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Sire P8 - Headstock broken - Help with suggestions.

Wagner Cruz

Wagner Cruz

Mar 8, 2020
9
26
#1
Hello everyone, what's up?

I own a Sire P8 bought from Thomman, this week it turns 1 year old.
It's never been out of my house, always in the bedroom, but last Wednesday, when I put it on the floor stand (it wasn't up high), it fell to the floor.
And I had a very unpleasant result, it broke the headstock, and in a way that I've never seen before, I know it wasn't made to fall or hit, but I'm wondering about the quality of the wood.

I don't think it was meant to happen, I wonder if a Fender would do that, looking at the wood.
I'm in contact with Sire and Thomman to see what's possible, but I'd like to know if it's possible, for an instrument that's never been dropped, I've never dropped a bass of mine, it was the first time something happened and it wasn't even a drop.

images :
View attachment 7066117View attachment 7066118View attachment 7066119View attachment 7066120View attachment 7066121View attachment 7066122

I'm wondering if it could be a defect in the wood, but mainly about its quality.

I don't know what to do, from what I've seen and researched, I can even find a headstock, for 199 from Sire itself, I'm extremely disappointed that this has happened and that I have costs that I don't even have to take out at the moment.
 
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#2
1st, I'm sorry you had this happen to your bass. I can't speak to what would happen to another instrument but you clearly need a new neck. Just a wild thought but why don't you try to contact Marcus Miller and send him the pics. Heck, the headstock has his name on it.
Maybe, just maybe, he'd help out in some way. I'm certainly not speaking for Marcus but I think it's worth a shot.
I hope you get up and playing again soon!
 
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#3
It looks like (from the pics) a relatively simple woodworking repair. Ask around and there'll probably be someone in your area that can glue it up, even if they're not a luthier. Depending on where you are, there's a thriving Luthier forum here with many talented people who couple probably help you out.

Wagner Cruz said:
I'm wondering if it could be a defect in the wood
Click to expand...
Possibly, and it might well have been internal and not visible to the person machining it.

SJan3 said:
Just a wild thought but why don't you try to contact Marcus Miller and send him the pics. Heck, the headstock has his name on it.
Click to expand...
And reach out to Sire as they seem to have decent CS and care about their name. Can't hurt.
 
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#6
Wagner Cruz said:
Hello everyone, what's up?

I own a Sire P8 bought from Thomman, this week it turns 1 year old.
It's never been out of my house, always in the bedroom, but last Wednesday, when I put it on the floor stand (it wasn't up high), it fell to the floor.
And I had a very unpleasant result, it broke the headstock, and in a way that I've never seen before, I know it wasn't made to fall or hit, but I'm wondering about the quality of the wood.

I don't think it was meant to happen, I wonder if a Fender would do that, looking at the wood.
I'm in contact with Sire and Thomman to see what's possible, but I'd like to know if it's possible, for an instrument that's never been dropped, I've never dropped a bass of mine, it was the first time something happened and it wasn't even a drop.

images :
View attachment 7066117View attachment 7066118View attachment 7066119View attachment 7066120View attachment 7066121View attachment 7066122

I'm wondering if it could be a defect in the wood, but mainly about its quality.

I don't know what to do, from what I've seen and researched, I can even find a headstock, for 199 from Sire itself, I'm extremely disappointed that this has happened and that I have costs that I don't even have to take out at the moment.
Click to expand...

I'm wondering more about the quality of the torrefaction process on a Sire bass.

If Sire won't make it right, I'd probably glue it myself and maybe drill a couple dowels into it for good measure. At this point what would it matter to its value, anyway? Good luck.
 
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#7
Glue it back together. If it were me I would add a couple well placed screws to reinforce it but I wouldn't care about the aesthetics. It's not a collector's piece and the playing surface has not been damaged. This kind of break happens all the time and IMO is not indicative of poor quality or a defect. A bass neck is under alot of tension and the impact broke it. NBD. Fix it and move on. It will be fine.
 
