Broken neck on Gibson Jam Master.

[string dude]

I opened up my mandolin case yesterday, & found my neck completely broken across the whole width of the neck, between the tuners & the nut. I was completely shocked, because I did nothing to make this happen. There was a hair line mark in the area, that I thought was just a finish/ varnish crack. I guess it was an actual wood crack.The tension on the neck I presume just gave out, & it just snapped. Anyway my question is. Can I have a new neck put on without damaging the body or any other components? I'm assuming that I'm covered by my warranty, but if not I will need a qualified luthier to repair my mandolin. I'm hoping the cafe can shed some light on my dilemma. Thanks

[Ivan Kelsall]

Post a few photos.on here for the experts to view. If the break is clean,& the pieces will go back together as they are,then possibly you'll get away with having the break well glued. This isn't an uncommon break & maybe as i said,if the parts fit back together well,
it's one of the ''easiest'' to repair,
Ivan

[sunburst]

Some things to consider:
Instrument necks don't just come apart in the case undisturbed. The manufacturer will know that, and may not consider it a warranty situation.
Some things that might cause the neck to break in the case:

-The case was dropped. A sudden impact to the case can cause a "whiplash" break of the headstock.
-Overheating, if there was a previous repair. Heat can cause the glue to release.
-A poorly done previous repair.
-A previous repair of a severe break, especially with some component of cross-grain fracture, where a good glue joint cannot be made.

If you bought the mandolin new and have had possession of it since new, you will know if there was a previous repair, and if not, the manufacturer will almost surely not consider it a warranty situation because they will assume there was some impact to the case, unless there is evidence that the wood in the neck was very poorly chosen.

To answer your question:
Yes, a competent repair person can remove the neck and instal a new one without damaging the rest of the instrument. That may well be beside the point however, because the existing neck my be relatively easily repaired, but I can't really say without seeing it.

[fscotte]

Yeah, wood just doesn't break like that.

[string dude]

Well I just spent the last 45 minutes posting a reply, trying to import some pics, & wasn't allowed to do it. I was logged in! Thanks folks for your replies. I'll let you know when I can play " A day in the life of a fool " , once again.

[Bernie Daniel]

Well I just spent the last 45 minutes posting a reply, trying to import some pics, & wasn't allowed to do it. I was logged in! Thanks folks for your replies. I'll let you know when I can play " A day in the life of a fool " , once again.

First of all I know exactly how you feel. Years ago I loaned a mandolin to a person for an evening while at a local music workshop so she could participate in one of the jams. I got the case back a few hours later and did not look at the mandolin. I loaded the case in the car and went home. Later I was rather surprised to see the neck broken when I opened the case -- sounds like the break you describe was exactly the same. The matter was eventually resolved but my point is I feel your pain!

How big were the image files -- too big to upload? Alternatively are they it a format recognized by the Cafe upload robot (.jpg)? Could you upload the photos to a cloud service and post a link here?

If you continue to have trouble why don't you make a video of the damage with your smart phone, u0pload it to YouTube and then give us a link to the video. Make sure you don't save the video a "PRIVATE" though.

[billhay4]

To answer your original question, you can have a new neck put on the instrument or this one may be repairable. Get it to a good luthier.
Bill

[string dude]

I haven't heard, or received any e-mail contact from the Gibson Guitar Corporation. So I'm throwing this query out to the West coast cafe members. Who can I take my Mandolin to, & have a new neck put on. I'm looking for top quality, professional level expertise. I live in Northern California.

[MikeEdgerton]

You need to pretty much contact the Gibson mandolin division guys directly. Are you the original owner? Did you register it when you bought it?

[onassis]

Gryphon Stringed Instruments in Palo Alto are regarded as top notch. If it's a clean break, it might just be a glue repair. They would definitely be the guys to tell you what's needed.

