Broken Gibson Headstock Repair. Sweet Tone!

[@HBSuccess]

All’s well that ends well. Nice job it looks good. But I think it takes balls for you to make “this is the best practice in headstock repair” video for something you’ve never done before LOL. Call it beginner’s luck. Trust me they’re not all that easy. BTW…. PVA glue really is cured in 24 hrs. In fact you could have taken it out of clamps in an hour and been OK to keep working on it.

[@RiotHomeRecording]

You’re welcome! I’m glad you’ve learned a few things. I’ve been playing and recording with it for months and it’s amazing! Take care!

[@chaosandorderstudio]

Big balls of steel I guess he did it just for views. A "noob" claiming it's "best practice" is a huge bold statement

[@dancloninger5117]

Vaseline can be an effective glue barrier as well. Nice job ! I made a similar repair to an acoustic guitar and used your techniques. It is invisible and plays great. I ignored the negative criticism because what you did actually worked for me and you kept it simple.

[@RiotHomeRecording]

@@dancloninger5117 Great to hear, I play mine all the time and have no issues. I don’t even think about it I just play it.

[@garyeckel1656]

I buy broken neck Les Pauls, repaired a lot of them. wood glue is fine. RHR did a nice job bringing the wood together evenly, thats the key. Ive seen crazy repairs with Bolts and washers, just junk looking.

[@HankMartin-ll4pi]

Lovely repair job on that beautiful Les Paul well done!🎼🎶🎸😊👍

[@charlesrocks]

I've had a few Les Pauls with a headstock break. What's really important is adding reinforcement to the wood by routering out two 1/3" deep slots about an inch long, then adding in dowels to the slots with plenty of glue and then following the process outlined here. The extra steps would include sanding and a repaint as well. What I found is that the headstock becomes stronger and more stable after the reinforced fix. This is a great video nevertheless. There are some videos outlining this process on KZbin as well, and it's a very good fix as it helps stabilize the headstock and helps restore the headstock to the proper angle (3 degrees for old school LPs). Anyway, this is a great repair, and a gorgeous guitar.

[@HBSuccess]

Unnecessary to spline this one. This is the simplest break to fix.

[@RiotHomeRecording]

Thank you!

[@Meddled]

@@HBSuccessyup. Basic smily-face break. Splines are for when you have very little gluing surface or a litany of nasty repairs (epoxy, screws) to work around.

[@GetawaysandGuitars]

I've never done a full headstock repair but I bought a Les Paul that had a terrible neck repair job and I fixed it up! Its now almost invisible. So happy as its my go to living room guitar! I posted it on my YT Channel....

[@RiotHomeRecording]

That's awesome!

[@patriciaydiegoormaza-marti2446]

You have the right to be proud.

[@user-ir2bj3re1z]

Thanks for making this video. Good job on that repair 👏. Looks good! Nice studio too man😃🤙

[@RiotHomeRecording]

Thanks! 👍

[@jcrgtattoo333]

Awesome save man, that’s a sweet Les Paul, sounds great!

[@RiotHomeRecording]

Thanks!

[@Colin.W]

You really knew the steps for your first time. I’ve repaired a fret inlay once and I’d definitely try this, let’s forbid. Would cost me an arm and a leg to get it to a luthier from my location.

[@RiotHomeRecording]

It’s not a hard job if it’s a clean break. I did some research before doing it and it wasn’t bad. What you see in this video is what I did.

[@squawk3120]

My favorite guitar is an SG that was given to me. Had a broken headstock and neck joint. “Guitar spin fail” nose dived a block wall.

[@kellypeterson2625]

Great job. Beautiful guitar

[@RiotHomeRecording]

Thank you Kelly I love this guitar!

[@seanmcdonald4686]

At band practice three weeks ago I bumped my Les Paul Studio off its guitar stand. It fell flat down on the strings and the headstock snapped nearly identically to this. I might’ve cried, I’m not certain, it’s all just a terrible blur in my memory. Eventually my futile panic turned to a low-grade depression, where I’ve been since. I was worried that a repair would be beyond my abilities, but after watching this I feel like I can probably manage it. I’m gonna give it a shot, I’ll report back. Thanks for the video, and great job. (Btw, I still want to record my band’s album with you, at your studio, even though it would require a road trip. That board and those tape machines…)

[@RiotHomeRecording]

@@seanmcdonald4686 Thank you! And Please report back!!!

[@Arthur.in.the.Fridge]

How did you get on with your Les Paul repair?

[@TheRrsierra68]

Hi, I just did the Same to my guitar a Ibáñez semi hollow body 😢 I accidentaly bumped off the stand, Even it is not a expensive guitar, the feeling is the same. So this is how I get here searching possible wats to fix it ( if it is possible, I was wondering) now I have hope and will try my self, just need to get the rigor glue and the others tools etc. Thank you so much for the video , I wish Your repair goes sucess! Blessing! 👍🏼🙏🏽

[@seanmcdonald4686]

@@Arthur.in.the.Fridge I’m still working up the nerve to do it myself, haha. I’ve been switching back and forth between my Jaguar, Dano Pro, and an Epiphone Dot in the meantime. Between the fear of permanently destroying my Les Paul, a general lack of free time, and easy access to other very lovely instruments, I’ve been finding it easy to procrastinate, hahaha. I gotta knock it off though, I have tentative plans to get together with my drummer this Saturday in order to get it glued and clamped up.

