Viewing entries tagged
neck repair

Major heel break :: Rickenbacker 4001 bass

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Major heel break :: Rickenbacker 4001 bass

A pretty gnarly heel break on a 1987 Rickenbacker 4001 stopped in this morning. The player admits he's pretty rough on his bass but has no idea how this happened. He just opened the case one day and ~!!!BAM!!!~ found this carnage. 

He did mention he left it in a hot car once, so extreme heat could have helped pop the neck apart.  It came in strung to pitch and when I went to slacken the strings the neck immediately fell backwards.  The neck was only held to the body by a thin slice of wood.  Yikes!

That thin slice of wood ran up the neck like a wave, so the trick was figuring out how to clamp this piece down.  The heel itself was straight forward, but how to go about that piece running up into the neck ...

I ended up wrapping a large industrial rubber band around the crack running up the neck first and then the clamps.  The rubber band worked out extremely well and saved me from fitting a time consuming caul.  Rubber bands to the rescue!

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Skunk Stripe Repair :: 2001 Fender Precision Bass Special [9.1 lbs]

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Skunk Stripe Repair :: 2001 Fender Precision Bass Special [9.1 lbs]

Skunk Stripe Repair :: 2001 Fender Precision Bass Special [9.1 lbs]

The walnut "skunk stripe" had raised up and become proud of the neck.  This walnut strip had settled to where it wants to be over the years due to a poor fit (and possibly dry joint when built).  The strip did not move when clamped so I didn't like the idea of heating and clamping it flush (most likely introducing more stresses). I ended up cutting away the flakey finish between the walnut and maple and filling wood gap with dust and superglue, then top coating the repair with just superglue.  Finally, the area was wet sanded and buffed out.

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2003 Gibson Les Paul Double Cut Faded :: head break glue-up

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2003 Gibson Les Paul Double Cut Faded :: head break glue-up

2003 Gibson Les Paul Double Cut Faded :: head break glue-up.

This classic Gibson headstock break (shown here) has been hide glued and clamped.  I like to start with the guitar face down in the vise to quickly apply the glue and clamps before flipping the guitar over as shown above.  Flipping the guitar over allows the weight of the clamps to help pull the joint closed a little tighter.

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