american_jesus Posted December 11, 2004 Report Share Posted December 11, 2004 well, my friend, being the idiot he is, dropped his les paul and snapped the neck off at the joint. there's a little bit of the maple that ripped off, but otherwise everything else is perfect. the tenon and the hole it sits in are both in perfect shape. since i do most of his "tech" work, he asked me if i could reset the neck for him, well...i said yeah because i'm pretty sure i can, but i just need some basic info. 1. what should i do about the maple that broke off(i'll get some pics up tomorrow to show you what happened exactly, and some good pics for you all to see exactly what i need to do)...should i attempt to get it off(how?) and reglue it into place in the pocket, or leave it on the neck how it is, and just glue it back on when the neck goes back in? 2. what kind of glue do i need to get a tight hold? 3. where does the glue go? because it looked to my like there was only glue on the fingerboard where it meets the body, and nowhere else. that's pretty much it. everything fits nice and tight into the right spot, so i dont need to do any work to get a new neck angle or anything, it'll just slide right in and be right. so...it's not going to be too aweful tough i dont think. any other tips and tidbits are greatly appreciated. i dont really want to screw this up, and it's my first real big bite into actually repairing a guitar. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Primal Posted December 11, 2004 Report Share Posted December 11, 2004 1. Post pics so we can get a better idea of what really happened. 2. Any normal wood glue should work, i.e. Titebond, Elmers Wood Glue, etc... 3. The glue should cover every surface where wood meets wood. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
american_jesus Posted December 12, 2004 Author Report Share Posted December 12, 2004 alright, here's a couple pics of the guitar, it'll show you exactly what broke, and exactly what needs to be done. here Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curtis P Posted December 12, 2004 Report Share Posted December 12, 2004 I am not the owner of this web log, please log in ?? Curtis Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
american_jesus Posted December 12, 2004 Author Report Share Posted December 12, 2004 sorry...this should work...the les paul album please work... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluespresence Posted December 12, 2004 Report Share Posted December 12, 2004 Looks to me like you can just glue it right back in. Take primal's advice and cover all surfaces to be joined with glue. If the maple on the edge is still glued to the neck I would leave it there, put glue on it and glue it all together in one shot. Wipe off your excess glue that squeezes out on the top and around the joint with a damp rag to prevent having to scrape dry glue off later. You will probably have a line from the seam on top. That can be left as is or you can try to touch up the finish after the glue dries. Personally, I'd leave it as is and play the guitar. Battle scars are endearing to a good axe! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mickguard Posted December 12, 2004 Report Share Posted December 12, 2004 Make sure you write some kind of secret message inside before you glue it... Hey, why not? When's the next time you'll ever get to write inside the neck pocket of a Les Paul? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
american_jesus Posted December 12, 2004 Author Report Share Posted December 12, 2004 alright, cool...just keep everything how it is and just press it all on...sounds like a good deal. the guy who owns the guitar doesn't want anything done other than the neck reset, so there's no need to touch up the finish(thank god!) or anything else, so...cool. nice suggestion too idch. thanks guys. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Setch Posted December 12, 2004 Report Share Posted December 12, 2004 Do a dry run and ensure that everything aligns perfectly. Sometimes little fibres of wood get pulled out of place when the break occurs and prevent the joint being reassembled. Once you are 200% certain that the joint fits perfectly you can glue it back, and unlike Gibson, try to get some glue on the tennon - as you observed it looks untouched, whilst the board is glued down enough to tear off the maple between the neck and the pickup. With that in mind it might be worth contacting Gibson - I think that joint is totally unacceptable on a high end instrument, no neck joint should part company without hours of steaming and extreme leverage. I'd be looking for a replacement guitar or at least a free proffesional repair if it were me. No guitar is made to be dropped, but dropping one certainly shouldn't pop the neck off! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
american_jesus Posted December 12, 2004 Author Report Share Posted December 12, 2004 the guy who owns it contacted gibson about it, they said the best they could do is fix it for a mere $600, plus shipping back and forth, and depending on the condition of the break and any possiblity for a refinish it'd cost more. and i've test fitted everything together, it all fits right together...nothing too bad. the maple is a pretty clean break, probably right with the grain or something, it just snapped out...no shards or anything. and i checked back, there is SOME glue on the tenon, but seriously not much...it's pretty bad how they did this one up...oh well, he's happy it's not going to cost him $600, and i'm happy becuase i'm probably gonna be walking away with 100 or 150...depending... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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