally someone who is aware there is a brown wood glue on the market. To me , the hardest job is color matching stained wood. You did a very, very good job of making those plugs disappear. I enjoyed watching how the repair was done. Mind you I'm an outdoor garden train modeler, a lot of my buildings are wood copies of plastic kits using cedar wood (so insects don't move in the wood. Again what a fantastic job done.
I have owned many Gibson les Paul’s currently I own 2 classics and never had a problem that is a week point on the instrument but I really don’t think they just snap off looking at them wrong
@williejames huff - I've heard the Epiphone Les Pauls aren't as prone to headstock breakage. I have heard that Chibson fake Les Pauls are less prone to headstock breakage. I've never owned a Les Paul, but I have owned a Yamaha SG2000, a better and sturdier version of the LP style guitar. I have witnessed a bandmate's late 60s Black Beauty Les Paul fall over when it was on a stand and it was heartbreaking. It snapped like a little twig.
@@TomLaios - Did you do the repair or was it already repaired when you bought it? Just curious. I also wised up eventually when it came to headstocks. If a guitar has no head, it is impossible to break the head. So, I have a Kramer Duke 6-string, three Steinbergers, and a Cort headless 4-string bass.
@williejames huff How about buy one and take care of it? I keep the guitar in a case when it is not being played, never on a guitar stand, you'd be amazed how well that works.
Well I gotta say,I started playing guitar when I was around nine years old or so and I'm 58 now and have had to make many guitar repairs in my day. Sometimes thinking outside the box is the best method. Thank you for this awesome master class on this type of repair!!!!!
Lol...I just repaired an Ibanez acoustic electric guitar yesterday...lol The neck was split at spot where the neck connects to the body and was causing the strings to be WAY to high and wouldn't stay in tune, totally unplayable!
Superb work and fabrication of an ingenious device to over come a seemingly impossible task.. As we know Gibson tried to introduce necks with laminated with shallower angled head stocks with volutes to overcome this bad desighn.. This is a throwback from deep bodied jazz and acoustic guitars that would possible resist the dreaded Gibson snap of the 17 degree head stock! The Gibson purists rejected the attempt to rectify the neck problem... and deemed the guitars as a sell out to Authenticity
I know right! When you're hell bent on staying authentic to a severely flawed design, you are no longer guided by any logic whatsoever. To me it amounts to a horrendously and unequivocally WRONG executive decision to not fix a glaring design flaw on the grounds that it wouldn't be authentic. I'll never understand that. To me it's just blind arrogance to deem your design that you know is SEVERELY flawed as perfect and absolutely not to be deviated from. Not only are their headstocks prone to snapping off but their design flaw extends to their infamous tuning instability. Here's how insane they are at Gibson... instead of redesigning the headstock, they dumped a ton of money into r&d to develop the I'll fated robotuners to continually tune the out of tune strings they knew they would have because of their bad headstock design. How the hell were those robotuners "authentic"?
Very relaxing for me to watch this video. I would not have any issue purchasing either of these guitars knowing their history and your superb craftsmanship in the repairs.
I did a similiar repair on an 80s red wine lp . Matching was the hardest part,but the spline repair has stood the test of time. Great technique wonderful video
Incredible job man! Some of the best work I’ve seen and now he doesn’t have to worry about the headstock breaking ever again. My Gibson actually sound better and holds tune better after the repair so I think it’s a good thing to get it over with. Especially since he has a guy like you with your skills
Beautiful work by a true craftsman! I had a 1974 Gibson Led Paul Custom as my first electric guitar. No break on the headstock, but I wonder why Gibson has not fixed the issue permanently by now.
Gibson fixed this issue in the 70s with 3 piece maple necks, a lesser headstock angle and the volute. But customers wanted 50s style Les Pauls and so Gibson went back to the weaker Mahogany neck design prone to break…
This repair was poetry in motion. A true luthier indeed. The plunge router and jig he made was perfect for this repair. That Titebond glue must be the best, I’ve watched several videos where I’ve seen it being used before, and people really put their faith in it. Great product.
I had one fixed over twenty years ago, and it’s still going hard. Of course it was done by the tech who was working with the Doobie Bros. This video is very interesting and really shows the your great work and patience! ✌️🤪🎸🎶🎵🎶🎵p.s. mine was along the line of the grain, but when it happened it was devastating.
Man, that was awesome. It’s comforting to know you’re out there somewhere, and you’ll be the first person I’d call if, god forbid, this was to to happen to me. Great vid.
Had a Gibson SG where the headstock snapped off, certainly was nothing I caused. The guitar was still under guarantee less than 3 months old. The company a high street shop had gone out of business so contacted Gibson US and was handed to Gibson Europe, firstly accused me that it must have been something I did.. secondly refused to honor the guarantee saying this was a grey goods purchase the shop I bought it from had made. Anyway despite involving trading standards I got no where with Gibson who refused to replace or even pay for the repair to the guitar which had to come out of my pocket. I would never purchase another Gibson guitar ever again. Professionally repaired but the bell truss rod cover has a slight crease through it and even though this luthier was a licensed repair guy for Gibson they even refused to replace the cover.. Very disappointed In Gibson after all this. Wow the repair shown in this video looks awesome.. I still have images someplace of my Gibson SG break.
Maybe from the Gibson point of view it is not a flaw! It is a weakness that enables them to get away with selling even more of an ill conceived design at over inflated prices to those that throw them away and buy another new one. Custom shop and pre-aged if course. Lol
yes well all the same I agree its a design flaw. I had the neck and headstock examined by a professional in carpentry i recall him saying about the grain? In how it runs off at angle making the area of the neck weak where it joins the headstock. I didn't take too kindly when Gibson stated i had in some way dropped or banged the headstock and they never even asked to examine the break! The other SG i sold and had this one professionally repaired at a cost to me. Never will i purchase another Gibson ever! But im not going to pay over inflated price and have the headstock broke and reset. I'm not interested in the history of Gibson, that was when Gibson in its early days not now especially some off the piss poor quality control! just search here on UA-cam. A good quality Epiphone will do and at least headstock and neck one piece! These days I buy the Fender Strats and anyone saying you just dont get the same sounds I say different PUPs or adust tones or even incorporate an EQ! Gibson stuffed themselves treating me the customer as almost the shit on their shoes. But never mind Fender certainly done well out of me.
