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Thread: How not to repair a headstock break (on Ebay)

  1. #1
    Registered User jim simpson's Avatar
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    Default How not to repair a headstock break (on Ebay)

    https://www.ebay.com/itm/1922-Gibson....c100005.m1851

    There are no words...
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    Default Re: How not to repair a headstock break (on Ebay)

    whoa! No, there are words! hahaha
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    The Amateur Mandolinist Mark Gunter's Avatar
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    Default Re: How not to repair a headstock break (on Ebay)

    "This vintage Gibson A Mandolin is in acceptable condition, especially for its age!"

    "It has an all solid wood finish."

    "Absolutely amazing for being 90 years old!"

    "Paddlehead-style headstock"

    "appears to have been restored, can’t say for sure of exactly when, but looks as though the restoration was performed around the time of build"



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    Moderator MikeEdgerton's Avatar
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    Default Re: How not to repair a headstock break (on Ebay)

    I am very pained by that.
    "It's comparable to playing a cheese slicer."
    --M. Stillion

    "Bargain instruments are no bargains if you can't play them"
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  8. #5
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    Default Re: How not to repair a headstock break (on Ebay)

    I had a guitar in not long ago, looks like the same repair.
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  9. #6

    Default Re: How not to repair a headstock break (on Ebay)

    nice project if you found it cheap--but not at that price. most of the original parts are there. which is nice. the back crack is awful but repairable. the refinish is bad. but how does anyone make that head stock work out nicely??

  10. #7
    Mando accumulator allenhopkins's Avatar
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    Default Re: How not to repair a headstock break (on Ebay)

    So there's a snakehead repair, by someone who's afflicted with ophidiophobia.

    Didn't Stan Jay used to call it "reptile dentistry," referring to unskilled quasi-amateur repair? Reptile dentistry on a snakehead -- seems fitting, somehow.
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    Registered User Louise NM's Avatar
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    Default Re: How not to repair a headstock break (on Ebay)

    That's a lot of mending plates on one headstock! Extra points for attempting to trim them to fit.

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  13. #9
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    Default Re: How not to repair a headstock break (on Ebay)

    Quote Originally Posted by ollaimh View Post
    nice project if you found it cheap--but not at that price. most of the original parts are there. which is nice. the back crack is awful but repairable. the refinish is bad. but how does anyone make that head stock work out nicely??
    It could be re-necked, but I'll pass on the project.

    Let's see-- re-neck, loosen and re-glue cracked portion of the back, strip and re-varnish, probably needs fret work . . .
    I'd estimate the repair bill at $1500-$2000. Market value of the instrument correctly repaired might be somewhere in the neighborhood of the opening bid.

    By the way, it's a plain A model, although the seller lists it as an A-2 . . .

    I could use some of the parts, but I'll pass.

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    Default Re: How not to repair a headstock break (on Ebay)

    Quote Originally Posted by allenhopkins View Post
    ...Didn't Stan Jay used to call it "reptile dentistry," referring to unskilled quasi-amateur repair? Reptile dentistry on a snakehead -- seems fitting, somehow.
    Knowing Stan, probably. The general term used is Alligator Dentistry. Stan had a way with words.
    "It's comparable to playing a cheese slicer."
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    Registered User Timbofood's Avatar
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    Default Re: How not to repair a headstock break (on Ebay)

    The thing is, there “Are” words for it. Those words should not be used in polite company however!
    One might work fairly hard to add the Stan “loquacious flair” in a description of the pain and suffering this poor old gal has endured, it would be possible but, challenging, to say the least.
    I shall excuse myself from such labours of linguistic gymnastics for the present.
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    "If brains was lard, that boy couldn't grease a very big skillet" J.D. Clampett

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  18. #12
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    Default Re: How not to repair a headstock break (on Ebay)

    Ignoring the headstock plating, the crack in the back and the re-finishing, how much are the original tuners, tailpiece, bridge, scratchplate/clamp and case worth? Probably not much short of the starting price.

  19. #13
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    Default Re: How not to repair a headstock break (on Ebay)

    Be careful. You don't know whether the tuners are in working condition, there are no clear pictures of the entire case, the tailpiece shows evidence of corrosion, and I can't judge the condition of the pickguard from the photos.