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#12
Even if it's repairable, as other TBers have diagnosed, I would ask for a replacement neck or even a complete bass. A decently made instrument should be able to withstand a slight drop. It takes some abuse to break a Fender, or so the story goes.

Simonon-london-calling-clash-e1460242004282.jpeg
 
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#13
Looks like easy repair. On the Doublebass part of forum they fix this kind of damage often. Glued crack will be stronger than surrounding wood.
Remove neck from the body and all hardware from the headstock. Check that parts fit perfectly (they should, it looks that way). Get some wood glue and clamps. Put glue in every nook and cranny and connect parts best you can and clamp them together. Than clamp them to hard and flat surface. Remove excess glue. Leave to dry for couple of days.
Take your time and do it right.
 
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#14
I'm sorry this happened to your bass.
I don't think the quality of Sire is in cause, a bass is not meant to be dropped on the floor (but I know, it can happen, sometimes we are lucky sometimes not). The neck and the headstock are under an incredible tension. Many Gibson guitar owners have seen they're lovely instrument beheaded after even a small impact with a hard surface, in 99% it's reparable with no visible aesthetic imperfection, sometimes the repair will be visible. Any luthier will fix it, probably even a decent woodworker will do the job. A good glue or epoxy will bond the parts better than before the accident. Good luck.
 
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#16
Ouch!! That sucks! It was however and accident. FWIW, I'd contact Sire and tell them exactly what happened. Acknowledge it was your fault (don't question their quality). Explain how much you enjoy your Sire bass and that money is a bit tight then ask if there is anything they can do for you. You may be surprised at what happens when you're honest about how it happened and ask for help from them. It's a golden opportunity for the PR department as they know that good news of them helping you out will be heard. I wouldn't be surprised if they send you a neck for $75 or less.

Good luck and keep us posted.
 
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#17
Wagner Cruz said:
Hello everyone, what's up?

I own a Sire P8 bought from Thomman, this week it turns 1 year old.
It's never been out of my house, always in the bedroom, but last Wednesday, when I put it on the floor stand (it wasn't up high), it fell to the floor.
And I had a very unpleasant result, it broke the headstock, and in a way that I've never seen before, I know it wasn't made to fall or hit, but I'm wondering about the quality of the wood.

I don't think it was meant to happen, I wonder if a Fender would do that, looking at the wood.
I'm in contact with Sire and Thomman to see what's possible, but I'd like to know if it's possible, for an instrument that's never been dropped, I've never dropped a bass of mine, it was the first time something happened and it wasn't even a drop.

images :
View attachment 7066117View attachment 7066118View attachment 7066119View attachment 7066120View attachment 7066121View attachment 7066122

I'm wondering if it could be a defect in the wood, but mainly about its quality.

I don't know what to do, from what I've seen and researched, I can even find a headstock, for 199 from Sire itself, I'm extremely disappointed that this has happened and that I have costs that I don't even have to take out at the moment.
Click to expand...
That IS a bizarre break! However, save all your pieces. If you can’t get a resolution from the company, just carefully wood glue this back together (you can clamp by just wrapping anything rubber like around it - rubber bands, old inner tube, etc) and I give fair odds it will function and work fine with a hard to see crack.
 
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#19
The crack being in line with the tuner’s screws I would pay a special attention if you decide to repair the neck.

The bare minimum is to put some glued hardwood dowels in those screw holes to avoid another breakage.

I would also put some bigger glued dowels across the headstock to consolidate the two halves and make sure they stay together.

This neck really looks like it’s made of roasted maple thus making it more brittle but putting full length wood dowels across the two halves would make it almost indestructible.

OTHO, if you bring it to a luthier, maybe it’s worth shopping for a new neck and compare the price of these two options. Nevertheless, I would give a try with your seller to get a new neck at no charge.
 
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