@@sugaryawroc Seymour Duncan pups into a strat you are there! Crazy guitar. My brother once threw and I mean threw a 1965 strat onto its face at a pub jam sesh and kicked it across the floor ar least 30 ft Gibson right off, Fender strat that age try to kill it, it will bite you loli
@@Ralf1erudd Lol yes if it were possible just ask Pete Townsend! It was way to easy to trash a Gibson but a Fender Strat just so God damn frustrating trying to break one :) Certainly not saying to anyone to do this, But if you did accidentally drop a Fender its likely to survive the same cannot be said of Gibson.
Thanks for sharing this expert repair with us. This is easily the best broken neck/headtock repair I've ever seen done. Gibson should take note and start making their giutars with added splints at the weak neck/headstock area. Much kudos to Mr Flame Guitar.
And my VERY similar happened to a Gibson Les Paul Standard that was resting IN A STAND, but it was plugged in, and my ankle was tangled in the lead, so when I walked away I also yanked on the guitar and it took a nose dive resulting in a complete break just above the truss rod cavity... Luckily I was able to repair it myself with some good old Elmers wood glue and clamps, and a few years later it's still holding, knock wood!
i dont get why people cant just accept the repair and keep the head in the original colour. id rather see a good repair with visible splints, than discoloured paint jobs.
@@max1mys yes, but without the darker overspray it would just look better in my opinion. same goes for the stingray overapray people do just to cover fixed tunerholes.. why not just keep them visible?
I agree. On this case I think it was a bad decision to recolour the neck. Just accept it's a repair job. There's no shame in that. Gibson necks get broken a lot !!
Watched this one for the 2e time, it’s like a good movie you’ll could see over and over again. Must be very fulfilling to repair and create like this. Thanks for sharing
Now this is unreal. Such a great pleasure to see a true master at work. Now I know where to call when I break the headstock of my Les Paul. If I break my head I think will try this place first. Fantastic craftsmanship.
Scarf joints aren't a perfect solution. You see many more cases of the fretboard ungluing around the nut and first 1-2 frets on necks with scarf joint (often you can see the resulting finish cracking along where the fretboard and neck meet), that's because that part of the fretboard is glued to endgrain of the angled part. Also you can still totally break an angled headstock if it's a scarf joint, often around the scarf joint itself (in this case the main part of the neck is glued by the endgrain to the headstock part), I've seen a few Epiphones and other guitars with a scarf joint with both of these problems, two of those happened when transported in a dedicated fitted hard shell case.
What is it they say about a repaired head stock being stronger than before? They should break them at the factory, then repair them; it won't happen again.
They should drill dowels into them and do a proper fucking job of engineering. It's a stressed member with only a couple of mm of thickness on a stress point. Shit design. Don't get me wrong, I love these guitars but the headstock is the weakest thing on the guitar. Easy to fix.
@@GodzillaGoesGaga Perhaps, cut channels and insert maple pins, dowels or splints before the headstock overlay and fingerboard are installed at the factory. This would probably be best done along with routing the truss rod channel into the neck blank. The aesthetics of a one-piece neck would be unaffected and the reinforcements would be hidden along with the truss rod.
@@maverickdallas1004 I was thinking rectangular bar stock graphite for the inserts, since they'll be completely hidden under the fiber cover anyhow. It's similar in concept to putting graphite rods under the fingerboard of a neck that didn't originally have a truss rod.
Fantastic job on that color matching hiding those splines. If that was my guitar I would have told you not to bother with color matching. And I'd have said go ahead and use maple. Battle scars! What's a Les Paul without a repaired headstock?
I agree. A quality, proper repair is important but in my opinion there’s nothing wrong with an evident repair. Maybe some dye on the splines so it isn’t highlighted would be ok. I suspect the neck is stronger now than when it was new.
Hear, hear. In fact, if it were mine, I'd use maple and then refinish the neck natural. I would do exactly what he did on the front, but I'd want to showcase the clean repair on the back of the neck. A Gibson neck repaired this way is much stronger than when it left the factory, and on a player-grade instrument is often as or more desirable than an unbroken one if done well.
Real shame these guitars have this issue, I always handle my Gibson's with extra care to avoid damaging them. Some one picked up my Telecaster case one time, and the case was not latched. The Tele crashed onto a hard tile floor but not a mark on it. If that was a LP or SG the guitar would have been toast.
@@AkeoT9 the problematic part would probably be the bridge, as it sits relatively high over the body on a lp. Not sure if hardware like this exists. Everything else, routing the top for access to the tuning pegs and the elongation of the neck to house the truss rod and locking nut seems to be feasible.
I just purchased one that had a neck repair...the only reason why? They used the router and what you did...thanks for showing us. I need to build myself a jig like you have. Best part??? Now I can clean mine up, do the coloring and make it less obvious. I feel like I owe you for this lesson.
I can’t help but think the guy with 2 broken headstock guitars is doing something besides just opening the case and to his surprise they just are in 2 pieces
Steve M as someone who owns a Gibson LP with a Gibson USA case that has seen plenty of travel and knocks, I can’t see how the neck would snap in the ways shown here. The case has a sufficiently padded support the length of the neck, that allows for a cushioned and gentle sitting of the neck up its entirety almost, except for the headstock area that is left open for storage of packs of strings etc. So for me, two things: either he is using a cheaper LP shaped generic case that lacks sufficient support OR, he is filling this storage space up excessively which means the headstock cannot sit low enough (storage contents are pushing the headstock up a little) thus forcing the headstock and lower neck to push excessively against the top of the case. If said case gets knocked or guitar cases are stacked this could create enough pressure to cause a snap
Exactly. I've been playing Gibsons for 30 years, mostly Les Paul's. I've traveled, gigged, and recorded in some strange places with my guitars. I don't baby them, but I also don't abuse them. I've never head a headstock break. I think common sense and a hard case are sufficient protection.
