Should I laugh or cry?!

[James]

Last night there was an accident with my les paul..

I was just playing, and the strap came off.

And I looked down, and saw this......

Does any one know how much it would cost to repair that?


EDIT: hold on, the picture won't show, I'll try to fix that.

It's just a picture of a les paul with the headstock completely broken off.

 

[Brewski]

D'oh! I couldn't see the picture but, Ouch! Sounds like it's going to be a trip to a local luthier for you. If it's a bolt on neck, then it should be fairly simple to replace it. If its not a bolt on neck, uh, ya better see what you're luthier quotes you. (better wear a cup for that good news!) :shock:

My cousin tried to glue a chipped/cracked headstock on his Tele- and ended up replacing the neck. Good luck on it.

 

[James]

It's a set neck

Basically, it fell head first, and the break is a little above the truss rod cover.

 

[fdesalvo]

My condolences, my friend. indeed...

 

[SeasonOfPain]

Unh! My sympathies.

That *almost* happened to me (on stage, no less) when I was a kid, with a Les Paul Custom. Luckily I managed to grab it by the neck in time (and even managed a passable A chord while doing it, as a flourish to the end of the song we were playing!).

Then there's the time the superintendent of my school managed to break the headstock off my Epiphone Explorer (my first guitar ever!!) by dropping it on the floor while "practicing" for a school lip-synch "talent" show. I didn't even know he had the **** thing until he called my parents; apparently my bass player had kindly loaned it to him unbeknownst to me. I was less than pleased.

But anyway, the strap always used to come undone with that Les Paul. Those guitars are so heavy!

How much does it affect a neck-through Paul's tone to install strap locks?

 

[axwielding1]

It doesn't affect the tone to have straplocks, and even if it did, it won't be as noticeablt as , say, bolts, glue, bisquits etc.....
That sucks that the headstock snapped, but that's why they make straplocks...Everyone should have them, and if you don't, get 'em...NOW!
I had a strat once in the 80's, that fell and hit the headstock. Nothing broke, but it knocked the neck out of alignment really bad, and stretched the neck screw holes. So to fix it, I glued in the neck and re-bolted it.
You have a completely different problem. And an expensive fix.
Good luck!
ax. 8)

 

[James]

Ugh, I knew it would be expensive

If it's too expensive to fix, I might replace it.

It was a decent guitar (gibson LP special), but it never stayed in tune, and it was so heavy. (even if that helped the tone!)

 

[redmax61]

Don't give up on it yet!

I can't see the pictures for some reason, but I can tell you that it *is* fixable. I've done it many times myself. The trick is to find somebody in your area that's willing to do it and do a good job at it. Then the question is how much is it worth to you to have it done. Do you just want it to be playable (I.E. do cosmetics matter to you)?

Get a couple of opinions on it if you can.

Before you decide to chuck it, email me and I might be able to help you to get it playable again.

[email protected]

 

[kylek]

The same thing happened to my friend's LP studio with the Teal flip flop color. Luckily he got it fixed and you cant even really tell it broke. I'd say if you want it done right, take it to a Gibson authorized Luthier, even though it will cost more.

 

[James]

I'll have the picture up later, it got deleted for some reason.

Actually, it had a crack in it since I got it (from UPS....)

I had taken a picture to see if it could be replaced,

Look closely, the natural finish makes it hard to see.

So, it basically snapped off that way.

 

[Peace]

Man,

If you have other guitars take axwielding1's advice and go get straplocks asap....

Save the original strap buttons but definitely protect your guitars by getting straplocks.....

There's no way I'd go without 'em.

You can act-a-fool on stage and not have to worry about a strap popping off..... It's such a relief and an overall smart move....

If you have any other gits go get some straplocks..... NOW!!! :shock: GO! GO!.... HURRY!!!!!! :shock:

:wink:

Peace

 

[Peace]

And sorry I didn't mention this before but seriously I'm real sorry to hear about your guitar..

Stuff like that just puts a pit in your stomach.... Sorry man....

I hope you can get it fixed to your satisfaction...

 

[James]

Thanks

If my les paul gets repaired, I don't really care about cosmetics, just as long as it plays well and stays in tune.

 

[MesaMadness]

I am ashamed to admit that when I was 16 (1996) my friend got a new Les Paul Studio. He let me play it standing in his garage when the unthinkable happened. The front strap came off and I was only able to hold onto the body. There was a chair next to me and the top of the headstock hit the chair snapping the neck completely off. Man, I wished that chair hadn't been there.

Since then I have put DiMarzio strap locks on all my guitars.

Luckily, my friend (and his parents that paid for it $1200) were really cool about the whole thing. They said that they had respect for me since I stuck around to face them rather than taking of like most of his friends would have. I will never forget that day. I told my buddy to break my neck. it seemed fitiing and I felt like I really deserved it at the time.

The guitar shop here in town, gave them a killer deal on a Special which he ended up liking more, so he said.

We fixed the guitar, but it was never the same. It kept snapping... repair after repair. Finally, we gorilla glued it and pawned it for $250.

I still cringe just thinking about it.

 

[RR]

All these guitarist that into "Quest for Tone" say they want a 1-piece mahogany neck. I just shake my head and tell them I prefer a Spanish Luthier joint (or laminated like glue lam header) over one-piece. And how many times I see a Gibson with a broken neck?

Don't get me wrong, I love Gibsons and I'm knocking on wood with my ES-335 (no pun intended), but I seen just the slightest drop and all that string tension, I see a broken neck. Happened to my friend. His Les Paul fell off his guitar stand and his floor was soft carpet, his neck still broke.

A break like this is repairable, $400 ~ $500.

 

[eldi]

I bought a Gibson Les Paul Classic with a repaired broken headstock about a year and a half ago for $600, and it sounds better and stays in tune better than my Les Paul Custom without the damage/repair.....go figure.... 8)

 

[Friedmett]

While playing a gig back in 2001 my 14 days old! Les Paul custom historic did the same thing with the topbutton so the strap came of.

I managed to grap it in time and finish the song without doing the backing vocals.

The gig was filmed too.

 

[Familia><Publica]

With my les paul custom historic 1957, i wasnt so lucky...dropped the thing 3 times without being able to catch it in time. But because the thing is so darn heavy, its always landed on its body, the jack of the lead went right through the jack plate and into the body on one occasion. Kinda broke its fall i gues.

 

[Shep]

as far as i can see from that pic..the brake isn't to bad...it very fix able,. the gain is great for glueing..use the right stuff and it should be fine..take it to a luther if you feel worried about doing such a thing..

 

[Jaroslav]

Planet Waves makes guitar straps, which can be locked on virtually any strap button - I use one on my LP Studio. I have often used two such straps since almost two years and no problems until now.