Worst D.I.Y. headstock repair ever?

Since I've moved back north I see a lot more electric guitars from rock n' rollers which means I see a lot more headstock breaks. This Dot Epiphone was repaired not so well by the owner with epoxy and then carelessly doused with wood glue. I'll keep his name confidential, but he really loves his guitar and wanted me to make sure the headstock would not break again.

Before.

After.New veneer added for cosmetic and structural purposes.

A structurally sound memory.

I steamed the old glue joint apart and cleaned everything up. Obviously it was a mess but I glued everything back w/ epoxy (used for it's gap filling properties) and reinforced the break with my splint routing jig. I made a new veneer, sanded all the contours, sealed everything up and showed it to the owner. He was very happy with the repair and insisted that I not refinish the area exclaiming, "It looks like it's been in a fire!"

Said owner plays in a "noise rock" band.

SG Party

Three Gibson SG's in the shop for repairs! One for some set-up work, one for a headstock break and one for a full re-fret.

I'm still chippin' away at the shop but so far the work brought to me has been very encouraging.

THANK YOU!

Shop is operational

Here's a peek at my shop and what you see when you walk in the door. I am operating officially from 1pm - 7pm Monday though Friday and 1pm - 5pm on Saturdays. I'm also available by appointment. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions about my services.

I'm offering a $20 guitar set-up special for the month of December.

Estimates are free.

New shop on 46th and Nicollet

I moved into a place off of 46th and Nicollet in Minneapolis, MN on October 1st, 2011. Here's my first couple weeks of progress:

4534 Nicollet Avenue Minneapolis, MN

First bench.

Two benches.

Farewell to my job in North Carolina

Somewhere around 400 repair invoices for guitars, banjos, bouzoukis, cellos, upright basses, mandolins, ukes, dulcimers, a sitar and more.

A good start.

I've been back in Minnesota for 2 months now getting ready for winter and setting up shop.

Thanks Acoustic Corner and all the folks that trusted me with their fine instruments! It was truly an adventure.

Shen Bass Golf Cart Accident

This bass neck hit a tree while riding in the back of a golf cart. The owner wants a new neck installed.

My assistant, Matt Hannafin, in the background.

Fingerboard removal.

New neck from Shen. Hot off their CNC and the slow boat from China.

The new neck from Shen was very beefy and needed quite a bit of work to match the shape of the old neck.

Cleaning things up.

Matthew Hannafin did a great job of cleaning up the mortise, as seen here.

I had to use a shim to achieve the correct overstand with the new neck that was sent to the shop. I was hesitant to use a shim for a new neck, but after talking to the Shen people on the phone I was assured by them that a shim for a new Shen bass neck is standard practice. Samuel Shen said so himself.

I don't want to say how many shims I made until I had just the right fit, but it was a lot.

Here's the new neck freshly glued into the body after lots of time was spent fitting.

I glued the fingerboard on with the instrument still in the white, which isn't what you're supposed to do; but due to time constraints and keeping costs down for the customer I glued the fingerboard down and cleaned everything up before applying a thin finish. Can't say I regretted it too much, but I'll do what I can to avoid ever doing it that way again.

I think I took this picture at 4 in the morning.

I won't give away Shen's finishing recipe, but here's the bass with finish applied.

And here we are, all set up! Customer told me that the bass sounds (and looks) better than ever.

Thanks, Hannafin, for helping out. I really couldn't have done it by myself.

Slingerland / May Bell Banjo Uke Restoration

New fingerboard, new frets, new nut, new skin head, new bridge, new nylon strings and a set-up.