[@thegeekdude67]

Awesome job! She’s a beaut! 😎🎸👊

[@buzzbomb67]

Just purchased a ‘13 Firebird with the same problem, but it doesnt look quite as even. Hopefully I get the same results! Just have to be patient…

[@komm11]

Thanks for the video! Where can I get such a syringe with a long neck for my repair?

[@RiotHomeRecording]

Amazon is where I got these from.

[@jamescheadle4797]

Awesome!

[@remembertheblacksabbath]

The Sabbath riffs made it worth the watch!🔥🔥🔥🤘🏻🤘🏻🤘🏻

[@RiotHomeRecording]

Rock n Roll!!!!

[@Rideskishore]

Nice repair job man!

[@RiotHomeRecording]

Thank you!

[@23whatsleft]

I would have thought using urethane adhesive or aliphatic resin but what ever works i guess . nice job

[@YEWGYZE]

Good video and repair . So no splines needed ?

[@RiotHomeRecording]

@@YEWGYZE nope it’s been working great with zero issues. It’s like it was never broke.

[@YEWGYZE]

@@RiotHomeRecording I glued a Heritage H140 H/S straight also with no splines and its as good as it was before the brake . Cheers

[@mark6302]

fantastic

[@RiotHomeRecording]

Thank you mark!

[@topa1798]

I have few Les Paul friends who are working musician and travel a lot with their guitar,most of them break their guitar neck and got repaired...and it's funny I use to play their guitar before it break..and after neck job I always like their guitar tone more😂😂

[@MyLifEcademy-sr4hy]

I use wax paper under clamps around glue...

[@m.f.3347]

you can also cover the cauls in packing tape!

[@Wolfgang19675150]

Thanks for the video that came out badass!

[@RiotHomeRecording]

Thank you, you can do it too.

[@rakentrail]

Cover your clamping cauls with packing tape. Added insurance against sticking! I had a customer in the early 90's that had 4 headstock breaks on his Les Paul in less than a year. All caused by a wild front man! I told him to move to the other side of the stage! No more breaks! LOL!

[@emapaposo]

packing tape FTW :D

[@TheDogPa]

Singers get in the way of music.

[@Murphy_R9]

What was the final cost?

[@johnbotica7136]

Your cauls need to have cork on them to really protect the guitar.

[@patriciaydiegoormaza-marti2446]

Then, same tip about straplocks also for other models like, SG, Explorer, ES,Flying V and so, I guess.

[@blakemoore1905]

Damn im so glad i watched some videos first that bees wax trick is nice.

[@famousvoiceimitator]

Gibson put the headstock and neck angles on some of their guitars too high which makes them more likely to break. Some of Slash’s guitars have broken and needed repairs.

[@garyeckel1656]

I think they sound better after a crack repair. I bought one, its great"

[@michaelp8856]

has it held up with all the string tension? tuning stability?

[@RiotHomeRecording]

1000% not one issue and I play it all the time.

[@nigman2023]

Nice!

[@suatugur]

How much did you pay

[@vadymvv]

If you put some plastic bag under clamp it wouldn't stick that way.

[@BPF0492]

48hrs is sufficient.

[@redddogg2461]

Man nice AX bro. Good job on the stock repair. Love that case with pink. Almost bought a standard with a broken off totally head stock. Looks like I shoulda jumped on it. Had a desert burst with a shit ton of flame in the wood. I was also gonna try and repair on my own but I talked myself out of buying it. Once I settle this case ima go get me a standard or what I really want is a explorer. We’ll see good job tho that guitar is sweet bro!!!

[@RiotHomeRecording]

The head on this was broken all the way through as well. The only thing holding it on was the front laminated face that has the Les Paul logo. I questioned if I should bother doing the repair myself, but I’m glad I did. This guitar is awesome!! Plays and sounds great!

[@redddogg2461]

@@RiotHomeRecording it sounds nice man I like it great fix great pick up bro. Mine is just a studio but I’d still be heart broken if I dropped and broke it. Lol I treat mine like my granddaughter as if it is glass lol. Good fix tho bro. Took some balls to attempt it yourself. Mad props.

[@richardlavallee9106]

Gibson/Epiphone never again. Mahogany is a poor choice for guitar necks. in order to have enough wood to withstand the stresses the neck would have to be so fat as to be unplayable for normal hands. Say what you will about mahogany tone, a broken mahogany neck has really lousy tone (like none) compared to an intact maple neck. Ash is another good choice for necks (think baseball bats) .

[@andrewcruz7595]

There's more sustain with a broken neck or headstock too after the repair

[@jessefagundes6965]

Seems luke he never did it before. It's the worst glue job I ever saw

[@RiotHomeRecording]

@@jessefagundes6965 I’m glad you learned something! You’re welcome! The guitar is still going strong I play it all the time and it sounds great! Well worth $650.

[@marcomagnoni7341]

CHANGE JOB!!!!!!

[@RiotHomeRecording]

Thank you! Yes, I changed it from broken to repaired! And it plays and sounds great!

[@deanmartin541]

Do you get NASA to make your rocket boosters ??? Lol