Epiphone Curious.....

[Jx2]

Since I got back into playing a few months back. Ive been keeping a eye on craigslist, not that I have money to buy alot of thing but I do trade around. One thing I have noticed is there has been a decent amount of of Epiphone Les Pauls pop up that has had the headstock broken off and reglued back on. I inquired on one that did look like it was repaired by a pro. Guy backed out before we was to meet up though said he decided to keep it. Another one just popped up guy said it still plays but you have to retune after every song. And he's asking $200 obo with no case. Seems kind of high but Ive noticed everyone of these Ive seen has a asking price of $200-$250 some with hsc some without. Seem a little steep unless its been repaired by a pro.

So I got to wondering just how many of these things pop up in other markets with the same issue? And just how easy is it for the headstock to break on em?

 

[Spudman]

For around $100 more you can get one NEW that doesn't have that issue. That's how I'd go.

Repaired headstocks, if done correctly on that type of neck will often be stronger than the original neck was in that spot. The problem is getting one that was done well enough that you can't feel anything there, and is refinished nicely. There are a lot of guys that can repair them, but not a lot of guys can repair them well. Why not just look to spend around $300 and avoid a repair job all together?

 

[Jx2]

Im not looking at trading or buying one of these. Ive just noticed a alarming number of these guitars in this condition on craigslist and a handfull on ebay in the past 3-6 months. Im just curious as to how often this really happens. It very well could be nothing more than teenage, young adults who like to party while playing having slippery fingers more than anything else. I know in my late teens, early 20's I put most of my guitars through hell and back. Most of the time not on purpose just I drank way to much and dropped em, tripped over them, and really pulled and pushed on the neck and bodies. When I get the $$$ to buy another guitar it will probably be a Agile in a silverburst finish.

 

[Heywood Jablomie]

From what I've read on guitar forums over the past few years, those breaks occur fairly easily, mostly from dropping. Some occur during shipping, too. The woods (mystery mahogany) used, coupled with the weakness where the trussrod adjuster is located, seem to make for the easy breakage. Being a set neck, these are obviously more of a problem to fix compared to a bolt.

 

[deeaa]

Well, as you know, gibsons are fully tilt/tilt (both the neck itself and the headstock are tilted in relation to the body) - BTW the very biggest thing, IMO, in how they sound as opposed to Fender straight/straight and even superstrats tilted/straight.

This means if the guitar falls down - pretty much either way - the headstock is likely to break. If it falls backwards, the headstock takes the full impact and snaps at the weakest spot, usually with a rather long split almost parallel to the neck line, and if it falls face first, well, I assume there's got to be some sort of 'whiplash' happening in the neck because in that case they seem (just my personal observation) snap more diagonally at the base of the headstock.

I have personally broken two; neither were my guitars either...one was a 1973 Les Paul Custom of our band's guitarist - that I knocked over on the face and it broke so neatly we didn't even realize it was broken until days later when it didn't stay in tune...and one was an early 90's Gibson Nighthawk, again our guitarist's axe, which I knocked over from a stand so it fell backwards, and that broke pretty ugly.

Both cases, they were covered by warranty and repaired very neatly, pretty much impossible to tell it had been broke.

It also just happened that ten years later the Custom's owner toppled the guitar over again and broke it again - from a different spot - but this time the insurance company took the '73 and gave him a brand new Custom instead.

With Fenders, if the guitar falls down either way, there's MUCH less chance the headstock will break. They're actually really tough---I've knocked my strat over like a dozen times no problem, and I've decimated two cheap strat copies on stage at the end of a gig, and both times I could not break the headstock, the neck just broke at the body joint both times.

 

[Duffy]

Epiphone

I broke the headstock off of a really nice Epi LP Standard.

I was amazed and won't take any chances again with a mahogany necked LP guitar. Evidently mahogany can be very brittle and will break often completely or very deeply with a long crack.

My LP fell about one and a half feet off of the bed it was laying on, falling parallel to the floor and hit the carpeted floor string side first. It broke diagonally right at the point where the straight neck angles back at the headstock, by the truss rod adjustment port.

Like Deeaa stated: " if it falls face first, well, I assume there's got to be some sort of 'whiplash' happening in the neck because in that case they seem (just my personal observation) snap more diagonally at the base of the headstock. " That, combined with the major force the string pull places on the headstock, I think, and the brittleness of the wood, caused the break.

It was repaired for a modest cost and now plays great and looks like a "Road Warrior", with evidence of the repair very evident. It plays great and the repair is solid and properly aligned, but the finish is not at the professional level. A professional repair of this type would have cost me at least 150 US and the repair I got done was 40. It might have been worth getting it done professionally, but who knows how good the finish would look compared to before the break even if a professional did it?

My personal opinion is that the guitar is worth about 50 dollars in the condition it is in, perfect except for the break and obvious repair. Seriously, paying more than about 50 dollars for a guitar with a broken neck, with evidence of the repair being immediately obvious sounds like someone is trying to take advantage of someone else.

I like my guitar and had some subsequent mods done to it, but it is my "Road
Warrior", clearly showing it's scars. I won't sell it but I would feel foolish selling it for 200 dollars, I don't roll that way.

I would get the new plain top one or something like a used plus top or Tribute. I just saw a mint, one month old plus top, beautiful, with hard shell Epiphone case, sell for 400 at a local store that it was originally purchased at. That was a deal I would have jumped on but I already have an even nicer solid amber plus top already.

No. Breaking the neck of a mahogany necked LP is not the result of blatant abuse. Even slight mishaps can break them. Now I "always" make sure my LP's are totally secure on stands, fastened in, or otherwise safely placed.

I would advise anyone playing in a band to be super careful with their LP and probably advise placing it in the case when on break, etc., rather than letting it sit on a stand. Notice Deeaa broke "two" of his bandmembers LP's necks accidentally.

I also agree that the maple necks are much stronger. Probably a characteristic of maple and also the straight nature of the Fender type necks in general.

I'm NOT looking forward to breaking another guitar neck, dogs running around, etc. I'm excercising due dilligence.

200 for a used Epi LP would get you a brand new Agile AL 2000, which is not a bad guitar by any means.

Dudes are just trying to recoup their loss and get a significant contribution towards their next guitar they already bought or are trying to buy.

 

[Heywood Jablomie]

200 for a used Epi LP would get you a brand new Agile AL 2000, which is not a bad guitar by any means.

....and interestingly, it has a maple neck.

 

[Katastrophe]

I wouldn't buy a repaired broke neck guitar, but that's just me. The main reason is that, if I didn't see the extent of the original break, and know the luthier who repaired it, then I wouldn't really know how good the repair was.

I'd just save the money and potential headache and get the Agile. Unless of course, you want to learn how to do such a repair on your own, then I would pay $100 for a stripped body/neck with no electronics or hardware and just rebuild it from the ground up. You would never get the money out of it that you put into it, but it could end up a good player with the components you pick that way.

 

[ZMAN]

I have heard several guys who have received guitars direct from the online dealer, with a cracked headstock. They are handled very poorly by the shipping company. Also I think that more of these types of guitar are being purchased for a younger group of players. I think they are more "carefree" than "careless" and just don't know what can happen. If they were a 2000 dollar LP they probably wouldn't have one and if they did would appreciate it a lot more.
Most of the online dealers will replace the broken guitars and they must have an outlet for them, where they sell them off.
So I don't think that the product is poorly made, I just think they are being poorly handled.
If a headstock is dowled and reglued and refinished it should be stonger than before. A simple glue job just won't do it.