Spector NS-5 USA Model w/ Broken Headstock Thoughts?

[japhy4529]

I have a question for the experts on this forum.

I purchased a Spector NS-5 USA model neck-thru bass from Bass Central two months ago. The bass was sold for parts as the headstock had cracked right off the body during a shipping mishap. Anyway, I bought the bass thinking I could possibly have it repaired. Well, I sent it to Sweetwater's repair shop as they have experience with this type of repair (for example, last year they reattached Dweezil's Zappa's SG headstock). They called me yesterday with bad news - the bass cannot be repaired. Well, they said it might be possible, but it would run north of $850, due to the amount of labor it would take to fix it and they didn't recommend it so I passed. They're shipping it back to me now.

Now I'm considering what to do with it. I could sell some or all of the hardware and try and recoup some of my losses. I'm also thinking of maybe turning the bass into wall art - maybe hang it on my studio wall...

Before I completely give up all hope of a repair, I thought I reach out and get some thoughts from the experts on here. What do you guys think - can it be repaired and if so, would it cost a mint to do so as quoted by Sweetwater?

Pics below. Thanks in advance!

 

[Jisch]

I've only done one such repair, it will be time consuming as it appears you can't just glue and spline like they did with Dweezil's guitar due to the break around the truss rod. If it was mine I would do the repair, given my small bit of experience doing this kind of thing I would expect issues and the possibility it wouldn't look perfect. The one I did I had to cut a scarf joint around the truss rod like that, it came out great, but getting that joint perfect took a lot of time.

 

[Bruce Johnson]

Oh good grief, that's a relatively easy fix in my book. And that's a nice bass, worth fixing. Why are all these shops out there so chicken?

I'm waaaay too busy to take on basic repairs like this any more. Maybe my new apprentice Alex might be willing to do it (with my guidance)? Or, if you want to try it yourself, we can talk you through it.

Don't give up on it. Fix it. Bring it back to life. Let it make music again!

 

[Bruce Johnson]

That's about a $100 repair job. The shipping is obviously more than that. If you can't find anyone locally, you can contact me and we'll see about having Alex do it.

That's a simple clean break on a well made neck. I'd bet that I could glue it back together with West Systems and no additional reinforcements and it would be plenty strong. I might add a pair of simple carbon fiber plugs just for some extra precaution. But there's no need for any splines or complicated surgery. Because it's an oil finish on bare wood there would be some scars; a few jagged tan lines along the breaks. But that's it.

And yes, I've done this before many times. And far worse damage. This ranks as a simple headstock break.

 

[japhy4529]

That's about a $100 repair job. The shipping is obviously more than that. If you can't find anyone locally, you can contact me and we'll see about having Alex do it.

That's a simple clean break on a well made neck. I'd bet that I could glue it back together with West Systems and no additional reinforcements and it would be plenty strong. I might add a pair of simple carbon fiber plugs just for some extra precaution. But there's no need for any splines or complicated surgery. Because it's an oil finish on bare wood there would be some scars; a few jagged tan lines along the breaks. But that's it.

And yes, I've done this before many times. And far worse damage. This ranks as a simple headstock break.

Thanks, Bruce.

 

[Bruce Johnson]

Thanks, Bruce.

I showed these pictures to Alex today and he said, sure, he's willing to do it. I talked him through the process. You can send it to us if you can't find anyone closer.

 

[HaMMerHeD]

I did a repair job exactly like that earlier this year, charged the guy $120.

Epiphone repair

 

[Bruce Johnson]

In case you were wondering what happened to this poor broken Spector:

It's here in my shop. A beautiful bass, well worth repairing and saving. No surprises when we unpacked it and checked it out. A clean break; should be a simple repair job. I'm teaching Alex how to do this type of repair jobs, and this one is a good example for him to learn on. So, he's doing most of the work, with me supervising, advising and endlessly droning on in the background about technical stuff. He's absorbing it and doing fine.

The first step was to fit the broken headstock back to the neck. No glue yet; testing how the ragged joint fits together. We want the parts to slide right back together, closing up all the gaps. At first, there were some mangled wood fibers down inside the break that were keeping the parts from seating. And there were a few small spots on the break that had spread or moved, and didn't quite align back to their original place.

Alex spent about a half hour working it, figuring out where it was jamming, and lightly filing and scraping the jagged wood ends. He got it to the point where the broken joint would slide back together with some friction, with everything lined up, and the gaps closed. I'm sorry that I didn't get close-ups of the actual work. The whole job was moving along quickly.

We pulled it back apart, and applied masking tape and wax around the repair area to keep excess epoxy off of other areas. Spent a few minutes planning out how to do the clamping. Then applied the epoxy. West Systems 105/206 (Slow), dabbed it on both parts, let it sink in for a few minutes, took a deep breath, and snapped it together.

