Twisted neck on Les Paul Special

[Sweetums]

My Gibson LP Special had been sitting in it's TKL case for a few months, just went to play it and the neck is noticeably twisted. What's my next move? Take it to a luthier?

[GALLERY=media, 3628]IMG_2163 by Sweetums posted Dec 30, 2020 at 11:22 AM[/GALLERY]

[GALLERY=media, 3627]IMG_2166 by Sweetums posted Dec 30, 2020 at 11:22 AM[/GALLERY]

[GALLERY=media, 3626]IMG_2169 by Sweetums posted Dec 30, 2020 at 11:22 AM[/GALLERY]

 

[donepearce]

A twist is not necessarily the end of the world as long as each string individually gets a straight run along the fretboard. You may need to do some fret levelling to get it good, but forget any ideas of twisting it back straight. The wood is now where it wants to be and won't take kindly to force.

 

[Chubbles]

I'd put it into another case for a month and see what happens first. It may have been there was something wrong with that last case.

 

[DrBGood]

Ouch ! That is some twist.
Maybe if you shake it up, baby, now ?

​

 

[fuzbuzz78]

Hmmm. Are you sure you’re not just freaking yourself out? What I see is the treble side of the nut is filed down lower than the rhythm side, which gives the optical illusion of a twist.

 

[DrBGood]

Hmmm. Are you sure you’re not just freaking yourself out? What I see is the treble side of the nut is filed down lower than the rhythm side, which gives the optical illusion of a twist.

​

 

[fuzbuzz78]

View attachment 43555​

Bummer.

 

[Sweetums]

Thanks for the encouraging words and advice. It is def twisted, the pic below may be clearer. Check out how the bottom of the nut lines up with the body.
[GALLERY=media, 3629]IMG_2171 by Sweetums posted Dec 31, 2020 at 11:11 AM[/GALLERY]

 

[donepearce]

OK. Now I want to know about that record collection I can see in the background...

 

[Huntroll]

This is precisely the reason I always remove any sort of wedges under the lining of new cases that press against the neck when it's closed.

When the guitar's in there, you should be able to hear it rock back and forth freely,
(maybe an inch or so), when you have it stood up on its end.

 

[donepearce]

This is precisely the reason I always remove any sort of wedges under the lining of new cases that press against the neck when it's closed.

When the guitar's in there, you should be able to hear it rock back and forth freely,
(maybe an inch or so), when you have it stood up on its end.

Wedge pressure didn't do this. This is the wood relaxing into its natural shape. This is the result of inadequate seasoning and failing to cut the neck profile in stages with a few weeks between each as PRS does.

 

[Huntroll]

Plus the fact that a certain percentage are going to do this no mater what.

I would contact Gibson and see what they say.

 

[Go Nigel Go]

I think I would contact Gibson directly as well. There are no "home remedies" for something like this. As noted above, this may just be something that particular piece of wood wants to do, in which case only a new neck will cure it permanently. Wood is a wonderful material, but like water you have to work with it rather than against it. Any attempt to go against the natural inclinations of the material will likely just end in costly and likely repeated attempts at a "fix".

 

[AngelDeVille]

That's the direction of twist you would normally have to pay extra for.

with a proper setup it may actually play better.

https://torzalguitars.com/natural-twist

 

[Huntroll]

Either way, it's super-duper serious !



Happy New Year everybody !

 

[chilipeppermaniac]

Yup call Gibson and they will likely get you an RA number to get it sorted at the Warranty repairman near you or else if you got it recently enough, take it back where you got it.

 

[zum]

Had problems with an es355 (trussrod wouldn’t turn) and a les Paul (twisted neck) about a year ago. If you purchased it new and have a receipt the it could be covered under warranty. take it to an authorized Gibson repair dealer. In my case it was Sam ash. They talked to Gibson for me and shipped it to them. They evaluated it and then decided what to do. The es355 got fixed perfectly and the les Paul got totally replaced.

This is why I buy gibsons brand new these days. Current prices of used ones are just not worth it.

 

[Relic61]

 

[Houdi_Elbow]

I straightened the twist in an Epiphone SG 400 that was so bad it was unplayable by leaving the head-stock end of the neck (where the twist was) in the airflow from a domestic dehumidifier, guitar just leaning up against it, nothing fancy.
It took a month but it straightened up and has never re-twisted after 3 years.
It's worth a try if you have a dehumidifier.

Best of luck
H_E