Update-09/25/2024. My new learning project in guitar repair starting soon...

Glide-bpm

We were small but we were slow...
Joined
Feb 10, 2016
Messages
4,182
Location
Coastal SC
Refunded after FedEx brutalized it. I have a twin one I bought after the refund, but I'm going to rebuild this one... Epiphone Les Paul Prophecy Plus with Gibson pickups!

i4TaqY4.webp
J2k6sag.jpeg
 
You going to cut out the bad and graft a new piece in? Adding a volute?
Nah... Good ole fashioned wood glue and clamp and rubber band it.
I've only done a cracked neck, not a full break.

Good thing about this one is all the wood is there except a microscopic piece here and there. I have some heat shrink the perfect size to go around the truss rod to keep the glue off. The spot where the nut was is actually intact. Just needs a glue in after I splice it back together, fill a few gaps with wood glue and mahogany sawdust

I'm usually pretty good at following the concepts in the help videos and such and usually have good blessings with most of my experiments in insanity... LoL!!!

I'll try to keep a decent pictorial thread. The neck is kind of satin-ish so I'll probably sand off any clear and color match that dark red with my dye collection versus painting it (unless the splice still looks like ass after filling and scraping/sanding. LoL!!!)

Either way it gets a few coats of satin nitro with my air gun!
 
Update- Well, I figured it was going to be this way... Not quite the full Epi stock headstock angle, but it's enough to be at least as much string break as a PRS without measuring.

I just finished an hour or two ago and could not clamp it. I had to go the giant rubber band route, which is doing a great job of maintaining pressure on the joint from all necessary direction vectors. At least the nut will sit in the correct place!

If it bombs out, I've only lost the cost of the amount of glue used on the pieces parts!

How hard is it to swap identical necks between two identical guards? Really loved the top on the broken one better than the 2nd one after the refund
clJnJOt.jpeg
 
Update- Well, I figured it was going to be this way... Not quite the full Epi stock headstock angle, but it's enough to be at least as much string break as a PRS without measuring.

I just finished an hour or two ago and could not clamp it. I had to go the giant rubber band route, which is doing a great job of maintaining pressure on the joint from all necessary direction vectors. At least the nut will sit in the correct place!

If it bombs out, I've only lost the cost of the amount of glue used on the pieces parts!

How hard is it to swap identical necks between two identical guards? Really loved the top on the broken one better than the 2nd one after the refund
clJnJOt.jpeg
Looks like it is in the hospital, semi-private! Grains crossed for a playable stringer!! I love the top on that broken one as well, hope she has a good nurse!!!
 
No splines?
Not if it feels okay after I can string 'er up. I'd have to use my 20VDC mini circular saw and I'd probably never
get the curve right on the splines.. I'm not a home woodworking shop. LoL! Hehehe!!!

I guess one of these days I'll have to invest in a decent economical scroll saw and a router and a few more tools. Most of my stuff is electric hand tools.
 
You Could Always Send It Of And Have A New Neck Set In It If You Really Had To. Cool Top And May Be Worth It If The DIY Doesn't Work Out. You Hate To Waste A Good Body...Same Can Be Said Of Guitars. ;)
 
You Could Always Send It Of And Have A New Neck Set In It If You Really Had To. Cool Top And May Be Worth It If The DIY Doesn't Work Out. You Hate To Waste A Good Body...Same Can Be Said Of Guitars. ;)
I have no idea how to remove a set neck... if I did, I would have put this repaired neck on the other Epi Prophecy Plus and put the good neck on this body!!!
 
Well... I couldn't get and tighter than this without starting to break more wood. I was able to re-separate the headstock last night with no damage and get the proper headstock angle. The nut hides v everything on the fretboard side. The sides and back of the break are unmistakably obvious.

I wanted the best for where the fretboard side and nut lined up as perfectly as possible. Needless to say the back side will be getting a lot of wood glue mixed with mahogany sawdust buildup, sanding, and then matching the stain as closely as possible with some of my wood dyes. Then I'll light sand the whole satin neck and hit it with a few spray coats of satin nitro. I think it's good and sitting, just needs some TLC to pretty her back up again. If I get a wild hair, I might attempt putting a couple of splines in, but I doubt it... Here she is with the sister that replaced her after receiving the broken one in fixing.

Pretty sure the pickups from the broken one are a different set of Gibson USA pickups since they have gold covers.

kbWOwfA.jpeg
 
Last edited:
Stringing it up without the new electronics installed to wear out acoustically for a few days. No need to paste filler, sand, dye, spray satin nitro, light sand and light polish if it's not going to hold up.

I'm not into wasting my time... LoL! 🤣 I will put it through the ringer with a set of 10's with a boat load of string stretching, etc! It feels solid, but now we'll see under full string tension and playing pressure after curing for several days!

The Project rolls on ....
 
Last edited:
Back
Top