A very close friend of mine has a nice SG, I think from the 60s or early 70s. It has P-90s and a Bigsby.

Anyway a couple of years ago, his grandson got into the case and broke the neck at the headstock. My friend (in an emotionally distraught) state hastily tried to fix the problem with superglue (ouch).

This guitar has great sentimental value to him for reasons other than the obvious ones. I took some pics of the "repair" and told him I would post here seeking expert advice. Is this something that could be re-done properly by an amateur? If not could it be repaired professionally? And lastly, does anyone know of any good luthiers in the Central New Jersey area that might be able to tackle such a repair?

I don't believe he has tried to tune the strings to pitch since his "fix" and I'm not sure if it would hold up to the tension. And it would be very uncomfortable to play due to the current sloppiness of the glue.

Here are some pics of the damage and subsequent repair attempt - view at your own risk.

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Kong, get him to take it to a pro.

If he hadn't used super glue, it would be a fairly simple repair, but now it isn't. There's quite a mess going on there, it will take some work to get it looking new.

If it weren't a vintage instrument I would advocate a home repair, but not in this case.

If he hadn't made the attempt it wouldn't be that tough to fix, but it is a cleanup job now too.

I don't know the geography of NJ, but if your near Union, try theses guys
http://www.timeelect.com/

http://www.timeelect.com/headstock.htm (here's a similar job they have a page up for)

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I'm not an expert, but I play one on the internet.

If the guitar is stock, it looks more like a late '70's to early 80's.

P-90's?

Thank you for posting this. It's a great lesson for keeping your guitars in their (hardshell) cases.

Since the guitar has been gummed up with super glue,a professional fix is best right now as the residue of the superglue must be very carefully removed.If your friend had used wood glue from the start it is quite possible that would have done the trick.My bandmates 68 S.G. suffered the same break in 1975-76 and was repaired and clamped with wood glue and he's gigging with it to this day with no problems other than he uses 9-42 gauge strings just to be on the safe with neck tension.

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'65 Strat,65 Mustang,65 Jaguar,4 more Strats,3 vintage Vox guitars,5 Vox amps,'69 Bassman with a '68 2-15 Bassman cab,36 guitars total-15asst'd amps total,2 vintage '60s Hammond organs & a myriad of effects-with a few rare vintage ones.

Kong,

I would contact Todd at Portland Fret works in Portland Oregon.

Todd is factory trained and a Gibson warranty station and can order a replacement neck.

I know once he is done, it will be right and look prefect.

BTW, Those are not P-90's, the model he has is a Gibson SG X-500 with mini humbuckers. It is just like the one I used to have.

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Marriage is like playing cards...

At first all you want are Hearts and Diamonds.

But in the end, all you really want is a Club and a Spade.

Thanks Jeffytune - how silly of me, I only looked at the pickups quickly, I was really studying the neck.

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That was my reaction too. He really was not in his right mind when he "fixed" it. Panic will do that to people!

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That definitely needs a professional's touch. He could also try contacting Dan Erlewine: http://www.danerlewine.com . He is known as the expert on this stuff and is amazing with vintage instruments (from the work I have seen). I wouldn't expect it to be quick or cheap, but he could salvage a lot of the value of the instrument just because of the respect that he is given in the industry. That's not to say there aren't other guys out there that can properly fix that as well.

Hi Kong: and just the other day you were wanting to do a headstock repair on a 335 yourself, I clearly recall. Not going to try your own hand at this one?

Anyhow, Forum user Martian is in New Jersey. Just from reading hundreds of his technical posts here and considering his decades of experience I'm certain you could do absolutely no better, if he was interested in tackling it. Add his name to the title of this thread and see if you catch his eye, why not...?

By the way, who's knees are those in the pix? LOVE those pants!

Cheers - C

Also consider Kerry Char, also in Portland, OR. I have seen before and afters of a late 30's Gibson that was run over by a pickup truck. Perfect restoration job.

My son broke my Takemine in the same way many years ago. I couldn't fix it. Bummer.
Best of luck.

Hey Ceri, good idea - I'll definitely reach out to Martian.

Agreed, my bedspread would make a stellar pair of trousers!! LOL

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Had an acoustic that had the same break. A pro can really fix it to the point were if you don't know about it, you won't see it. They can make it look nearly perfect. If he elects to not have it fixed by a professional, sell it to someone that will. That guitar still wants to be in the game.

stratoBobster Has a good point about keeping guitars and basses in their hardshell cases. I know you can't see the great axe, and it may be a pain to get to every time you want to play it. But that case will hopefully avert this scenario.

Hi Kong,I'm not familiar with the New Jersey map but here's a couple of Ney Jersey shops that may be of help: www.goldenageguitars.com in Westfield N.J. and these guys who specailize in vintage instruments www.larkstreetmusic.com they're in Teaneck N.J. and then there's these guys who I believe are in N.J. www.hobokenvintage.com and as a last resort you may try these guys,although they specialize in Rics I believe they have a great repair facility www.pickofthericks.com and they are in Lindenwold N.J. hope this is of some help.

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'65 Strat,65 Mustang,65 Jaguar,4 more Strats,3 vintage Vox guitars,5 Vox amps,'69 Bassman with a '68 2-15 Bassman cab,36 guitars total-15asst'd amps total,2 vintage '60s Hammond organs & a myriad of effects-with a few rare vintage ones.

Hee-hee - but you can see how it looks like legs in the pics? Odd coincidence: I did see a fella wearing trousers that looked exactly like that just the other day. Did he have a white golf cap on too, or did I imagine that bit?

Anyway. Watching patiently to see if Martian looks in on this thread...

Cheers - C