My Guitarists' Broken Les Paul HELPP

SVTDOUBLEBUCK · #1 01-06-2010, 04:32 PM

Alright fellow bass players, I am a bass player, and I have poked around a few guitar forums but not had the best of luck. My guitarist has a Gibson Les Paul Special, black. During a show he put it down, it then fell over, and him not realizing it fell, stepped backward and onto the neck. There is no breakage, but the neck is starting to separate from the body where it meets the body, right on the very back of it, right where the set neck meets the body, since he has another guild that he uses now, he wants to do the repair job on his own instead of a proper repair. My question to the TB'ers is what kind of glue would be best to use, and how/where would you go about clamping it. Since he is going to be giving it a "personal" finish job, which includes sanding and a lacquer finish, he does not care about aesthetic value. Should he glue and maybe send a screw right through the neck into the body to reinforce it (not my idea, but his). Thanks guys, any advice would be appreciated . Again I am a bass player and did not no where else to turn!

nato101010 · #2 01-06-2010, 04:34 PM

I'm really shocked it didn't break at the headstock!

SVTDOUBLEBUCK · #3 01-06-2010, 04:40 PM

tell me about it, he is not a light dude by any means! I wish I had some pics but it's currently at his house

mikeyswood · #4 01-06-2010, 05:29 PM

No glue. Heat. Melt the hide glue that is there and press it together. A large C clamp and some soft leather on cauls.

WalterBush · #5 01-06-2010, 06:12 PM

^^^^^ Reglue it. Don't use a screw.

SVTDOUBLEBUCK · #6 01-06-2010, 06:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mikeyswood

No glue. Heat. Melt the hide glue that is there and press it together. A large C clamp and some soft leather on cauls.

How will I be able to clamp it? It's where the back of the neck meets the body...

mikeyswood · #7 01-06-2010, 07:13 PM

A large C clamp.

Superdave · #8 01-06-2010, 07:20 PM

Any good luthier can fix that headstock for $50. I had the same thing happen to one of my guitarist's Les Pauls and it was fixed in a week stronger than before.

mikeyswood · #9 01-06-2010, 07:24 PM

It is the dovetail and not the headstock.

T-Bird · #10 01-07-2010, 02:53 AM

Hi.

Quote:

Originally Posted by mikeyswood

No glue. Heat. Melt the hide glue that is there and press it together. A large C clamp and some soft leather on cauls.

Really?

The body/neck separation was quite common on mid-late 80's Gibsons because of the crappy (unseasoned) woods they used and none of the ones I've repaired had hide glue. The smell is much closer to synthetic than organic glue when heated/burned.

For me, organic glues are for acoustic instruments, if the instrument is designed to be easily repairable.

But anyway, no screws are necessary IME, just clean the surfaces, shim if necessary and reglue. Titebond (PVA?) is the choice of US luthiers AFAIK, I've used moisture resistant PVAc glues that are easier to get over here.

Regards
Sam

erikbojerik · #11 01-07-2010, 05:45 AM

Pics would be helpful here, it depends on how significant the separation is. Can you slide a piece of paper in? A credit card? Your finger? Is the neck physically loose?

If it is minor, as stated above the best fix is to just soften the glue with heat and clamp, but it is a difficult area to heat. In this case, actually one of the easiest things you can do is to clamp it and leave it in a car parked in the sun in the middle of summer for a day, periodically checking and tightening the clamp. No kidding.

If it is a credit-card or larger-sized separation, then you'll need to completely remove the neck, clean up the joint, and re-set it. It is a mortise & tenon joint (not dovetail).