@@Zoso981 Um...Did you not gather from the intro of this video that Les Pauls have a propensity to snap? If you solved it with a fancy case, perhaps you should let us in on the details rather than wax prophetic. In that manner perhaps we could learn something.
@@geraldhenrickson7472 I simply place my guitars in their Gibson-supplied hard cases (not fancy at all), and I don't drop them. Rather simple, actually. I didn't realize I was "waxing prophetic" my sincerest apologies, your majesty.
@@JK-zx3go should at least be life time guaranteed for the gross over charging that they do. For what they cost they should always be fixed for free. But ya know i have never heard of an ESP or Ibanez having their head stocks snap off, so it must be a serious design flaw.
that was amazing craftsmanship, I sat here entire video and watched the whole thing without noticing how long the video was. i think that's the best repair I've seen on youtube. very well done my friend.
A great craftsman indeed. In the 1980's I bought a new Gibson J-50 acoustic which came with a Gibson case. To my horror 2 weeks after I bought it I opened the case one evening and the headstock had snapped off in the same way that you describe in the video, I was devastated, I got in touch with Gibson who were far from sympathetic, they more or less called me a liar and would not accept that such a thing could happen, they took no responsability whatsoever. I was living in Paris at the time so I took the guitar to Favino who made a repair for me which was fairly good but did not last for too long, the head moved a little which made it almost impossible to play. That was the the last Gibson I ever owned, moved on over to Martin instead. Brilliant job on those two LP's Kind regards Hamish
Thanks Hamish. You will find a number of comments here questioning whether it is possible for a neck to break without some form of impact. But you will also find a few people saying that they opened the case and found the neck had broken. I talked to someone recently who had a new gold top and the neck snapped within the first month of owning it. Devastating.
I have a 2020 Gibson Les Paul classic cherry burst, only about six months old and I knocked it off a guitar stand by accident and snapped the headstock off, I am 58 years old have been playing guitar since the age of 11and never so much as scratched any one of my instruments, i have 27 guitars Of which three are Gibson Les Pauls... one is a Gold top Standard, one is a alpine white studio and my cherry burst classic, I will be bringing the classic tomorrow to the local luthier which I believe will be utilizing the splint technique which I definitely would prefer, I just hope to God he is as good as you are, if so I have nothing to worry about, absolutely fantastic work, I wish you were in Connecticut because you would be my first choice.
This craftsmanship is unbelievable. What a treat to watch.
Totally agree
You probably skipped the airbrush part... you do not grab a double action airbrush like a club, is is pointless, there is no way you can control air and paint flow that way... made me cringe.
@@GroovyDrifter Either way, I guess the results speak for themselves.
@@GroovyDrifter Either way, he did a fantastic job.
@@GroovyDrifter
There's always one who tries to piss on the fireworks. I guess you spend a lot of your life 'cringing.' Try acknowledging the positives in life, you'll be a lot happier. 🕊
I have seen many an LP headstock repair and know the difficulty of it. The repair on that devastating break on the burst is the best I've ever seen. Very impressive and incredibly well done. Masterful execution.
You’re an impressive artist. I’m glad I watched this.
He used the hammer of the gods, Mjolnir, to tap the headstock back together, no wonder the neck was restored back to it's former glory.
Love that! Hammer of the gods!!@@JENDALL714
Absolutely superb craftsmanship. Very well presented, great command of the English language. Clean, no swearing, no fowl sayings, no slang. Professionally done with surgical accuracy. Thank you very much!
Glad you enjoyed it
The craftmanship, the ingenuity, the reassuring english accent. All of this makes me want to break my headstock on purpose just to have it repaired by you.
As an amateur luthier, all I can say is "wow!" A VERY impressive repair, sir!
I actually feel like a better human being for having watched this video--totally unexpected. It's like you conveyed the mindset of a master craftsman. Thanks.
It was definately a very well put together video.
A real craftsman. You can feel and see the passion he has for his work. Absolute joy to watch. Fantastic repair.
This was absolutely mesmerizing to watch. You, sir, are a true luthier. If I have any work that needed doing on any of my guitars you'd be getting a call... Amazing job.
Yes mate,i totally agree,i took an old frankenstrat to him to be fixed up,he was completely honest with me and told me the case i brought it in was worth more than the guitar and it wouldn't be worth fixing it,he could of easily ripped me off but he didnt and was a stand up guy about it. I didnt even know he had a youtube channel until now,look up his guitars on his website,same name as this channel,they are expensive but beautiful hand made guitars.
this guy did an amazing repair with the woodwork,and they are probably stronger than the original.and I think he did a great job,trying to match the color..I've been an auto mobile painter for almost 25 years,,and to all the asswads with the negative comments on the guys spraying,or color matching..your clueless.i paint cars for a living.and make and match every color for every one.and you will not see the repair where the color blends out.heres the difference .these necks don't have opaque paint,wich can be blended into the original color..this is a transparent stain going over multiple. colors of woodgrain , plus trying to cover up the repair.spraining the entire neck,i.m.o. would be the only way to hide that well.thus is comparable to fixing a spot in the middle of a hood with a. candy paintjob.but even tougher because I the inconsistency the wood grain creates.if the necks were a solid color,different story.so for the critics,maybe you should watch and learn,and as far as leaving the repair visible,that's up to the. customer.any aspiring luthierswould be lu ky if this guy let you be an intern and learn by working for free,cleaning up for the guy.
This was so informative and entertaining... I bought a guitar 4 years ago.. it had a broken neck... I glued it... It's functional and I play it 3 to 5 gigs a week 3 hours each time.. this gave me some ideas about the next one I buy...or break.... Thanks
Did you use only glue like Titebond and clamped it or what?I am thinking of drilling 2 small holes on each side of the truss rod and put small wood pegs in it of course first clamp everything then later drill the peg holes.I do not have all the equipment this man has.
