Headstock Restoration - Carbon Fiber

Hello People!
Thanks for joining me for more guitar restoration videos! In this video I glue up the break, scrape off the crud, spline the neck to headstock transition and repaint the neck!
Cheers,
Scotty D.,
Harpeth Guitar Restoration, LLC.
Nashville, Tennessee

[@philipthomas8440]

J B Weld......when you absolutely, positively have to gig that night😂

[@harpethguitar]

🤣🤣

[@philipthomas8440]

@@Turboy65 🤣🤣🤣

[@eddiejr540]

It’s one thing to fix the problem…it’s a whole other thing to make it look like the problem never happened…well done👍

[@harpethguitar]

Much appreciated! 🥳

[@andrewgabrielmusic]

JB Weld guitar repair is one of the worst things I've ever seen. An absolute felony.

[@charlespeck886]

By the way it looks it was better they didn't glue the joint! I did mine and used LMI White glue years ago and it is still going strong and crack is unnoticeable! I used a permanent red marker on the crack and rubbed the excess off with my finger on the Cherry Red Guitar. Blends nicely!

[@stealingtomorrowband]

Seen this pop up during lunch at work. Of course i had no time to watch it.... Great to get home qatch and wind down... Keep kicking ass my friend

[@mrmanch204]

A real pleasure to watch you use your skill and your rational in resolving the challenges. Great stuff.

[@harpethguitar]

Thank You 🙏

[@brooklynsoundgarage]

16:09 the Bob Ross of guitar repair! Amazing work 👏🏻👏🏻

[@harpethguitar]

Right on!👍🏻

[@kuhboom22]

Another great repair! Your attention to detail is fun to watch.

[@harpethguitar]

Wow, thanks!

[@DTGuitarTech]

Love your videos. Amazing work!

[@harpethguitar]

Thanks so much!

[@OakLawnSpeedShop]

Looks great! Nice job.

[@harpethguitar]

Thank you! Cheers!

[@Tweed_Tone]

Beautiful work and you explain things perfectly 👍

[@harpethguitar]

Thank You! 🙏

[@joemcgraw5529]

Very nice repair Scotty ,I love you sharing your finishing processes and products that you like to use ,I also like the Jig you made and I have a old classical student guitar that is getting carbon Fiber rods put in as a practice neck because I never had the pleasure of fixing a broken neck ,StewMac should be a proud sponsor because you use them alot and always mention them in your videos ,So If your reading this guys concider sponsoring him

[@harpethguitar]

Thanks 👍

[@scottdahlberg4890]

Amazing work Sir!!!!

[@harpethguitar]

Thank you! Cheers!

[@Csharpflat5]

I prefer the way you did it before with the wooden splines, much stronger, carbon fiber don’t like to stick to wood, incompatible. Carbon fiber makes good classical truss rod if it is oriented and has crossplied rods.

[@kiddcomet3563]

Nicely done

[@harpethguitar]

👍🏻

[@tiomkinnyborg2289]

Love your work man but you never glue a loose knob on. You just need to use a big flat screwdriver and open up the slot slightly. Then fit the knob back on. It will be tight. The next owner will thank you.

[@donaldfaulk8992]

use a syringe to put the epoxy deeper in the crack.

[@dairycowtv]

Oh how tragic- that's one of the new Supremes, too...

[@PlayingCatStevens]

It's amazing how good you are.

[@AJNpa80]

Its pretty fortunate they didn't glue the seam for future repair. Maybe it bought them half a night to gig it... People mean well. And thats why luthiers have jobs!

[@vayabroder729]

Wow! Talk about PATIENCE and exacting work!

[@harpethguitar]

Thanks 🙏

[@deanmccaskill5495]

Eights!!!! I don’t know how you can stand them. I tried them for fun on 2 guitars after watching a Beato video but I couldn’t stand them. Great repair man. For real!

[@harpethguitar]

Rock on!

[@mikedavis3841]

Looks good.👍 I bought a guitar last summer with 8gag on it played it for 2 weeks didn't know I could play 8gag

[@harpethguitar]

Rock on!