[Bernie Daniel]

I haven't heard, or received any e-mail contact from the Gibson Guitar Corporation. So I'm throwing this query out to the West coast cafe members. Who can I take my Mandolin to, & have a new neck put on. I'm looking for top quality, professional level expertise. I live in Northern California.

Roger Siminoff Mandolin and Banjo Parts is in Atascadero, CA south of San Francisco. His shop can build and install a new neck in an F-5.

[string dude]

Well I finally heard from Gibson. They seem to think the break is un-repairable, & glueing it would just come apart again. They suggested I buy another mandolin, because it would cost more to fix,than putting on a new neck. Wow! So I just chuck a $3000. dollar mandolin, & go out and get another one. Maybe for some folks that's a no brainer, but for me it's totally absurd. I've never paid as much money for any of my 8 guitars, ( 2 Martins, 1971 original owner, 1950 015, 78 metal body Dobro, 2 Fender strats., etc. ), keyboards, ukelele, custom dreadnaught. I 'm patiently waiting to see where this goes. I was hoping to get a Really nice arch top, jazz guitar in the near future, and it would probably cost as much as a repair job. I guess I'm going to be strictly a guitar dude, & kiss the mando goodbye. Yea I'm a little negative & cynical at the moment. Better play some music, & get into the Zone. Namaste folks.

[MikeEdgerton]

Before you do anything simply contact Frank Ford at Gryphon and see what he tells you.

His site is at www.frets.com.

[Jeff Mando]

Too bad about your mandolin, but I see it as an opportunity for an upgrade. You can pick the radius, fingerboard, inlay, fret size, and nut size -- there is a very good chance that you will like the mandolin even better with a new neck! I think any number of shops can easily perform this upgrade. Good luck!

[Wes Brandt]

Really you may be getting bummed out without good reason… broken peg heads/necks are standard fare in the repair business and if done right and with finish touchup, can be practically as good as new for ...typically 200-300… you should figure out how to post some photos and let the luthiers here have at it.

[string dude]

/Users/donnalovatto/Desktop/DSCF0621.JPG
Here's a picture of the break. The best I could figure out is that you have to double click the JPG, & the picture shows up. Let me know if any of you can actually open up the picture. Especially any of you luthier's, & I do have more shoots, at different perspectives.
Thanks.
Danny

[MikeEdgerton]

You're linking to a picture on your local desktop.

Take a look at this tutorial:

https://vimeo.com/33795824

[skygazer]

Well I finally heard from Gibson. They seem to think the break is un-repairable, & glueing it would just come apart again. They suggested I buy another mandolin, because it would cost more to fix,than putting on a new neck. Wow!... I guess I'm going to be strictly a guitar dude, & kiss the mando goodbye...

The Gibson person sounds like BS to me. You always get the "can't be done economically" nonsense. Find someone with a get it done attitude and the skill to make it happen. One example, my best dump truck snapped both main frame members right through from the weight of deep snow on my biggest plow. Another truck rusted out the rear cross member. A third truck just last Feb. rusted (from the liquid salt) so it couldn't pass inspection, only something like 27k miles on it. In every case I found someone who did the job very reasonably, in spite of shops telling me it couldn't be done. All those fixes are still good, the double frame snap is much stronger than when it was made at the factory.

My Dad had a part break on his big tractor, they wanted thousands for a new part. A neighbor welded it for $50 and it lasted as long as the tractor.

Years ago I saw a professional guitarist packing some thick padding on top of his headstock before closing the case on his guitar. I was surprised, as I always thought you kept that area untouched and supported the neck below the headstock.

So I asked him why. He told me he opened his case and found his headstock snapped clean off. He figured the total immense lifting force of the steel strings, combined with some kind of shock, was just too much for the wood. So now he always pads it, especially when traveling. So guitars can have the same problem.

Hey, if you decide to follow their advice and just chuck it, please chuck it my way! Bet I could make an ugly fix myself. Gibson has to worry about making a perfectly invisible fix, if the customer is unhappy with it they have to eat it. They know there was some type of shock, whether physical or thermal or whatever, so they don't want to eat the loss. Don't bum out, find the right person and fix or replace/customize/improve.

