Official Luthiers Forum!

Hi everyone. I desperately need the advice of a luthier ...

My guitar, Diane (yeah, I know), was on a stand when I accidentally pulled it forward, face-first, onto a wooden floor. The headstock was completely broken off. I was sure that I lost her but some musician friends are saying that it may be repairable. PLEASE tell me that I can actually save her. I'm also curious about the approximate cost of a repair like this but, MOST IMPORTANTLY, I just want to know that she's not gone.

Also, some friends are saying I should take it to an actual luthier while others are recommending their personal guitar repair people by whom they all swear. I don't know what to do.

Sorry, this forum isn't letting me post any photos so they're all here: http://postimg.org/gallery/rzt8sz3m/

I know it's just a guitar and it seems silly but she really means so much to me. Can I save her? Please help.
Thank you so much.

-dmj

It might be repairable.
Don't mess with it.
I'm sure if you let us know where you are someone might suggest who to take it to.

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Say what you do, Do what you say.

Thank you! I'm in Niles, IL - about half hour NW of Chicago. Other than picking up the parts after the fall, and for picture taking, I haven't done anything with them.

Relax. There shouldn't be an issue putting it back together. I've done a couple, so they aren't that bad...

Some of the top from the MLP list:
http://www.bcrmusic.com/
http://www.freddysfrets.com/
http://www.ristguitars.com/about.asp

And from our own forum:
http://www.brianhowardguitars.com/
As well as a host of others:
Hesh
WudWerker
And many more...

I'll wait for the more learned to chime in on someone close to you.

Oh, yeah - fixable. Won't be a cakewalk, but quite fixable. Have successfully repaired necks in much worse shape over the last 35 years.... Save all the splinters you can find, and don't mess with it. Touching up the finish after reassembly will take the longest. No worries, but set aside some money.

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"Act your age, not your shoe size" - Prince

Yep Diane can live and sing again and these kinds of breaks are no problem for a proper shop that's jigged-up to handle the positioning and clamping on the different axis. The repair should be stronger than the original neck but probably not a good idea to send her flying in the future but you know that...

We don't accept work sent in to us unless it's one of our famous clients who we do support for their entire fleet. But lots of Luthiers can handle headstock breaks and some of them even use the jig that Dave Collins, my business partner invented.

If we were to do it the cost would be $160 to give you some range of possibilities, prices all over the country vary a great deal FYI but she can be fixed so relax.

PS I have a guitar just like Diane only mine's black and they are great guitars and the pups are smoking hot too. PRS Se's are IMHO one of the best values out there, very high quality Korean build, great designs, excellent electronics. My only criticism is that as an import the body woods tend to not be the usual big 3 and sustain can be a bit lacking on some of them depending on the materials.

When completed the repair should be invisible.

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Ann Arbor Guitars