[@EbonyPope]

I do play .12 gauge strings in standard tuning. Also found a set with a plain G string of .13 that I will soon put on my Telecaster copy. Once you get accustomed to heavy gauge strings your fingers get so strong you can play anything. That is why I did that in the first place. I wanted to be able to play any guitar no matter how bad it is set up. I also play a western guitar with .014 strings with almost a full centimeter (3/8th of an inch) of string height at the 12th fret. I would not recommend to anyone who isn't an advanced player but if you are your playing will greatley benefit from it. I now can bend anything and playing .011 is a breeze.

[@brianogrady7900]

What were they thinking??

[@brianogrady7900]

Hi some say epoxy is not a glue ( KZbinr luthier in Missouri) I’m not so sure

[@brianogrady7900]

Great job will take a good knock to break that

[@EbonyPope]

@@brianogrady7900 About what? What are you referring to? The setup of my western guitar? It's a cheap inexpensive DiMavery guitar an ovation copy. I didn't adjust the truss rod and putting very heavy gauge strings on it resulted in an excessively high action. But I was too lazy to adjust it and soon was practicing my Django Reinhardt licks on a guitar that has almost a centimeter or 3/8 inch of distance at the 12th fret. So you really need a lot of strength and precision to still be able to solo on it. And yes I thought I would never be able to since it seemed impossible. But a year later and when I play my telecaster with .12 strings I think they are really easy to bend. I can even to 3 or 4 halftone step bends it's incredible. But you have to be careful. I am blessed with very insensitive tendons it seems. But you should stop when you start to feel strain on the tendons. So it isn't without risk. But once you mastered it you will be able to bend railroad tracks with your fingers. lol

[@dookieday1]

I used jb weld to glue a string back together,,,,, that doesn't work either.... . great repair.

[@andrewsaldivar2112]

Wondering if that truss rod was functional after getting epoxy on it?

[@harpethguitar]

Yes it worked great 👍🏻

[@stu-j]

When i do gibson headstock smash repairs the customer is always told to use 9s or risk the inserts popping up through the new finish as its so soft for months....

[@harpethguitar]

Brilliant!

[@mitzioden4926]

Just curious - why did you use epoxy instead of tite bond?

[@harpethguitar]

It’s recommended for carbon fiber gluing. Plus it has good gap filling properties and it’s harder than wood glue. And It wasn’t a clean wood to wood glue up so epoxy works well under these conditions

[@Muckbucket]

It deserves a new owner.

[@erickoliveira7039]

*Awesome 🙋🏻‍♂️🇧🇷👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻*

[@johngeddes7894]

It almost makes a case for a nonadjustable neck reinforcement instead of a big gaping hole for the truss rod nut at the weakest point of the neck. Luckily, some astute looths work around all the sillyness. Yo!

[@blodpudding]

Do you protect the bare wood in the screw holes/peghead holes/trusrod hole before wet sand?

[@harpethguitar]

Beeswax!

[@e.scottdaugherty8291]

If I Hadn't seen the thumb I'da been shocked when you flipped it over. Did ya Gibbs slap the fool? Nice work.

[@MauryCrowder]

Hey Scott, good stuff as always. Question:, what is the bordeaux mixture? I think you explained it in an earlier video but I can't remember

[@harpethguitar]

Bordeaux is a ColorTone / Transtint stain (dye)

[@harpethguitar]

Thank You 🙏

[@rubiera58]

Another great video Scott! Realize it wouldn't have looked original but did you ever consider modeling or appending a volute at the break to make it more robust to handle higher tension 11-50's? Is that even possible or desirable?

[@harpethguitar]

Eventually. I might try that “back strap” 👍🏻

[@vadenk4433]

Good lord, i've seen it all now! JB Weld smeared all over a brand new $3500 guitar. FFS ACCELERATOR!!!

[@harpethguitar]

YES!

[@EbonyPope]

06:05 What kind of scraper is that? That looks neat. Would like to have one of those.

[@harpethguitar]

I think StewMac calls it the mini woodpecker. 🤓

[@EbonyPope]

@@harpethguitar Oh you bought it there? I will look that up.

[@OakLawnSpeedShop]

Sanding clear then recoating is called a glamor coat. You do it on show cars….

[@romyaz1713]

why use epoxy on wood on wood joint?