Absolutely outstanding. The word “professional” is an understatement. Utmost respect and admiration.
Having worked in a guitar shop specializing in used and vintage, I've seen many repared Gibson headstock breaks. I have never seen one done as beautifully as these. Thanks, I've subscribed!!!
Wow, that is very kind of you.
MANY repaired Gibson headstock breaks tells the tale... Gibson has faulty factory guitar design of the headstock/neck area that fails repeatedly.
@@DougHinVA I don't get what is faulty about it? Usually when you drop something, it breaks. Knowing that Gibson's neck angle is prone to breaking when they fall back, don't drop them. That would be like wondering why a TV breaks every time it falls on it's screen. It's not a faulty design because they're not meant to fall.
@@wiseguy9202 only he explained the owner was quite certain he hadn't dropped the guitar.
@@jimmoore7442 the headstock didn't just fall off by itself. It's an obvious impact break.
you sir, are doing the lords work. I can't believe how well these guitars are turning out.
Watching someone doing something they love doing is always a treat. Excellent craftsmanship on display here.
That was 40minutes well spent. Thanks so much for posting this.
Wow!!! What an amazing artist!!! Such craftsmanship!!! I would love that Burst with the biscuits in the neck!!! Everyone look knows a repaired neck Gibson plays better for some reason anyhow!!!
Thanks for that
Being a player and a woodworker for some 50 years, I can certainly appreciate the quality craftsmanship and would love to have a go at guitar repair. I have had good luck in powdered blendal type stains done more as an appliqué on noticeable cracks. Interesting to me to witness your technique. The end result is strength and salvaging the instrument. Beautiful result, nonetheless.
Good old Gibson always looking to help smaller luthiers by giving them plenty of work on these complicated times! So kind of them
That thought has crossed my mind many times!
I hear that there are lots of Les Paul neck breaks, but I need to see some numbers, not just anecdotal evidence.
@@Wizardofgosz Not a frequent occurence but should a non-70s (Norlin era with the volute headstock , one of the only positive attributes of the 70-83 Gibson era) LP fall backwards on the headstock, chances are it's going to crack at the very least. In the case of this video, I have never heard of a neck snapping like that without an extremely hard hit.
@@kevinsibert3160 I had a 73 Les Paul Custom with a volute which had a headstock break. My understanding was that the volute never worked which was why they stopped using them in the 80s.
I have a 1985 Les Paul Custom and no neck breaks I play it four hours a day and used it on stage extensively when I was younger. They don't pop apart by themselves, but the headstock is tilted back at 14 - 17 degrees and the neck join is tilted back at 4 or five degrees if the thing falls backwards for example a headstock break is extremely likely. The tone and feel is worth it but you have to be sensible. I always carry one of those fold up Hercules stands in my kit bag. Strats and teles are all flat (string pressure is created with string trees and such) hence breaks are much less likely, but they do happen. I've seen it!
Best gibby headstock repair I have seen. great Job Sir.
As the lacker and glue will schrink further one can expect the repair to be more visual over time. Never the less, this just looks fantastic !
You are right about lacquer sinking into any small gaps around the repair and making it more visible. That is why I like to leave the lacquer for as long as possible before I level and polish out the repair.
As the saying goes with Les Pauls "Why don't they just break the headstock at the factory and be done wit it?"......
Since Gibson had many decades to correct this it must be a feature not a bug.
funny...but true...
there is even a solution to this. just build them with a scarf joint. I don't think this is ugly. even with see through finishes. I see it as a multi-part neck, and it makes the neck stronger from the beginning. many "cheap" guitars have a joint like this. Gibson makes one piece necks because of aestetics, which I think is stupid...
Never heard that saying but I don't tend to hand around dumb people so...
Unbelievable. I've never seen a repair of that quality. Beautiful work!
you made that look so easy. I quit my job as a surgeon and im gonna start a new career fixing guitars. I am of course NOT kidding. thanks for the awesome video.
Nicely done! As an interest in cabinet making I really appreciate the skill that you put into this, well done. And the critics of the dark backstrap have missed the elephant in the room , which is that the customer was consulted at every stage and the luthier gave him EXACTLY what he wanted. The customer may not always be right but he is always the customer and will be a good referral for you.
Yes, thanks for that. I always explain to the customer the various viable options and let them decide. After all, it is their guitar and not mine.
My grandmother had a 70s Les Paul. She had it put away in her closet. It was perfectly fine, then when she passed away, we opened the case and sure enough the headstock was snapped off. This is a woman who used plastic on the couches. The rest of it had no dings or damage. Had it repaired and you can't tell unless you use a bright flashlight and look closely, but it's black so that's easier to hide. This repair is beautiful. Very nice work!
This is the first time I have seen splints used in the repair of a broken headstock. Makes perfect sense for this specific type of severe damage. Very informative coverage of the repair proces. Thanks!
What a awesome video,any person that gives another life to an musical instrument is a hero to me. God bless him
Awsome work, your voice is so calming listening to you. Your the Mr. Rogers of guitar repair.
Mr Rogers of guitar repair! Thanks, I think I'll put that on the wall in my workshop
He is the Bob Ross of guitar repairs!
67Jazzmaster - No mistakes, just happy accidents.
@@stevee7774 everyone needs a friend
Not the Mr. Rogers but the PAINTER Mr. Ross from the Joy of Painting.
A Les Paul with a snapped off headstock, now that's what I'd call 'Authentic'
Indeed, Gibson is to arrogant to fix the design. After all, it "tradition".
@@joshuabarron8535 it's not a gibson, it's people. tell me if you were a gibson les paul fan, would you prefer different design? of course no. masses dictate design, and in this case i agree with them. i love les paul design :)
If you like the LP style of guitar, then try other brands. They will be a much better value. Gibson=overpriced. Something like the PRS SE 245 Single Cut Electric Guitar. Less than half the price. And because its PRS, it won't have quality issues, or a dated headstock design. CHECKMATE
@@joshuabarron8535 hate prs. i'm thinking of getting maybach lester, they are plain amazing. but they ain't gonna hold their value as well as gibson of course.
