NASTY Headstock Break

[Eric Riehle]

I'm asking around with little encouragement--The guitar is a Korean-made Fender Tele FMT that was given to me in this condition; Beautiful guitar/Ugly, UGLY break just above the truss rod access. I can't afford a luthier and I need some advice from a professional perspective. The downsides of a mahogany set neck are how fragile they can be and that you can't just bolt on a new one.

It wouldn't be in such awful shape if someone hadn't tried to repair it with stone knives and bearskins. If I can figure out how to dissolve the crappy glue joint I'd be way ahead of the game.









My dad is a woodworker (cabinetry, intricate carving), and he says he won't touch it. I think if I can get the old glue out and drill out the dowels I can do a much better glue job than this (couldn't do worse) and maybe do a couple splines--But I have no experience with this kind of damage.

Another idea is to saw the headstock off just below the break and splice a new one on...

...And the most drastic approach might be to saw the entire neck off and rout a slot for a bolt-on...

Any ideas would be appreciated

Eric

[Greg Robinson]

Hi Eric,

Welcome to the MIMForum!

Owch!
If I were to tackle that, I'd saw of the headstock and replace the whole thing with a new scarf joint. You could try dissolving the glue joint (acetic acid/white vinegar first [it will dissolve PVA/wood glue], Goo Gone/various other products next [it will deal with most more stubborn adhesives], maybe even acetone/nail polish remover [it won't damage the polyester finish on this, but should get just about anything apart], or try heat from a lamp [don't try this at the same time as acetone, it is highly flammable!]), but it looks as though there's enough damage that you'll never get it clean enough to get a good wood to wood joint. You could try and remove any folded splinters so that the joint will go back together and align properly, then re-assemble everything with epoxy and add some carbon fibre stringers.
The biggest job will be refinishing, it's doubtful you'll be able to salvage the headstock logo and serial number.

There's no way to repair this economically, the guitar isn't that valuable, but it could be a good learning experience, you've already learnt what NOT to do!
Good luck, and let us know how you go.

[Bob Gramann]

Isn't there an aftermarket in Fender necks?

[Mark Swanson]

I think I'd route it off and put in a replacement neck. The type of mahogany on these Korean imports is bad stuff, very easily broken.

[Eric Riehle]

Heh, thanks Greg, I feel better already...

You're right, it's not an expensive guitar, but it's utilitarian use in my studio could be indispensable (you can sense my budget already, can't you?).

I'm a paint contractor by trade, so you know those chemicals are readily available in my shop. If I can get it apart and reassemble it strongly enough to hold string tension with a set of D'Addario XLs (11's), I'll be golden. I'm not worried about looks so much, just function.

Thanks for the list of chemicals, though I already have them I wasn't prepared to apply any until I got word from someone who does this kind of thing...Would a heatgun be too aggressive? I was recommended that at another site, but I know what excessive heating will do to the finish on the back of the neck, and I'd rather not be refinishing the entire thing because of it...

Hi Bob, and yeah, there's an aftermarket, but I so don't want to saw this one off unless I have to...And yeah Mark, I don't think this one would be broken but for the choice of neck wood...

[Jim McConkey]

Replacing the entire neck would be the easiest, but not necessarily the cheapest way to fix it, unless you can find a another neck locally for cheap (look in dumpsters, on Craigslist, etc.) The others are technically correct, this repair is not commercially viable, but who cares if you are fixing it for yourself.

I did a very similar repair on a cheap classical guitar years ago and documented the process here, if you want to see what is involved. Since you have the whole headstock (I did not), you can cut off a thin slice containing the logo and glue it to the new headstock, and it will also help you match the current headstock shape.

[Mark Swanson]

Check out the prices of the necks available on the clearance section at Guitar Fetish. I've seen these necks, and they are surprisingly useable and good for the buck. At that price, I'd just use one, they are better than the neck you have on that guitar!

[Eric Riehle]

I heated a 1/8th cup of vinegar to boiling, started Q-tipping it in till it was saturated. 45 minutes later I simply pulled it apart. Thanks for the tip. I'd have never guessed vinegar. The residue is another story; Lots of soaking, brushing (plastic grout brush) and scraping. I'll be doing that for some time. I'm not sure what this glue is, perhaps aliphalic, but of a consistancy I've never encountered. It is almost foamy in places and has the outward appearance of Rockhard wood filler. No matter, the vinegar made short work of its bond...

The dowels are the grooved pressure-fit type, but they took less effort to push out once the glue was softened.

I don't understand the lousy loose fix. The break was fairly clean and shouldn't have been so difficult to fit. I don't know how well my attempt to fix this will go, but it's not going to hurt in any case. When all else fails I'll go the replacement route...