[@harpethguitar]

It’s contaminated from the previous failed repair attempt

[@BeastOfSoda]

I felt physically ill for this poor guitar. You did a great job considering the sorry state it was given to you; I have to wonder if there are ways to make such a break strong enough to handle thicker strings, though. Like... how would it work with a bass? Does the process change at all?

[@harpethguitar]

Thanks! There are million ways to fix a neck and a million ways to break a neck, so yes!

[@thepostapocalyptictrio4762]

Has JB weld ever actually fixed anything? I don’t think so.

[@randysteffes97]

I love JB weld. Great for a million fixes. Just not for wood.

[@EbonyPope]

Why do you use epoxy instead of wood glue? What is your reasoning for that?

[@harpethguitar]

It’s recommended for carbon fiber gluing. Plus it has good gap filling properties and it’s harder than wood glue. And It wasn’t a clean wood to wood glue up so epoxy works well under these conditions

[@EbonyPope]

@@harpethguitar Oh of course. My bad. Wood glue doesn't glue well to the epoxy resin in carbon fiber rods. You're right. Yeah gap filling is only possible with epoxy. But as a viewer I can't see that. Just a little contstructive criticism it would be good to explain that to laymen like me. Otherwise excellent video as always.

[@everythingbobbywolfe]

Actually wood glue would be the preferred method on that with wood splines. Because the wood glue will actually make the adhertion more pliable and would like where is the epoxy will not have great lateral strength. A tightly fitting spline with type on two or three would last the entire lifetime of that guitar. Take it from Dan earliwine

[@Csharpflat5]

Check out Flame Guitars he has a good take on Two Les Paul’s and uses wood splines and tight bond. Epoxy is horrible in tension.

[@EbonyPope]

@@everythingbobbywolfe Not if the glue surfaces aren't a clean break or are contanminated. Then epoxy is the way to go. It depends on the type of break and even Dan knows that.

[@msmm.2871]

Is a Gibson or a Chibson ?

[@harpethguitar]

Gibson USA

[@bldallas]

That has to be either a Chibson or a stolen guitar. I find it impossible to believe anyone…ANYONE…would attempt such a ridiculous attempt at fixing a $2,000+ guitar. It just terrible.

[@Sammywhat]

I had the same thought. And the binding is SO white. Hmmmmm.... 😉

[@Sammywhat]

And if you look at the inlays at 0:09 you'll see they look "off."

[@bldallas]

@@SammywhatI can’t tell if there are fret nibs. Regardless, Scottie did another of his amazing repair jobs. Can’t even tell it was ever broken.

[@Sammywhat]

@@bldallas True that! Mr. Scott does remarkable work. Truly.

[@johncabaniss1628]

Looks like bondo to me, but maybe not

[@harpethguitar]

It definitely didn’t smell like Bondo.

[@metriczeppelin]

If the person who smeared jb weld all over the break brought the guitar to me I would refuse to repair it and buy it from him because he doesn't deserve to own the guitar.

[@stealingtomorrowband]

"but come on man, i was trying to save some money." Haha I wish i would've thought to post that lol

[@Jonathan_Doe_]

Least all the wood was there. They didn’t plough screws through it or anything. Epoxy isn’t really the best thing to repair it with either, it doesn’t wick into the grain as well as a dedicated wood glue product, or even just cyanoacrylate superglue. EDIT: Ah yeah with those supporting fingers, that ain’t going anywhere. Mask up when sanding carbon/graphite rods and vacuum up with your mask on. The dust sits in your lungs forever like asbestos.

[@war2thegrave]

Why? It's just a product, and they clearly have the money.

[@th-pl3nx]

If he wanted to use the guitar for kindling wood after the break he can. It's his and his alone.

[@dennisneo1608]

I don't know how anyone can play 9s let alone 8s.

[@timesurfingalien]

You would think Gibson/Epiphone would have taken steps to prevent this as much as it happens. Just grab the gold and go Gibson. Over priced/over hyped

[@andrewpease3688]

Obviously the joint is moving under tension,should have made the splints longer.It’s difficult not to wipe the glue off when pushing in the carbon.Also I feel it would have been better to leave the splints visible,making a feature of them