@@joshuabarron8535 "dated" is what drives people to buy gibsons. and i'm this kind of guy :)
Wow. I don't own a guitar, never played one but serendipity took me here and watched the video all the way through. A pleasure to watch someone do a job really well with real skill and thoughtfulness.
I have done plaster cornice repairs in my house having to hand craft missing pieces of a 200 year old design so nobody can see the join. Luckily, people only ever see my work with a glance from 15 feet away covered in 3 layers of emulsion!
You are a total pro. I went to a guitar doc, and all he did was glue the neck back on. This is the only true way to fix a broken Gibson headstock. Absolute master of your craft
Thank you, very kind
Could have watched this all night. So interesting. Calming and peaceful. Great job👍👍
Your skills are inspiring in many ways...the terrible feeling one would experience if such an accident would happen would be extremely depressing..not to mention from an unprofessional view point it would seem hopeless...so yeah the fact that you perform these musical miracles is a sign of great hope!
You said it all... My father's guitar, that i inherited almost 20 years ago broke in the same way as those Les Pauls, and i spent months away from it, trying to forget it rather than remember the pain it caused me. But today i motivated myself to seek a way of fixing it myself (cause i can't afford a luthier to do it, not even with the "friends & family discount" a buddy offered me), and this video insspired me...i might not have the woodworking skills or tools to do it, but i know a ccouple of guys who do, and the simple thought of being able to play that guitar again both made me cry and shed tears...nothing is more depressing than losing a guitar you have an emotional attachment to, and i wish no one shall ever go through it.
@@roulpops2699 on Craigslist a guy gave me his les paul standard because the neck was broke ..so I just used wood glue and clamps to seal it and sanded off the excess and the guitar has been fine for 3 years so far
When my Les Paul’s headstock inevitably breaks from me sneezing too hard around it, You’re the person I’ll send it to c:
A truely professional job, well Done, pleasure to watch
I agree with having them fix a headstock, but in 30 years of gigging, I've never broke one. And I'm far from a careful person.
You might want to go into a separate room for your sneezes.
@@chuckschillingvideos probably just jinxed myself...
@@wiseguy9202 I'll keep my fingers crossed for you!
Truly masterful repair. I'm sure your customer was thoroughly surprised and pleased. Well Done!!
Thank you James
I am not a musician and have no real interest in guitars but I am a woodworker and I always gain knowledge watching master restoration videos. Yours was fascinating in both presentation, education and results. Many thanks.
Yes, very impressive! Thanks for showing us how you did this. I really liked the fixture to hold it while he routed it.
Wow! I never thought I could love sandpaper so much. Amazing work!
Congratulations, wonderful job and fine result. Much, much time gets spent with this type of work that customers sometimes just don’t realise. Cheers
Thanks for your kind comments. One of the reasons for making these videos is to show what is involved and why a proper repair times time.
@@flameguitars5770 It also takes considerable skill, and (as is evident in you) a fine sense of artistry. As I say above, watching this is incredibly inspirational.
I am about to repair my first broken Les Paul headstock and have watched this video twice so far in preparation. To echo what others have said, this video is put together wonderfully, the work itself is unbelievably spectacular, and it all makes me feel a lot better about diving into something I have not done yet.
Glad that this video has given you the confidence to tackle this repair. I repair about a dozen LPs a year. The repairs do get easier with practice. I have a second neck repair video on my channel that you may want to look at.
It's a good job you're not trying to repair the headstock of a Paul Reed Smith guitar . there aren't any videos out there showing you how to do it because it's never had to happen before
Great craftsmanship need more people like you around who takes pride in there work.
I could listen to this guy talk all day. You've got my sub.
Excellent! I’ve been waiting 2.5 years for my les paul custom to be repaired. I wish I had known about you when I shipped it off. Keep up the good work!!
2-1/2 years!?! Never heard of any guitar repair taking that long to complete.
@@francoamerican4632somebodies taking the p### on that time to repair any guitar never mind a broken headstock .I’d go to see if they’ve still got it and they ain’t sold it ..
Seriously impressive work as always Sir - love these videos - it is always interesting to watch a craftsman at work and marvel - take care hope to see you soon once the world returns to normal - p.s my strat still plays like a dream after your treatment
Thanks Brett. Hope you are keeping well
You've done a beautiful repair. Finally someone who is aware there is a brown wood glue on the market. To me , the hardest job is color matching stained wood. You did a very, very good job of making those plugs disappear. I enjoyed watching how the repair was done. Mind you I'm an outdoor garden train modeler, a lot of my buildings are wood copies of plastic kits using cedar wood (so insects don't move in the wood. Again what a fantastic job done.
Thank you.
I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say, if this guy was one of the king's men, poor Humpty would be alive today...
Nice!
Folks pay a premium for that detachable headstock feature.
I have owned many Gibson les Paul’s currently I own 2 classics and never had a problem that is a week point on the instrument but I really don’t think they just snap off looking at them wrong
@williejames huff - I've heard the Epiphone Les Pauls aren't as prone to headstock breakage. I have heard that Chibson fake Les Pauls are less prone to headstock breakage. I've never owned a Les Paul, but I have owned a Yamaha SG2000, a better and sturdier version of the LP style guitar. I have witnessed a bandmate's late 60s Black Beauty Les Paul fall over when it was on a stand and it was heartbreaking. It snapped like a little twig.
@@rb032682 I bought an Epiphone with a snapped off headstock.Four years on and the repair is still holding.
@@TomLaios - Did you do the repair or was it already repaired when you bought it? Just curious.
I also wised up eventually when it came to headstocks. If a guitar has no head, it is impossible to break the head. So, I have a Kramer Duke 6-string, three Steinbergers, and a Cort headless 4-string bass.
