Les Paul/ weak headstock

[ncjeepinyj]

After getting my Jay Turser Les Paul, i got to wondering about all the broken Epiphone head stocks i have seen on Ebay. Does that seem to be a Les Paul problem in general or is it more limited to the Epiphone and Gibsons? I never realized how common of a problem it seems to be until i really started looking to buy one.

[YeahDoIt]

Can you see a seam where the head of the guitar is glued onto the neck? The seam can be hard to find. Some guitars are made that way. I imagine if the guitar is dropped then the head might crack at the seam.

My remember my Gibson Les Paul kept slipping out of the strap near the neck. I used a big washer and a screw to attach the strap in a more permanent way. The strap slipping problem disappeared.

[66musicmaster]

Apparently it is an issue. Especially if you go here and start reading. http://www.edroman.com/rants/les_paul_necks.htm This guy can be pretty inflammatory, but some of his rants are fun. And you might learn something too. At the very least it is an interesting site.

Randy

[wazupwiop]

Les Pauls in general, or at least the ones I have played, are well built. The snapped necks come when somebody does something dumb. They can get damaged in shipping, the strap can slip off, etc. Broken necks are common on all guitars, but the problem with the Les Paul is that the neck is glued in. You can't just buy a new neck like you could for a Fender or any bolt-on guitar. Instead, you take it to a luthier or a tech to fix it.

[zag1]

The neck & headstock angle kinda makes 'em prone to that neck breakage stuff.

[5thumbs]

I can tell ya that mine came off the strap buttons twice in one night and fell face down . I thought for shure it would have broke the headstock , but i got lucky! Then i went and got some Strap locks the next day.
If you take a close look at Gary Rossingtons L.P. you can see where the head broke clean off and was put back on with two screws.
5thumbs

[jrich99]

SG's are the same way. I see Epi and Gibby SG's on ebay all the time with the headstock snapped off. This is caused by the angle that they are at to the neck and their way of glueing.

[ncjeepinyj]

There is a joint some where around the 1st and 2nd fret. I didnt even notice it or even think of checking that. I dont like the angle that the strap is at on the one near the neck so i picked up a few cheap plastic strap locks, like these, http://www.zzounds.com/item--DNP7007SI . They were like a dollar a piece. Hopefully i will never drop it or knock it off the stand. The more Les Pauls i looked at on line the more i saw with broken headstocks and that made me kinda worried about just how easily they break.

[Suek]

I had emailed a luthier about a something he had for sale and also asked why so many broken headstocks on Epiphones.

I asked is the Gibson neck the same as Epiphone:
The Gibson truss rod channel is cut a little differently leaving more wood mass where the headstock meets the neck. This is the most vulnerable spot on the neck. In the old days manufacturers built in a "volute" at the juncture of the headstock and neck. This extra bit of wood added a lot of strength, but it's one more manufacturing step and the bean counters don't like extra steps.

I asked him about Fenders:
Heel cracks are as common as cracks at the other end, but they happen. The main thing that saves Fenders from damage is the fact their necks are made of maple and they're not as thin at the headstock. The Epiphone Les Paul neck is just badly designed. It's very thin at the headstock and is further weakened by the truss rod channel. I've repaired more than two hundred Epi Les Paul's with cracked necks. I guess I can thank them for keeping me busy. ;-)

So that's what I heard.

[jeepster61605]

I have a crack in the neck of my flying-v from a fall. Its lasted for years, and if it it ever fully breaks, I'll tear it apart for parts...