Fixing ugly headstock repair

Smeigel_12000

Smeigel_12000

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Ok so here's the story. I live in the Netherlands and found a '63 Guild Starfire III, completely naked and with a headstock repair. The plan is to restore the guitar to vintage specs and see if I will use it instead of my Newark Str. Starfire or sell it when finished.

First hickup is, that the headstock repair is uglier then I initially thought it would be, looking at the pictures on reverb. 2417224F-CA3B-4190-B537-1B3B76865E31.jpegB29487CF-BF20-4E1E-BC60-753DEDD489B2.jpeg
As you can see it’s not a smooth joint. Anyone have some tips/tricks to fix this? Overall the guitar is in a decent shape.
 
davismanLV

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Well, breaks like this can be tricky. It looks as if the wood fractured mostly on one side and possibly was still connected on the other? Maybe. It probably could have been repaired better originally. Sometimes you have to finish the break (break it clear off) to better fix it. So the fracture reduction didn't close up very well. Sometimes splintered wood can keep it from reducing properly. Which is why if it's broken all the way off you can clean up the surfaces and get a better reduction.

At this point, unless you know how it was repaired, you're probably kind of stuck. A wood/wood glue/wood joint will be SUPER strong and likely will break somewhere else if you try to force it apart. The good news here is that the brown spray fade of stain/paint (not sure if that is original or not) will cover your tracks if you use wood putty to fill in and then sand smooth. Then respray. Is the repair stable? Any motion when you twist or pull on it?
 
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One thing that's to your advantage is that the neck is a sunburst.

After you glue, clamp, and fill the crack (some people frown on it, but I'd fill it with Epoxy -- it's easy to work with, doesn't shrink and is strong) and fine-sand everything smooth, spray lacquer the area with a dark color to hide the crack. (Tape off the white binding first.) Then polish.

The cracked area will be darker than the sunburst area is now, but it will echo the look of the original enough to (perhaps?) be acceptable.

I did this with a DCE-1 that some contractor found in the attic of a house he was renovating. The poor guitar was in bad shape, and the neck was cracked -- not quite as bad as yours, but pretty bad -- but I got it for little more than the cost of the Grover rotomatic tuners that were on it.

There are surely more involved (and more expensive) ways to fix it if my suggestions scare you!

I'd show it to your lutheir before attempting anything, as a first step.
 
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Smeigel_12000

Smeigel_12000

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Yes indeed it isn't a full crack. The bass side is still intact it seems. I'm afraid the seller can't tell me how it is fixed neither, I had the impression he's just a reseller.

I'll take it to my luthier this morning to see what he can do. I would also like to fill the screw holes of the several tuning machines that have been installed over the years. I'll keep you all informed in my progress :)
 
LeFinPepere

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I see 2 options:(Warning:I'm a very poor luthier,this is my at 1st sight opinion, i'm miles away from the scene, and i'm an international expert in talking non-sense)
1: if the repair seems stable-and the head and neck are properly aligned-and the cracks don't go too far
(estimate the depth with a kind of feeler gauge)then the whole thing -neck and back of head- I'd sand to bare wood , fill the cracks with whatever luthier paste seems ok, and coat it with - dark- varnish to make it as invisible as possible.
.2: Otherwise, I guess the head-crack has to be completed, which would allow a better look at what the neck-crack is like.Then ,neatly rejoint them, maybe with a wooden internal reinforcement... 3rd-and kinky- option would be Kintsugi , the japanese art of "visible"repair (it's pretty fashionable now!)-....Seriously,go to a good luthier, with an experience in the infamous Gibson-head-crack-repair, he'll give you better advice than mine.Looks like you're up to a new adventure! Give us some pics!
 
davismanLV

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In case I wasn't clear, sometimes a less than perfect repair is what it is. If it's stable and there's no motion, then to rebreak it in attempt to make it better can make it much worse. Sometimes what it is can be way better than what you're trying to do. If it was fresh, with no repair, I'd finish breaking it and then do the repair. At this point be very careful. It can be far worse than it is right now. Glad you're going to your luthier with this. They can advise you. Thanks for the great post and clear photos so we know what's going on!! (y)
 
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wileypickett

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LeFinPepere said:
3rd-and kinky- option would be Kintsugi , the japanese art of "visible"repair (it's pretty fashionable now!)
Click to expand...

Is that where ancient pottery that has shattered is repaired and the cracks are filled with gold?

The cracks are not only visible, but they're highlighted -- almost celebrated, you might say.

If so, I love the idea. This could be the start of a new trend in guitar repair!
 
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LeFinPepere

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wileypickett said:
Is that where ancient pottery that has shattered is repaired and the cracks filled with gold?

The cracks are not only visible, but they're highlighted -- almost celebrated, you might say.

If so, I love the idea. This could be the start of a new trend in guitar repair!
Click to expand...
Yes, that's it! A nice way to use all that useless gold you have!!
 
chazmo

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wileypickett said:
Is that where ancient pottery that has shattered is repaired and the cracks are filled with gold?

The cracks are not only visible, but they're highlighted -- almost celebrated, you might say.

If so, I love the idea. This could be the start of a new trend in guitar repair!
Click to expand...
Kintsugi!
 
jp

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Absolutely take it to a trusted luthier for advice first. I have a feeling a skilled repair person would first investigate to see if the original break could be glued and clamped further and assess the dependability of the initial repair. Rebreaking might be something a pro luthier might attempt to get a better refit depending on their skill level the need based on initial assessment. I would definitely recommend the common headstock repair of routing channels into the neck and gluing in reinforcements splines.
 
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swiveltung

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The key is: can you clamp or push on it and will it close the gap? Or is it glued such that you cant do that?

Glue holds headstock breaks fine, unless it's a wide gap.
 
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