@williejames huff How about buy one and take care of it? I keep the guitar in a case when it is not being played, never on a guitar stand, you'd be amazed how well that works.
It is amazing to see how gentle you do this craftmsnship. I am impressed. Hello from a guitar player from Holland.
Fantastic job. That is the best headstock repair i've seen. I bet the owner was happy.
Thanks for your comment
Well I gotta say,I started playing guitar when I was around nine years old or so and I'm 58 now and have had to make many guitar repairs in my day. Sometimes thinking outside the box is the best method. Thank you for this awesome master class on this type of repair!!!!!
Thank you. I have two other neck repair videos. They show the evolution of my repair technique.
Lol...I just repaired an Ibanez acoustic electric guitar yesterday...lol The neck was split at spot where the neck connects to the body and was causing the strings to be WAY to high and wouldn't stay in tune, totally unplayable!
That colour matching was excellent. Job well done.
Superb work and fabrication of an ingenious device to over come a seemingly impossible task..
As we know Gibson tried to introduce necks with laminated with shallower angled head stocks with volutes to overcome
this bad desighn..
This is a throwback from deep bodied jazz and acoustic guitars that would possible resist the dreaded Gibson snap of the 17 degree head stock!
The Gibson purists rejected the attempt to rectify the neck problem... and deemed the guitars as a sell out to Authenticity
I know right! When you're hell bent on staying authentic to a severely flawed design, you are no longer guided by any logic whatsoever. To me it amounts to a horrendously and unequivocally WRONG executive decision to not fix a glaring design flaw on the grounds that it wouldn't be authentic. I'll never understand that. To me it's just blind arrogance to deem your design that you know is SEVERELY flawed as perfect and absolutely not to be deviated from. Not only are their headstocks prone to snapping off but their design flaw extends to their infamous tuning instability. Here's how insane they are at Gibson... instead of redesigning the headstock, they dumped a ton of money into r&d to develop the I'll fated robotuners to continually tune the out of tune strings they knew they would have because of their bad headstock design. How the hell were those robotuners "authentic"?
Thank you. My response, exactly. Cannot make players happy, no matter what they do.
@@MonkyMonk729 Right on.
I would not mind at all seeing the splints but this was a great repair!
Very relaxing for me to watch this video. I would not have any issue purchasing either of these guitars knowing their history and your superb craftsmanship in the repairs.
I did a similiar repair on an 80s red wine lp . Matching was the hardest part,but the spline repair has stood the test of time. Great technique wonderful video
Incredible job man! Some of the best work I’ve seen and now he doesn’t have to worry about the headstock breaking ever again. My Gibson actually sound better and holds tune better after the repair so I think it’s a good thing to get it over with. Especially since he has a guy like you with your skills
Thank you. Appreciate your comments.
top class repair, love watching luthiers at work !
Beautiful work by a true craftsman! I had a 1974 Gibson Led Paul Custom as my first electric guitar. No break on the headstock, but I wonder why Gibson has not fixed the issue permanently by now.
Gibson fixed this issue in the 70s with 3 piece maple necks, a lesser headstock angle and the volute. But customers wanted 50s style Les Pauls and so Gibson went back to the weaker Mahogany neck design prone to break…
This repair was poetry in motion. A true luthier indeed. The plunge router and jig he made was perfect for this repair. That Titebond glue must be the best, I’ve watched several videos where I’ve seen it being used before, and people really put their faith in it. Great product.
Thank you for that insight! You are quite the craftsman and the owners of those guitars are lucky to have had you do the repair!
I really enjoyed watching this. You're an excellent craftsman
I had one fixed over twenty years ago, and it’s still going hard. Of course it was done by the tech who was working with the Doobie Bros. This video is very interesting and really shows the your great work and patience! ✌️🤪🎸🎶🎵🎶🎵p.s. mine was along the line of the grain, but when it happened it was devastating.
Man, that was awesome. It’s comforting to know you’re out there somewhere, and you’ll be the first person I’d call if, god forbid, this was to to happen to me. Great vid.
If my Lester were broken, I would want it repaired by someone as skilled as you. That is beautiful work.
Thanks Jimmie
Wow watching the craftsmanship in that work blows me away..Well done.
This is perfection, wish I had a Luthier like you near. Congrats
Had a Gibson SG where the headstock snapped off, certainly was nothing I caused.
The guitar was still under guarantee less than 3 months old.
The company a high street shop had gone out of business so contacted Gibson US and was handed to Gibson Europe, firstly accused me that it must have been something I did.. secondly refused to honor the guarantee saying this was a grey goods purchase the shop I bought it from had made.
Anyway despite involving trading standards I got no where with Gibson who refused to replace or even pay for the repair to the guitar which had to come out of my pocket.
I would never purchase another Gibson guitar ever again.
Professionally repaired but the bell truss rod cover has a slight crease through it and even though this luthier was a licensed repair guy for Gibson they even refused to replace the cover..
Very disappointed In Gibson after all this.
Wow the repair shown in this video looks awesome.. I still have images someplace of my Gibson SG break.
no one cares... in the USA, broken headstocks on Gibsons are familiar and not on other brands. It's a clear design flaw from Gibson.
Maybe from the Gibson point of view it is not a flaw!
It is a weakness that enables them to get away with selling even more of an ill conceived design at over inflated prices to those that throw them away and buy another new one.
Custom shop and pre-aged if course. Lol
yes well all the same I agree its a design flaw.
I had the neck and headstock examined by a professional in carpentry i recall him saying about the grain? In how it runs off at angle making the area of the neck weak where it joins the headstock.
I didn't take too kindly when Gibson stated i had in some way dropped or banged the headstock and they never even asked to examine the break!
The other SG i sold and had this one professionally repaired at a cost to me.
Never will i purchase another Gibson ever!
But im not going to pay over inflated price and have the headstock broke and reset.
I'm not interested in the history of Gibson, that was when Gibson in its early days not now especially some off the piss poor quality control! just search here on UA-cam.
A good quality Epiphone will do and at least headstock and neck one piece!
