Opinions on a cracked neck SG

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RIORIO
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Re: Opinions on a cracked neck SG

Post by RIORIO » Tue Jun 18, 2019 1:46 pm

Agreed thank you all!

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Re: Opinions on a cracked neck SG

Post by øøøøøøø » Tue Jun 18, 2019 11:33 pm

I see nothing in the OP picture to indicate (with any certainty) that it's not a proper structural repair.

I see everything to indicate that it was a very bad break.

Without a cosmetic repair, it was always going to look concerning, because the break was the worst kind.

But it's always hard to say for sure without being able to examine it in person.

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Re: Opinions on a cracked neck SG

Post by StevenO » Wed Jun 19, 2019 1:54 am

Structural or not, I'm just saying that any professional guitar repair person worth their salt would have made it look better than that. Not for the guitar or the owner of the guitar, but for their own self worth as a professional looking for future business. Anyone who leaves a finish looking scratched up (2 minutes with some polishing compound would have fixed that right up) or glue residue (it might be that) or doesn't take the time to fill in the areas where there is no wood left is just frankly not a guitar repair person that I would ever visit. It shows a clear lack of care, as far as I'm concerned, and not at all what I would expect from someone who claims to be a professional or does guitar repair as their livelihood.. YMMV, of course.

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Re: Opinions on a cracked neck SG

Post by RIORIO » Thu Jun 20, 2019 8:49 am

StevenO wrote:
Wed Jun 19, 2019 1:54 am
Structural or not, I'm just saying that any professional guitar repair person worth their salt would have made it look better than that. Not for the guitar or the owner of the guitar, but for their own self worth as a professional looking for future business. Anyone who leaves a finish looking scratched up (2 minutes with some polishing compound would have fixed that right up) or glue residue (it might be that) or doesn't take the time to fill in the areas where there is no wood left is just frankly not a guitar repair person that I would ever visit. It shows a clear lack of care, as far as I'm concerned, and not at all what I would expect from someone who claims to be a professional or does guitar repair as their livelihood.. YMMV, of course.
Totally agree....it was supposedly done by a reputable shop, but I find that hard to believe.

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Re: Opinions on a cracked neck SG

Post by øøøøøøø » Thu Jun 20, 2019 1:20 pm

I'll say one last word on this (I want to be clear that I totally respect other opinions, but just for another viewpoint):

When I was just getting started in this business, I had an old Seagull acoustic get dropped out of the back of a van in a shitty gig bag. It opened the seam between the back and sides below the endpin, and crushed a bit of wood to boot.

I took it to the best luthier in the city where I lived at the time, and explained my plight. It was a $200 guitar, and I was a broke, (barely-)working musician. I was in between tours, and I needed the guitar to make money.

He said "well, I can fix it and make it like it never happened, and it will take 2-3 weeks and cost more than the guitar's worth. Or, I can fix it so that it's solid, but not pretty, and it will be $50 and ready in five days."

Guess which one I chose?

Now some luthiers might take a more-uncompromising approach than that. They might say "either we fix this 100%, or we don't do it." And I totally respect that. My first-call luthier now is that way. He'll always advise "wait until you can afford to fix it right."

But it's not at all hard for me to imagine a scenario in which the SG above suffered that really bad trauma and needed to be back in action immediately. So a good repairman (in the sense of "good to their customers; fulfilling their needs") might've said "let me get this going for you, and as soon as the glue is dry you can take it right back out onstage."

Out "in the trenches," such a repair is, in my opinion, a totally reasonable course under certain circumstances. Not everyone always has time to spray lacquer, wait a month for the lacquer to properly cure, and then buff it out.

Or perhaps the luthier even said "here, you can take it, but bring it back so I can complete the repair" and then the player just got used to how it was and never bothered.

These things all happen!

Cheers, whatever you decide.

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