One more crack like that and you're done! (headstock repair adventure)
Jan 15, 2023 20:22:48 GMT -5
markfromhawaii likes this
Post by Peegoo 🏁 on Jan 15, 2023 20:22:48 GMT -5
This one came in last week. It was dropped off by the old man's son, who says his dad plays it every day. The Washburn has a whole lot of battle damage; many dents and dings all over it. This time it was dropped on its head and the headstock snapped. This is a headstock that has had at least two prior repairs--maybe more. The last fix included eight 5/8" brass screws through the break, which was not properly closed when it was glued and screwed.
I asked if his dad wanted it to look nice, and he said no. All he wants is to make it playable again. Okay then.
A real good indication of the hillbilly DNA in this guitar is the zip tie holding the strap to the headstock. It looked like it was on there a long time because it had chewed into the mahogany behind the treble side of the nut.
I unstrung it, removed the tuners and pulled the eight screws out. The glue they used for the ?first? repair was some kind of gritty black stuff that resembled undercoating. The ?second? repair was Elmer's; this simplifies things. I forced the break open and used steam and a few small picks to remove as much of the old glue/gunk as I could from the break. I lined all the little broken pieces up and miraculously it closed up nice and tight.
I got too much glue into the joint, which is always the exact amount necessary
and applied a clamp padded with yoga mat material to apply even pressure. I got all the squeeze-out wiped up. After two hours in the clamp I removed it and scraped off the remaining excess glue while it was still soft.
Next I drilled out all eight screw holes to 1/8" and inserted maple dowels. The screws had been countersunk, and if I drilled for dowels the size of the countersinks, that would remove too much of the original wood and weaken the repair. So I trimmed the dowels flush and filled the remaining recesses with epoxy.
With everything block sanded smooth, I popped the nut off and applied a small paper-thin thin mahogany veneer on the face of the headstock to hide the carnage beneath, but I left the back as is and then shot the headstock with satin clear poly. I reinstalled the nut and strung it back up with Elixir 12s. It came out alright. It's not a beautiful repair, but it didn't need to be.
One more bad break like this and the guitar will probably need to be re-headstocked.
I asked if his dad wanted it to look nice, and he said no. All he wants is to make it playable again. Okay then.
A real good indication of the hillbilly DNA in this guitar is the zip tie holding the strap to the headstock. It looked like it was on there a long time because it had chewed into the mahogany behind the treble side of the nut.
I unstrung it, removed the tuners and pulled the eight screws out. The glue they used for the ?first? repair was some kind of gritty black stuff that resembled undercoating. The ?second? repair was Elmer's; this simplifies things. I forced the break open and used steam and a few small picks to remove as much of the old glue/gunk as I could from the break. I lined all the little broken pieces up and miraculously it closed up nice and tight.
I got too much glue into the joint, which is always the exact amount necessary
and applied a clamp padded with yoga mat material to apply even pressure. I got all the squeeze-out wiped up. After two hours in the clamp I removed it and scraped off the remaining excess glue while it was still soft.Next I drilled out all eight screw holes to 1/8" and inserted maple dowels. The screws had been countersunk, and if I drilled for dowels the size of the countersinks, that would remove too much of the original wood and weaken the repair. So I trimmed the dowels flush and filled the remaining recesses with epoxy.
With everything block sanded smooth, I popped the nut off and applied a small paper-thin thin mahogany veneer on the face of the headstock to hide the carnage beneath, but I left the back as is and then shot the headstock with satin clear poly. I reinstalled the nut and strung it back up with Elixir 12s. It came out alright. It's not a beautiful repair, but it didn't need to be.
One more bad break like this and the guitar will probably need to be re-headstocked.