It only took one main clamp to lightly squeeze the joint together, plus some blocks under the tip of the headstock to apply a light upward pressure. And two medium spring clamps to hold down the peeled up ends of the cap veneer.

We checked the alignment and closure of the gaps about five times, and there it is! We'll let it cure overnight and start on trimming and touchups tomorrow. The hard part is done.

 

[packrat]

It's great to see up-and-coming luthier apprentices gaining skills, too.

 

[jcburn]

This is a great story...can't wait to see this one released back into the wild.

 

[reverendrally]

I predict Alex has a bright future in luthiery… especially with all the 'swagger' in that last picture.

 

[Bruce Johnson]

Yeah, Alex is a good young guy. He's learning fast and working out well. We're specifically training him and helping him get started doing repairs and setup. There's a real need for a good setup/repair guy here in the north Los Angeles area. Many current and former musicians around here with big guitar collections. He'll bring in lots of work just from the locals.

Plus, if he gets good at the scary structural repair jobs, like this Spector, he'll get plenty of mail order work. And, I'm going to teach him to do the truss rod replacements on Fenders and others. Steady work there. And helping me with the Ampeg restorations.

Besides all that, all six of us Luthiers here are interested in having him work as an occasional assistant, helping with building our new instruments. He's already doing work for Keith, Jon and myself. Mike, Rob and Raul are also talking to him. He's getting a whirlwind education here.

 

[iceboxbass]

Awesome work that you guys are doing Bruce and Alex. Kudos for the repair on that beautiful Spector bass busted headstock. I’m glad that you reached out to Tom for that repair. If & when I need to reach out to an experienced luthier that’s not in my area I’ll most definitely contact your shop.

 

[Bruce Johnson]

Here's a couple of quick shots of the Spector this morning, right out of the clamps. It's still covered with excess glue glop, but that will come off easily. We waxed the surfaces. But, the headstock is solidly attached again and lined up straight. That's the important part. Alex will get going on the cleanup and cosmetic fills this afternoon.

The top veneer cap looks good. We got the two curled up areas to lay down flat again. We'll clean off the excess epoxy and lightly sand the repaired area flat. Then we may need to fill a few little spots with epoxy and sand again. When it's all flat and smooth, we'll dust on a coat of clear satin nitro lacquer to get the whole black cap a nice even sheen. We didn't touch the inlay.

On the back side, the break is fitted back together pretty tightly. But you can see there's a misalignment, where the two outboard points of the fork on either side of the neck side have spread apart slightly and don't quite line back up. From what I understand, this bass has been sitting broken for more than a year, and I guess the wood at those points bent outward a bit.

Not a real problem. A little more epoxy and a slight trim with a file will get the shape lined up and smoothed out. Alex will do that today.

When the seams are all filled and sanded, they'll end up being pale yellowish lines. With this type of finish, they obviously won't be invisible. But they'll be subtle. Battle scars from its life.

 

[Bruce Johnson]

Okay, Alex spent some time on the Spector this afternoon. A first-round cleanup, popping off the excess epoxy and gently filing the lumps and bits sticking out. A look at where it is and what additional filling is needed.

The top looks pretty good. There are a couple of spots where the black veneer wrinkled during the injury, leaving a few small gaps when filed smooth. Tonight, I'll be dabbing a few drops of black-tinted epoxy in them to fill them up to the surface.

The back is also looking pretty good, but it will need some additional clear epoxy to fill the cracks up to the surface. This is the tedious part of the repair. Filling little spots with epoxy, letting it cure, filing it down, finding more little spots, repeat.

You can see how he's filed down the little point that was sticking out at the side.

 

[Bruce Johnson]

Here's another picture of the back, after I just spent a few minutes filing and sanding it. That's what the scar is looking like. It still needs a bit more epoxy. We'll be touching up the finish with some Danish Oil or Tru-Oil or something old that has amber-aging in it. The scar won't disappear, but it will be subdued.

That little black mark down at the right center is, unfortunately, the end corner of the truss rod. I guess a little chip of wood fell away from the headstock side part right there. I may put in a drop of opaque tan tinted epoxy.

 

[reverendrally]

I don't mind telling you I'm pretty jealous of Alex. That's some pretty serious hot-housing of talent going on there. Kinda like being in Coltrane's band.

 

[jcburn]

Can I, or am I even allowed to ask, how much you payed for this man?

 

[japhy4529]

Can I, or am I even allowed to ask, how much you payed for this man?

Well, let’s just say it was listed as a “parts bass” and priced accordingly.

 

[jcburn]

Well, let’s just say it was listed as a “parts bass” and priced accordingly.

Well good on you man for having the kahunas to buy it and well done Bruce Johnson for being an upstanding human. Looks like that thing is gonna play like a beast.