'61 Reissue; Professional Splined Headstock Repair; what would you pay?

[Les’s Nemisis]

Photo below.

This 2020 stopbar '61 reissue w/case is for sale in the USA. Repair clearly was done in a professional jig. See youtube if you've never seen this done.

Assuming it plays up to par, and the rest of it looks unblemished, what would you pay for it in the USA? I usually figure that a headstock repair prices the guitar down to about half of what it would normally be worth used. But this might be a cut above as repairs go. Thoughts?

 

[PermissionToLand]

It's 90% the same, really just cosmetic if we're talking about a professional repair. I wouldn't expect more than 10-20% off. Though personally I do not like the splints added, it's overkill and more noticeable than a simple well glued crack. A glued crack will be stronger than the original one piece neck anyway.

Reverb's price guide puts these around $1,300 in Good condition (stopbar model). Fair condition comes in around $1,100 and Poor condition $850. I think somewhere around the Fair condition would be a reasonable price for this, it's not like the guitar is trashed or anything.

 

[SFrench]

Custom Shop or USA?

That's a $900 guitar tops IMO if it's not a CS.
I bought a stock USA '21 SG Standard '61 used in '22 with zero issues for $1400.

 

[DrBGood]

Though personally I do not like the splints added, it's overkill and more noticeable than a simple well glued crack. A glued crack will be stronger than the original one piece neck anyway

We do not know how bad the break was. If splints were added, I'd suspect a bad break, like straight across, with not enough material to simply glue that parts. Like my 57 RI LP Jr was.

 

[Norton]

Splines are totally the way to go. And those look to be beautifully installed.

 

[Les’s Nemisis]

Splines are totally the way to go. And those look to be beautifully installed.

Yeah… if it wasn’t for the differing stain absorption / grain where they whittled them down It would be a glorious repair.

As is, it still looks very good.

 

[PermissionToLand]

We do not know how bad the break was. If splints were added, I'd suspect a bad break, like straight across, with not enough material to simply glue that parts. Like my 57 RI LP Jr was.

View attachment 56861

It's the same surface area of wood that originally held it together, and glue is stronger than wood.

 

[DrBGood]

It's the same surface area of wood that originally held it together, and glue is stronger than wood.

Mine was indeed previously repaired with wood glue, but somehow broke again at the same spot. Job was probably botched. I meticulously cleaned every wood fiber, but it then was not proper to be simply reglued with Titebond. I use marine Epoxy, no splines. It's now been 2+ years, played regularly and hung on a wall hook. It is rock solid.

 

[Norton]

An ugly spline repair might be something to discuss. An expertly done spline repair is not something I would complain about.

I'd MUCH rather have a stronger repair and a stiffer neck/headstock than a repair hidden by paint or an invisible repair that wasn't as foolproof as this one.

 

[donwagar]

A pro spline repair works great, but the guitar is devalued as it has been repaired.

Here's a pic of my '57 LP Special project, I had it shipped to Greg Platzer for repair and refinish (he used splines)

 

[Gary Gretsch]

A pro spline repair works great, but the guitar is devalued as it has been repaired.

Here's a pic of my '57 LP Special project, I had it shipped to Greg Platzer for repair and refinish (he used splines)

WoW... Is that the same guitar? It looks great. I know it is, but you would have never known. It looks so much better now.

 

[miked847]

Like DrBgood suggested, end grain doesn't glue well. Imagine gluing two 2x4 studs end to end. The joint will not be as strong as the rest of the wood. It wouldn't be very strong at all. The splice in the OP's picture looks as well done as you'll likely get from most luthiers.

 

[OldDog]

I was watching a YT video of this process being done on an LP. Very labor intensive. In the end, it looked great but the neck was unstable. He tried to use 10s and the neck wouldn't hold. The guitar was playable only with 9s. I don't know, but to me, this is like buying a car with a salvage title. I would never own a guitar with a broken neck unless I was the one who broke it.

 

[DrBGood]

I was watching a YT video of this process being done on an LP. Very labor intensive. In the end, it looked great but the neck was unstable. He tried to use 10s and the neck wouldn't hold. The guitar was playable only with 9s. I don't know, but to me, this is like buying a car with a salvage title. I would never own a guitar with a broken neck unless I was the one who broke it.

You mean with splices ? If it was unstable, the repair was poorly done, very poorly. Guitars with well repaired headstock breaks will last decades if they are used as should be and don't get thrown on the floor, or caught in a ceiling fan.

 

[Go Nigel Go]

I am torn... A well repaired headstock is not a problem, and shouldn't have much if any negative effect on the value of an instrument, but part of me says let the naysayers infect the market so I can buy great instruments at half price.

 

[JackStraw]

Photo below.

This 2020 stopbar '61 reissue w/case is for sale in the USA. Repair clearly was done in a professional jig. See youtube if you've never seen this done.

Assuming it plays up to par, and the rest of it looks unblemished, what would you pay for it in the USA? I usually figure that a headstock repair prices the guitar down to about half of what it would normally be worth used. But this might be a cut above as repairs go. Thoughts?

View attachment 56859

That's a a solid repair but I wouldn't pay anymore than $1K.
Good luck!

 

[Norton]

Yeah... there's ZERO chance of a competently repaired neck with splines being unstable. ZERO. the guy doing the mentioned repair had to make a handful of fatal mistakes.

well done... a spline repaired headstock would be FAR more stable and stiff than a solid shaft mahogany neck without splines.