These days I buy the Fender Strats and anyone saying you just dont get the same sounds I say different PUPs or adust tones or even incorporate an EQ!
Gibson stuffed themselves treating me the customer as almost the shit on their shoes.
But never mind Fender certainly done well out of me.
@@sugaryawroc Seymour Duncan pups into a strat you are there! Crazy guitar. My brother once threw and I mean threw a 1965 strat onto its face at a pub jam sesh and kicked it across the floor ar least 30 ft
Gibson right off, Fender strat that age try to kill it, it will bite you loli
@@Ralf1erudd Lol yes if it were possible just ask Pete Townsend! It was way to easy to trash a Gibson but a Fender Strat just so God damn frustrating trying to break one :)
Certainly not saying to anyone to do this, But if you did accidentally drop a Fender its likely to survive the same cannot be said of Gibson.
"Now I wouldn't want to give the impression that my workshop is just filled with Les Pauls with broken headstocks... but it is true"
"I could talk alot about that" (but Gibson's lawyers act as an effective deterrent)
Thanks for sharing this expert repair with us. This is easily the best broken neck/headtock repair I've ever seen done. Gibson should take note and start making their giutars with added splints at the weak neck/headstock area. Much kudos to Mr Flame Guitar.
Just awesome! I would have thought both guitars would have been beyond repair. You are a master woodworker! 🎸
And my VERY similar happened to a Gibson Les Paul Standard that was resting IN A STAND, but it was plugged in, and my ankle was tangled in the lead, so when I walked away I also yanked on the guitar and it took a nose dive resulting in a complete break just above the truss rod cavity... Luckily I was able to repair it myself with some good old Elmers wood glue and clamps, and a few years later it's still holding, knock wood!
I cringed reading this
Just don't knock on the repaired headstock wood😁
Oh man. My stomach and my heart ached when I saw the opening picture.
i dont get why people cant just accept the repair and keep the head in the original colour. id rather see a good repair with visible splints, than discoloured paint jobs.
It just looks so much worse with the paint, makes it more obvious. The splints show craftsmanship and care.
But he did a damn good job with coloring though!
@@max1mys yes, but without the darker overspray it would just look better in my opinion.
same goes for the stingray overapray people do just to cover fixed tunerholes.. why not just keep them visible?
@@matteagle6914 I would keep the repair visible and stamp it with my official mark. This way people would see the great repair and trust it...
I agree. On this case I think it was a bad decision to recolour the neck. Just accept it's a repair job. There's no shame in that. Gibson necks get broken a lot !!
Watched this one for the 2e time, it’s like a good movie you’ll could see over and over again. Must be very fulfilling to repair and create like this. Thanks for sharing
Now this is unreal. Such a great pleasure to see a true master at work. Now I know where to call when I break the headstock of my Les Paul. If I break my head I think will try this place first. Fantastic craftsmanship.
Why they (Gibson) don't use scarf joints is a mystery to mankind forever.....
Because people want to buy a product as authentic to the original as possible, and it isn't a real gibson until it has a headstock repair
Not the same sustain level, according to the purists
Scarf joints aren't a perfect solution. You see many more cases of the fretboard ungluing around the nut and first 1-2 frets on necks with scarf joint (often you can see the resulting finish cracking along where the fretboard and neck meet), that's because that part of the fretboard is glued to endgrain of the angled part. Also you can still totally break an angled headstock if it's a scarf joint, often around the scarf joint itself (in this case the main part of the neck is glued by the endgrain to the headstock part), I've seen a few Epiphones and other guitars with a scarf joint with both of these problems, two of those happened when transported in a dedicated fitted hard shell case.
gryzew absolutely right sir
Because so many thousands spend so many thousands for an average guitar. Gibson haven't innovated for decades.
What is it they say about a repaired head stock being stronger than before? They should break them at the factory, then repair them; it won't happen again.
They should drill dowels into them and do a proper fucking job of engineering. It's a stressed member with only a couple of mm of thickness on a stress point. Shit design. Don't get me wrong, I love these guitars but the headstock is the weakest thing on the guitar. Easy to fix.
@@GodzillaGoesGaga Thing is, it's not like it's a new design. It's been crappy for decades. I know, I know, people like it. But if it's crappy...
@@GodzillaGoesGaga
Perhaps, cut channels and insert maple pins, dowels or splints before the headstock overlay and fingerboard are installed at the factory.
This would probably be best done along with routing the truss rod channel into the neck blank. The aesthetics of a one-piece neck would be unaffected and the reinforcements would be hidden along with the truss rod.
@@maverickdallas1004 Nah, inlay rebar; all up & down the neck. No-one'd _ever_ know...
@@maverickdallas1004 I was thinking rectangular bar stock graphite for the inserts, since they'll be completely hidden under the fiber cover anyhow. It's similar in concept to putting graphite rods under the fingerboard of a neck that didn't originally have a truss rod.
Fantastic job on that color matching hiding those splines. If that was my guitar I would have told you not to bother with color matching. And I'd have said go ahead and use maple. Battle scars! What's a Les Paul without a repaired headstock?
I agree. A quality, proper repair is important but in my opinion there’s nothing wrong with an evident repair. Maybe some dye on the splines so it isn’t highlighted would be ok. I suspect the neck is stronger now than when it was new.
Hear, hear. In fact, if it were mine, I'd use maple and then refinish the neck natural. I would do exactly what he did on the front, but I'd want to showcase the clean repair on the back of the neck. A Gibson neck repaired this way is much stronger than when it left the factory, and on a player-grade instrument is often as or more desirable than an unbroken one if done well.
"What's a Les Paul without a repaired headstock?" One that's never been dropped.
What's a Les Paul without a repaired headstock?
My maple necked '76 Custom 😂
Peter Macfarlane I want a maple neck Custom SO bad...
Watching this craftsman strategize, develop a plan of action, and execute has been an hour well spent . I wish I had his skills.
Thanks for that. Glad you enjoyed it
Fantastic video. I love watching a craftsperson do what they do. Very inspirational. Thank you for creating and sharing this video.
