Emergency Repair... New Headstock? !!

This 12 string guitar's headstock had been repaired several times before in a slightly different place each time and was now becoming weak. The last repair attempt failed and it was time for drastic action.

It is a full time professional hard working guitar and cosmetics were not a priority, it was Friday and the customer needed it for a gig on Sunday so I decided to attempt to graft a whole new headstock onto the neck in less than 24 hours and treat it as a gift to the customer in thanks for many years of regular work on his guitars and to show my gratitude for his duo's surprise appearance at my wedding in 2002 despite it being 120 miles away!

First, all the damaged wood was shaved away on the neck stump. It was dressed at a very acute angle to provide the largest glueing area I could get without actually getting into the truss rod channel at the back.

A large "paddle" headstock was glued in place, the gluing face was angled to allow for the headstock angle and also the fact that the broken surface was angled to one side of the neck.

Once glued, the headstock was shaped and carved to match the original using the old one as a template.

In this picture, you can see just how far the new piece extends into the neck... and the fact that it was angled to one side.

Thanks to Gary Phillips and Andy King of the famous Gypsy Jazz group "THE AMIGO's" for making our wedding day a great success!

Check out their website on my Links Page