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I've been favorable towards Epiphone and have enjoyed my Casino Coupe bought a couple of years ago. About a month ago the guitar, in its gigbag, landed flat on its face on a soft surface. The photo shows was happened and why: the wood grain at the root of the headstock wasn't even rectilinear with the neck but almost 20 degrees athwart. I wonder it this is repairable without some reinforcing inserts, making the effort quite pricey vs. the original price of the guitar. Naturally, the original turquoise finish will suffer. I don't care about the resale value, just wonder if repairing is worth the effort. I can fix it myself but would rather see a luthier do a nicer, more professional job.
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08-17-2024 01:25 PM
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A wood glue bond is stronger than natural wood. I would glue it up, clamp it gently and get back to playing.
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It can be glued and clamped and probably will be just fine. If it is not an expensive guitar you can do it yourself, but you need clamps and a basic understanding of how it works. It appears these are not expensive, and you just want a functional guitar. Frankly the break looks clean so it should go back together fine. Remember glue is stronger than the wood but you cannot starve the joint of glue in the clamping process. Titebond and line the crack up just right. Go a mockup of the clamp configuration and then the real deal.
I do many guitars like this for guitars that are worth less than $300 and the goal is a playing guitar that is stable. Paying $200 to fix this to me is just not worth the effort. I have even had customers who have beginner type guitars taking lessons and they get all sorts of train wrecks. I just get them back together with the least effort and not charge too much because it is crazy.
Now if you are doing the Mark Campellone L5 repair then the above all goes out the window.
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Ouch! I know you really like that guitar, too. What worries me about a simple glue and clamp repair is that there's a fairly wide swath of base finish on the interface - about 1/4 to 1/3 of the axial length of the broken face appears not to be bare wood. Whether you chemically strip the finish remnants or sand it until the entire contact area is bare wood, there will no longer be a tight join where that grey stuff was. And even if you manage to preserve the mating faces intact south of the contaminated area, there will be a gap where that base layer used to be. So the actual wood-to-wood glue joint will be about 2/3 of the square area of the break, and glue is not a satisfactory filler. You'd have to use a proper filler ("plastic wood", epoxy etc) in that thin but relatively broad space to get solid contact. And no matter what you use, the join will not be as strong as it would if the entire mating interface were wood to wood.
I suspect it needs some kind of splines or reinforcing blocks.
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Sounds to me like you're approaching "repair cost approaches the cost of the instrument" territory. It's an inexpensive guitar, sells for around $500 or less. Gitterbug had asked: "I just wonder if repairing is worth the effort."
Originally Posted by nevershouldhavesoldit
It's this model, correct? -- Epiphone Casino Coupe Electric Guitar | zZounds
The ad says "limited lifetime warranty," does it not cover a simple fall like your mishap?
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Thank you all! I'll show it to my friendly neighborhood heavy metal guitar tech. He used to buy damaged-neck guitars from insurance companies, fix them and sell for a small profit. The purpose on my post was really point out that under a layer of paint may loom something that would never meet buyer approval if visible. Does Epiphone's QC have double standards?
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Customers outside USA are not valued by Gibson Brands, but have to rely on what service the shops are willing to provide. Some of the bigger webshops provide a good service - which of course is something different.
**Customers who purchased product outside the U.S. should contact their local distributor for the handling and resolution of a erll warranty issues as the above-described Gibson Brands, Inc. Warranty is not applicable.
The paint is a "flat" paint without flakes or glitter, meaning that an almost invisible repair is possible. Were it my guitar, I would make a reinforcement recessed into the back of the neck to add some unbroken fibres bridging the split and providing some glue shear area. If I were a boat guy I would replace some wood with fibre-glass (a thin layer would mean a lot) and spend the money on a good paint job.Last edited by teeps; 08-18-2024 at 04:42 AM.
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It's going to be tricky but I'd go for the cheap and easy route. Only because you are looking at much more expensive to do it really correctly and you want to avoid a total loss here.
Don't wait. Oxidation of the wood will adversely effect a good glue join.
Clean it thoroughly and brush the wood surfaces clean to eliminate any micro wood fragments or foreign matter that will interfere with a really seamless wood to wood join.
Clamp it solid with the force directly perpendicular to the join.
Do a dry run so you know how things might slide and shift with the application of glue.
Coat both surfaces and work the glue into the crevices, and work the actual join before you clamp; your goal is to get the wood surfaces to be as close to interlocking as possible.
Anything between the wood is going to come out the sides, so don't use TOO much glue.
Expect a lot of sliding, so be patient and keep things aligned. That gluing surface is VERY small. (I might even consider counter drilling an alignment hole for a toothpick sized dowel to keep alignment, I'd have to see it in hand before I went that route).
Keep your expectations low. Glue may be stronger than wood, but a grain repair is not as strong as original grain or a surfaced glue join. Don't be surprised if it breaks in the future and know things are a LOT more problematic if you try to glue it again. You'll only get one chance at a wood to wood glue join.
Good luck!
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My Epiphone Casino was really cheap because it had the exact same headstock break as yours. It had been repaired and I've not had any problems with it.
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I've done what teeps suggests on a repair. Being a boat guy I use epoxy, cut a channel for carbon fiber uni (all strands in lengthwise direction. If it is bright finished a cap of the neck wood over the top of the channel. Stronger than stock now. Glue together first, cut channel and add carbon fiber with epoxy, finish.
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This looks like a perfect chance to learn to repair a neck break. The hardest part is figuring out how to clamp properly without movement.
I had my 1969 SG Std. neck break repaired in the late 1980's and it still is holding just fine. If I had not had the break I might have sold it years ago when prices were high and I had stopped playing. I am glad I didn't sell it because I am back at playing. I say give it a try, you don't much to lose. My SG has no splines or dowels for reinforcement. My guy said don't touch it and bring everything to me ASAP. I was nearly in tears as this was my first "good " guitar. His buddy was chuckling and asked if this was my first time. I said yes I was a virgin. The repair is nearly invisible. All will be well again!
Thanks john
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Not if you do it yourself. Remember that G’bug is the designer and builder of Toob speaker cabinets. He puts more work into making, fitting, and finishing the wood stands that hold the front of his speakers than many guitar techs would put into gluing his Epi back together. And his craftsmanship is very fine. Originally Posted by Mick-7
I have no doubt that he could do this well if he so chooses.
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