Set Neck Repair

[nm7714]

Hi, I've just been given an old SG which needs a little repair...

as you can see, the head is completley broken off. i just started sanding the body down coz the paintwork was a bit, no, very untidy. My main question is how do i get the old neck out/off without wrecking the body?

Close up of body

Any help or suggestions would be great.

Cheers

[PhoenixCreations]

don't mean to be a stickler, especially considering I'm new and have nothing relevant to add to the thread (mainly because I'm new), but since I caught it before the mods, I believe the rule is one picture per post, unless a tutorial, in which case it's ten. so I figured I'd give you a heads up that the mods are coming.. RUN!

- ONE PIC PER POST., except in the Tutorial sections, where you are allowed up to 10 pics per post.

- All subsequent (following) pics in a post are to be linked. DO NOT USE THE "IMG" TAG for pics 2, 3, 4, 5, etc.

michael.

no offense meant. -big smile-

[nm7714]

oops. sorry

[verhoevenc]

me.... I'd build a nice new neck for it, since that neck is REALLY dead. I can think of how to FIX a headstock... but add one where there's none.,.... don't htink so. What I would do is pull the highest frets off, then start breaking away the wood at the headstock until you have taken enough off with any tool you find that works to break the wood away and then pull out the trussrod. Once the rods out you can take a saw and cut off the neck, then plane the top flat. Now you have a solid just body blank. Then take the home made neck you built, route a new neck cavity for it and set it in.

Chris

[Mickguard]

Can't see how this thing is worth repairing...unless it's a Gibson?

On the other hand, it gives you the great opportunity to make a perfectly accurate template from the body. Then build a new SG from scratch.

[Nitefly SA]

might be a gibson. My thought would be to take off the fretboard, remove the headstock part of the scarf joint, if there is one, if not make one then glue on a new one

[nm7714]

well, its a guitar that can be repaired, so i think its worth repairing. For the experience if nothing else. dont know if its a gibson or not, but the body i'm gettin down to is quite nice. I will however be taking a template form it anyway, that was my second intention.

Thanks for the suggestions Verhoevenc, Nitefly, will look into both suggestions, and i'll see how it goes.

[crafty]

Is it your intention to rebuild that neck with a new headstock or throw it away and build a new one? If you just want to rebuild the headstock, you can do that without removing the neck. If you want to build a totally new neck, the easiest thing to do would be to remove the fretboard and then cut the neck off where it meets the body and route out the neck joint all over again.

Given that it looks like a vintage piece, I'd try to save the original neck and leave it in place. If the truss rod is messed up, you may have to remove and reinstall the fretboard, but that's not as huge a deal as fabricating a whole new neck to replace the old one.

[erikbojerik]

Do a search under "neck removal", you'll find it.

[soapbarstrat]

i just started sanding the body down coz the paintwork was a bit, no, very untidy.

And this is a huge clue that you need to learn some real basics, like taking care of structural repairs before even worrying the least bit about cosmetic problems, such as untidy paint. I have the feeling you'd be better off selling it. At least the guitar would probably be better off.

[nm7714]

i'm completley redoing the whole guitar, so why not strip it down? its gonna get done anyway? while i was waiting for advice on the neck, i got on with other stuff. dont see the problem.

[Setch]

I have merged your 2 threads and deleted any duplicate messages. I have also converted your second image to a link - as another user mentioned, you should review the images posting rules, and limit yourself to one image per post.

Cheers.

[Stiffy]

Hi, I've just been given an old SG which needs a little repair...

as you can see, the head is completley broken off. i just started sanding the body down coz the paintwork was a bit, no, very untidy. My main question is how do i get the old neck out/off without wrecking the body?

Close up of body

Any help or suggestions would be great.

Cheers

You are going have to replace the neck, or......

[Mickguard]

well, its a guitar that can be repaired, so i think its worth repairing. For the experience if nothing else. dont know if its a gibson or not, but the body i'm gettin down to is quite nice. I will however be taking a template form it anyway, that was my second intention.

My big question --it it real wood or plywood?

[nm7714]

Its mahogany.

And thanks setch

After continuing to remove paint, now from the neck, i can see its been hit quite hard and looks like a split in the neck. may have to be a new neck

[Vance23]

Sure looks like it is a Gibson SG, eps if it is a mahogany body. Could be a Melody Maker. Go for the repair. What do you have to lose???

(Or sell it to me!)

Its mahogany.

And thanks setch

After continuing to remove paint, now from the neck, i can see its been hit quite hard and looks like a split in the neck. may have to be a new neck

[Stiffy]

Its mahogany.

And thanks setch

After continuing to remove paint, now from the neck, i can see its been hit quite hard and looks like a split in the neck. may have to be a new neck

You really need to replace the neck. This should help http://www.dbeweb.com/guitar/

[nm7714]

thanks stiffy, huge help.

[Setch]

The link is undoubtedly a great resource, and very helpful, but the statement that you *need* to replace the neck is not. Without more pics of the damage, and ideally a chance to see the guitar in person, nobody on here can give you a concrete answer on whether repair or replacement is the way to go.

I would lean towards repair if it's remotely possible, but that is merely a suggestion. The image we really need to see is the back of the neck where the headstock snapped off, which will reveal how much gluing area you have, and how bad the break is.

Worst case, you could make a new headstock and graft it on - as in the links below:

Grafting on the orginal headstock

Making and attaching a totally new headstock

[Stiffy]

thanks stiffy, huge help.

Np dude!

Good luck!

[johnsilver]

Great links by Stiffy and Setch on removal or repair.

My two cents on the fix:

If you decide to go with replacement, it seems likely to me that you will need to build vs buy a neck in order to get a good fit at the neck/body join and to get a correct scale length since the bridge holes are already located in the body (unless you decide to fill those and redrill under an opaque finish for example).

If you build, take measurements off the old neck such as profile and shape at various points along the neck e.g. at the nut, 12th fret, etc. This way you can replicate the shape of the original neck.

You should also measure the scale length before removing the neck. Gibson scales were nominally 24 3/4" but that actually translates into several actual scales such as 24 5/8". Your fretboard slots will need to match your scale. If you use the original bridge placement, the neck will have to be built very accurately in length in order to get the correct scale length so the guitar will intonate.

Good luck and have fun!

[Larry]

You can definitly repair that neck sand the crack line smooth, fill in wih super glue, sand smooth again and you don't even need to take the neck off. Use loktite 2 ton glue. Do it all the time. Of course refinishing in a dark solid color would make it like new.

[Setch]

You should also measure the scale length before removing the neck. Gibson scales were nominally 24 3/4" but that actually translates into several actual scales such as 24 5/8". Your fretboard slots will need to match your scale. If you use the original bridge placement, the neck will have to be built very accurately in length in order to get the correct scale length so the guitar will intonate.

Good luck and have fun!

Well sure, he could do that. Or he could just use the fretboard he already has on the old neck I'm betting the scale length will be right

[johnsilver]

Well sure, he could do that. Or he could just use the fretboard he already has on the old neck I'm betting the scale length will be right

I wasn't sure if the fretboard was going to be salvaged. Even if it is and will be put on a new neck, he needs to know the scale length before making a new neck and that's better determined before taking the old neck off IMHO.

In any case, if a new neck is to be fitted using the existing bridge location, the neck will have to be built somewhat more precisely to fit the scale length instead of building the neck to approximate scale and then locating the bridge holes.