Real shame these guitars have this issue, I always handle my Gibson's with extra care to avoid damaging them. Some one picked up my Telecaster case one time, and the case was not latched. The Tele crashed onto a hard tile floor but not a mark on it. If that was a LP or SG the guitar would have been toast.
something in me screams for a headless les paul mod seeing him with that lp in his lap
I was thinking the same. I would ask my luither what do you thinks better fixing it to be original or just making it like a Steinberger
@@AkeoT9 the problematic part would probably be the bridge, as it sits relatively high over the body on a lp. Not sure if hardware like this exists. Everything else, routing the top for access to the tuning pegs and the elongation of the neck to house the truss rod and locking nut seems to be feasible.
Sean Brennan The neck is glued in so probably not, plus how easy is it to get a les Paul neck on its own
@@maxmustardman298 thats why i would ask what HE would think is better😑
Have you seen the headless SG?
You could've just called it 'Repair of Gibson Les Paul'. The snapped-off headstock part is a given.
Excellent work and superb craftsmanship
I just purchased one that had a neck repair...the only reason why? They used the router and what you did...thanks for showing us. I need to build myself a jig like you have. Best part??? Now I can clean mine up, do the coloring and make it less obvious. I feel like I owe you for this lesson.
I can’t help but think the guy with 2 broken headstock guitars is doing something besides just opening the case and to his surprise they just are in 2 pieces
Steve M as someone who owns a Gibson LP with a Gibson USA case that has seen plenty of travel and knocks, I can’t see how the neck would snap in the ways shown here. The case has a sufficiently padded support the length of the neck, that allows for a cushioned and gentle sitting of the neck up its entirety almost, except for the headstock area that is left open for storage of packs of strings etc. So for me, two things: either he is using a cheaper LP shaped generic case that lacks sufficient support OR, he is filling this storage space up excessively which means the headstock cannot sit low enough (storage contents are pushing the headstock up a little) thus forcing the headstock and lower neck to push excessively against the top of the case. If said case gets knocked or guitar cases are stacked this could create enough pressure to cause a snap
Exactly. I've been playing Gibsons for 30 years, mostly Les Paul's. I've traveled, gigged, and recorded in some strange places with my guitars. I don't baby them, but I also don't abuse them. I've never head a headstock break. I think common sense and a hard case are sufficient protection.
@@Zoso981 Um...Did you not gather from the intro of this video that Les Pauls have a propensity to snap? If you solved it with a fancy case, perhaps you should let us in on the details rather than wax prophetic. In that manner perhaps we could learn something.
@@Eccles_Hall You appear unbelievable presumptuous with a comment like this. Perhaps an economy of words would be your best approach. Thanks so much.
@@geraldhenrickson7472 I simply place my guitars in their Gibson-supplied hard cases (not fancy at all), and I don't drop them. Rather simple, actually. I didn't realize I was "waxing prophetic" my sincerest apologies, your majesty.
Can we change the name “luthier” to “guitar surgeon”?
Some years ago I realised that I am in fact the faint hearted everyone talks about.
A pleasure to watch as a old player myself. Your passion and skill makes you the best I've watched. Many thanks.
That's very kind of you. I have 2 other videos on a similar repair.
Send them back the crooks at Gibson. For what they cost that should never hapoen!
Gibson guitars should supply unbreakable wood?
@@JK-zx3go should at least be life time guaranteed for the gross over charging that they do. For what they cost they should always be fixed for free. But ya know i have never heard of an ESP or Ibanez having their head stocks snap off, so it must be a serious design flaw.
That guitar is designed to snap off the headstock. It’s trash.
For this , never buy gibson guitars , ever broke the headstock !!!!!!!
The attention to detail is unbelievable! Very enjoyable to watch. Incredible craftsmanship with a beautiful finished product!
Unbelievably well done...........I have two snapped headstocks now as well................Never think I'll get this good of a job done.....
Thank you Flame Guitars for this fantastic video showing those techniques. It looks like a true solution for broken necks. God bless!
Thank you
that was amazing craftsmanship, I sat here entire video and watched the whole thing without noticing how long the video was. i think that's the best repair I've seen on youtube. very well done my friend.
A great craftsman indeed.
In the 1980's I bought a new Gibson J-50 acoustic which came with a Gibson case. To my horror 2 weeks after I bought it I opened the case one evening and the headstock had snapped off in the same way that you describe in the video, I was devastated, I got in touch with Gibson who were far from sympathetic, they more or less called me a liar and would not accept that such a thing could happen, they took no responsability whatsoever.
I was living in Paris at the time so I took the guitar to Favino who made a repair for me which was fairly good but did not last for too long, the head moved a little which made it almost impossible to play.
That was the the last Gibson I ever owned, moved on over to Martin instead.
Brilliant job on those two LP's
Kind regards
Hamish
Thanks Hamish. You will find a number of comments here questioning whether it is possible for a neck to break without some form of impact. But you will also find a few people saying that they opened the case and found the neck had broken. I talked to someone recently who had a new gold top and the neck snapped within the first month of owning it. Devastating.
This is the most satisfying thing I've watched in a while. That jig for the neck is impressive!
Thanks. Glad you enjoyed it.
All luthiers should be watching this. I’m in awe. Unfortunately I don’t live in the UK so can’t take my gear to you.
Well done I would never thought something like this could be repaired
I have a 2020 Gibson Les Paul classic cherry burst, only about six months old and I knocked it off a guitar stand by accident and snapped the headstock off, I am 58 years old have been playing guitar since the age of 11and never so much as scratched any one of my instruments, i have 27 guitars Of which three are Gibson Les Pauls... one is a Gold top Standard, one is a alpine white studio and my cherry burst classic, I will be bringing the classic tomorrow to the local luthier which I believe will be utilizing the splint technique which I definitely would prefer, I just hope to God he is as good as you are, if so I have nothing to worry about, absolutely fantastic work, I wish you were in Connecticut because you would be my first choice.