    If you are interested in the mandolin for the parts, I suggest you have the seller send you more detailed pictures.

    If all the parts are in good working order and the pickguard is not deteriorating, it might be worth the trouble, but I'll still pass on it. When I listed a set of similar tuners in the classifieds for $150 last year, no one bought them.

  20. #14
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    Default Re: How not to repair a headstock break (on Ebay)

    Putting aside issues with the seller's description, as sad as it is for us to see this, maybe someone with no other options ($ and/or access to a luthier) did their best to keep playing. Where there's a will there's a way - maybe not the most preferred, but at least a way.

  21. #15
    Registered User tonydxn's Avatar
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    Default Re: How not to repair a headstock break (on Ebay)

    Damn! He won't send it to the UK. I'd have snapped it up otherwise.

  22. #16

    Default Re: How not to repair a headstock break (on Ebay)

    Quote Originally Posted by AndyV View Post
    Putting aside issues with the seller's description, as sad as it is for us to see this, maybe someone with no other options ($ and/or access to a luthier) did their best to keep playing. Where there's a will there's a way - maybe not the most preferred, but at least a way.
    Good point! There's the "correct" way to fix it, but then there's always "other options!" I think of my old Ford van.....before I spend money going to a muffler shop, I get under it with the hacksaw, clamps, patches, etc. -- nine times out of 10, I manage to delay the inevitable for another 6 months....

    Another point is with a poorly refinished instrument, how much does it really hurt it, I mean its ugly anyway, right? Kinda gives it a "feature" that a mint condition one doesn't have, IMHO!

  23. #17
    Registered User DavidKOS's Avatar
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    Default Re: How not to repair a headstock break (on Ebay)

    Quote Originally Posted by Jeff Mando View Post
    Another point is with a poorly refinished instrument, how much does it really hurt it, I mean its ugly anyway, right? Kinda gives it a "feature" that a mint condition one doesn't have, IMHO!
    The repair method adds too much weight to the headstock

  24. #18
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    Default Re: How not to repair a headstock break (on Ebay)

    Quote Originally Posted by DavidKOS View Post
    The repair method adds too much weight to the headstock
    You could hang a weight off the tailpiece.
    Last edited by AndyV; Jun-27-2018 at 12:37pm.

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  26. #19
    but that's just me Bertram Henze's Avatar
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    Default Re: How not to repair a headstock break (on Ebay)

    Orthopedic steampunk.
    The seller said "paddlehead"? Who does he mean?

    P.S. I just remembered where I have seen this

    Last edited by Bertram Henze; Jun-27-2018 at 2:44pm.
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    Rush Burkhardt Rush Burkhardt's Avatar
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    Default Re: How not to repair a headstock break (on Ebay)

    "desperate times call for desperate measures"...maybe the repairs were made by Hippocrates!
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  28. #21
    Registered User DavidKOS's Avatar
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    Default Re: How not to repair a headstock break (on Ebay)

    Quote Originally Posted by Rush Burkhardt View Post
    "desperate times call for desperate measures"...maybe the repairs were made by Hippocrates!
    No, because he said "Do no harm".

  29. #22
    Registered User tonydxn's Avatar
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    Default Re: How not to repair a headstock break (on Ebay)

    I expect the only repairman he had access to was a blacksmith.

  30. #23
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    Default Re: How not to repair a headstock break (on Ebay)

    Quote Originally Posted by tonydxn View Post
    I expect the only repairman he had access to was a blacksmith.
    Thank God he didn't use horseshoe nails.

  31. #24
    Registered User Zigeuner's Avatar
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    Default Re: How not to repair a headstock break (on Ebay)

    It has a nice pick guard clamp.
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    Default Re: How not to repair a headstock break (on Ebay)

    Quote Originally Posted by Mark Gunter View Post
    "This vintage Gibson A Mandolin is in acceptable condition, especially for its age!"

    "It has an all solid wood finish."

    "Absolutely amazing for being 90 years old!"

    "Paddlehead-style headstock"

    "appears to have been restored, can’t say for sure of exactly when, but looks as though the restoration was performed around the time of build"



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    <Removed by Moderator. Posting Guidelines.>
    Last edited by MikeEdgerton; Jun-28-2018 at 7:56pm.
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