[string dude]

Mike,
I tried & I apologize for the bad link. I am really not that good with this whole computer stuff. I'll give it another try tomorrow, & thanks for the tutorial.

[mirwa]

The Gibson person you dealt with is an idiot and possibly an embarrasement for Gibson.

Everything is repairable and in the hands of a good repairer your neck will be stronger than when it was made.

Find someone local and make it better and stronger than ever. Not a mandolin but this week we had two 335's in with snapped necks, the owners were devasted and then elated when repaired, I'm sure someone is capable in your locality.

Steve

[Rodney Riley]

Weber is replacing the neck on my Gallatin. It can be done. Only drawback is the time it takes to work it in with their new builds. And yes it's expensive. With shipping and handling, insurance and all the labor involved. Almost half the original cost. But for me I wanted it done by the people that know my instrument the best. The original builders.

[Bernie Daniel]

The Gibson person you dealt with is an idiot and possibly an embarrasement for Gibson.

Everything is repairable and in the hands of a good repairer your neck will be stronger than when it was made.

Find someone local and make it better and stronger than ever. Not a mandolin but this week we had two 335's in with snapped necks, the owners were devasted and then elated when repaired, I'm sure someone is capable in your locality.

Steve

I don't want to hijack the OP's thread here but maybe my question & pics will be helpful to him.

Steve you have commented many time about repairing broken necks so I guess you've seen your share of them!!

Here are two pics of a mandolin neck that I fixed about 4 years ago the break was (I think) about exactly the same place the OP described his damage.

I did both and over lay and and under lay with fresh wood for this repair. I glued it down with fish glue.

All was well for about 3 years -- but a year ago I started seeing a crack where the maple under lay is starting to separate from the neck (see pics). It has not changed over the time since it first appeared.

Nonetheless, I am thinking of gluing it back down.

To that end I carved a maple caul and glued cork padding on the contact surface. A couple of dry runs shows that this arrangement will allow me to nicely squeeze the gap closed with a threaded clamp.

So now I'm wondering what kind of glue would be best to inject in to the crack before I clamp it up for the best results?

[sunburst]

The load on that joint is mostly tensile. Hot hide glue is about the best in tensile strength.
So that's a separation between two different pieces of wood rather than an open crack in the neck wood? Sorry to say it, but that indicates that the joint was not great to start with, so it might be a recurring problem.
The problem is, there's "junk" in there now; old glue, whatever airborne material has settled into/onto the wood surface, and a good, clean glue joint isn't really possible. Cleaning the surfaces would not be easy, though flushing with distilled water might help, but it might also alter the fit of the wood after wetting and drying with the associated wood movement.

[Bernie Daniel]

I recall reading somewhere that ethyl-2-cyanoacrylate is very good on wood and seems to be less affected by old glue residue than other glues. I imagine an new neck is in the future but I am tempted to try that first?

[MysTiK PiKn]

In the REPLY BOX (where you type) - 3rd icon from the right at top of reply box - it lites up and says 'insert image' = click that.

A little box appears - click 'computer' - then click 'browze'

You (browze) >>> (find pix) = go to the folder where your pix are. = click on [ONE PICTURE ONLY]

then click 'upload' or whatever that says = (wait) DONE.


REPEAT (browze) for more pix - just browze to the next one. REPEAT = you will see [ATTACH - code for pix] in the reply box. that means it's working.

browze to each pix same way.



(it all starts w that (insert image) icon at the top of the reply box. They show up in text form, and you can even move them around in text form, with mouse keyboard.)



(copy this to a text file and just do it slowly) You need to know where your pix are on your pooter.

If this fails, find a 9 year old, to help you. Play with it. You can stop it all w the CANCEL lower right of reply box. If you get it right, hit "Post Reply".

really - this is too much detail - it's easy.