I'm taking pics as I go, will post them when time allows.

[Mark Swanson]

Getting it apart is most of the game. If you can get all the gunk off and get a decent fit, you are golden I think.

[Eric Riehle]

OK, one last question before I get myself in trouble; From reading Mr. McConkey's article I've decided to try hide glue. It's apparently the go-to glue for luthiers?

I've never used the stuff, so I ordered a bottle of Franklin liquid hide glue. I understand that the true hide glues are mixed from dry and heated, so I'd like to get an opinion as to the differences. Are the two varieties equally or comparably strong? Would I be better off using the Pro-Bond wood glue or an epoxy?

[Mark Swanson]

As far as bottled glue goes, I'd rather see you use the Titebond or Pro-Bond stuff than the bottled hide glue. The bottled hide glue is not good for guitars, and there are a lot of horror stories associated with its use.
If you want hide glue, the only way to go is to mix and use the hot hide glue, use the real stuff. You need to become familiar with using it, you can get a lot of help here with that.

[Michael Lewis]

With a repair that messed up hide glue is probably not the best choice. Like Mark suggested, use Titebond or equivalent, or go to a good marine epoxy.

Let me suggest doing a back strap for the repair. You will probably also need a new face veneer. Remember that you have the truss rod to contend with, so you must keep any glues out of it.

[Eric Riehle]

A few progress photos:


Slowly separating with heated vinegar:


The separated pieces. Note the smaller chunk on the left. This "repair" was re-shaped after it was glued, so parts won't look very well lined up when repositioned.


After repositioning, glue (Elmer's ProBond aliphalic) and some creative clamping (amazing how few parallel opposing surfaces there are in this "neck" o' the woods)








As poor as this bond looks, it is rigid and feels very strong. I flooded the surfaces with wood glue and likely wiped off more excess than was left in the joint, but voids and crevices were well-filled. If not for the previous tinkerer I could have gotten even tighter tolerances.

Considering the amount of glue used I'm going to let this set for a week before doing any more with it, which will involve *gulp* routing a channel in the back to install a substantial maple spline (or two smaller ones?). I will attempt to dress it up some with wood filler and a sealer, but looks aren't my goal...

I'll be bahck...

[Darrel Friesen]

Wood glue makes a very poor gap filler. Hopefully your joint was tight. A backstrap as Michael suggested would be better than a spline fix IMHO. It would look much better in the end as well. Check out Frank Ford's "Frets.com" site for a good example of using a backstrap to repair a break.

[Eric Riehle]

I admit that backstrap idea is appealing, I have a week to give it some consideration. I certainly don't have the tools Frank has at his disposal, but his Martin fix is impressive. I'd use maple regardless, since mine is a meer structural fix and not a restoration...

[Eric Riehle]

Alright then, the decision has been made to use Frank's backstrap method...Albeit modified. For one I don't have access to the luthier-specific tools (the Saf t Planer has been discontinued and is excessively expensive even used on ebay) he uses, and I'm going to use maple instead of mahogany. I chatted with my dad about this method and he actually volunteered assistance if I go the backstrap route. He didn't like the idea of digging "trenches" in the neck...

I plan to begin the proceedure in the next week or so, and I'll document as best I can...

[Eric Riehle]

I finally received my backstrap stock: Two 6" X 24" sheets of clear maple, one 1/8", one 1/16". I also bought a sheet of 1/16" mahogany, and depending on how "stout" the 1/8" lamination on the back of the headstock is, I may use the mahogany as a veneer on top instead of the 1/16" maple. Like I said, cosmetics are not a goal, but hey, there's no point in not giving it a shot if possible, yes?

I acquired my sheet stock from, of all places, a supplier for model airplane builders called National Balsa ( I used to fly R/C and still have the tools and gear, even a dusty old airplane or two...).

My conundrum now is to figure out how to shave an 1/8" off the back of the headstock and down the neck consistantly utilizing the stone-kife and bearskin-style of tools I own--I have a fairly extensive array of woodworking tools, but more geared for building a deck and setting a stud wall than any intricate cutting. I've been to the local box store to look for such exotic cutting tools ot attachments that would be both cost effective and applicable, but found little beyond a spindle-sander that is not the former and questionable at the most in regard to the latter...That Saf T planer sure would be nice...Any suggestions here?

[Mark Swanson]

If you have a hand plane that is properly set up, that should do it.

[Eric Riehle]

If you have a hand plane that is properly set up, that should do it.

I absolutely do have a hand plane, hadn't thought of it, thanks!

I suppose that I should sand that heavy clearcoat off first...

[Michael Lewis]

Belt sander.