How many Les Pauls are in the group?

[RumorsOFsurF]

.  I added a bigsby and later broke the headstock in a recording tantrum - there goes the resale value!  The repair is virtually invisible though.  10.5 lbs

Why does it seem that I hear about so many Gibsons with broken headstocks?  You never hear about someone breaking off a $trat headstock...always an SG or LP.  Just an observation.

[glimmertwin]

.  I added a bigsby and later broke the headstock in a recording tantrum - there goes the resale value!  The repair is virtually invisible though.  10.5 lbs

Why does it seem that I hear about so many Gibsons with broken headstocks?  You never hear about someone breaking off a $trat headstock...always an SG or LP.  Just an observation.

It's a design flaw caused by the angled headstock combined with the neck end truss rout.  It doesn't leave a lot of wood and since most necks are a single piece of wood through the nut/truss part of the neck, you have added weakness of the mahogany grain which is why the breaks tend to all look similar too.  There are various ways to combat this problem(including some Gibson has tried in the past) like changing the headplate to a stronger material, graphite rods in the neck joining the neck & headstock, sandwiching several pieces of neck wood together so the grains don't all run in the same direction, and creating a scarf joint at the neck angle - again to strengthen the grain. 

Of course it always boils down to people wanting the "original" guitar design regardless of how flawed it is....

[RumorsOFsurF]

Interesting...I've always wondered about that. 

Of course it always boils down to people wanting the "original" guitar design regardless of how flawed it is....

Sounds like what people say about us and our Jazzmaster/Jag bridges and trems!
They're wrong, though...

[OffYourFace]

In the case of my Historic Custom, since it had a bigsby on it, it was really doomed!  I kinda threw it down face first.  This of course put a fast & hard pressure on the trem arm.  The impact, along with the force of the strings being pulled by the trem arm, caused this massive hard, heavy tension on the headstock.  It never had a chance. 

[glimmertwin]

...oh ya, and the volute is the other method Gibson used to add a little more wood to that area...and you know how much people love volutes on their Gibsons

...incidentally I haven't heard of anyone complaining about volutes on high end Martin acoustics...

[chrisjedijane]

Why does it seem that I hear about so many Gibsons with broken headstocks?  You never hear about someone breaking off a $trat headstock...always an SG or LP.  Just an observation.

I broke the headstock off my strat... then again, I was being a bit Sonic Youth with it

[luau]

I came across a photo on lespaulforum.com a while back that was of an R8 (I think) cut in two right down the middle lengthwise giving a side view of the guts of the thing. It was something the factory did for sales reps, or for some display at NAMM, or something similar. I'll try to hunt it up this weekend because all it takes is a 1 second glance to go 'oh, that's why they break there'. Glimmertwin's explanation is spot on, but the picture really drives it home. The only thing I would add to it is that I think the typical mass of an LP body exacerbates it. I see far more broken LPs than I do SGs and I think the weight goes a long ways towards explaining why.

[Pacafeliz]

well.... mine are

1973 les paul deluxe
1973 les paul deluxe (converted to standard w/ late 60s full size humbs)
1974 les paul custom (temporarily out of service due to broken headstock...  )

oh and my 1st guitar, a '92 epi LP standard.

Pat.

[luau]

link.

[OffYourFace]

link.

no wonder... christ

[Stereordinary]

...oh ya, and the volute is the other method Gibson used to add a little more wood to that area...and you know how much people love volutes on their Gibsons

...incidentally I haven't heard of anyone complaining about volutes on high end Martin acoustics...

I really like volutes!  My Greco LP copy has one and so does my Gibson Gospel acoustic.

[RumorsOFsurF]

link.

no wonder... christ

Seriously, what a design flaw!  C'mon Gibson, you can do better.  I'll continue to use Fenders.

[chrisjedijane]

I don't know why people are so against volutes - my avalon acoustic has one and I really like it.

[Pacafeliz]

....well i prefer a volute over a broken headstock!!!

[luau]

Sorry to hear about your Customs guys. 

I don't feel strongly about volutes although some sure do. My hand isn't ever going to get on it while I'm playing anyway so it's kind of a non-issue as far as that goes. I think part of the problem people have with them is that they coincided with a period of time during which other unpopular changes were made.