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Okay, just bought my dream electric guitar... a Gibson ES 335. Action at the nut was way too high, so I figure, why not go ahead and make a new nut? It's something I've done easily a dozen times and something I'm totally comfortable with. Tapped the plastic nut out and just as I've finished resizing my bone blank, I notice something....







I unknowingly ruined an $1900 guitar. I'm sick to my stomach over this and I don't know what to do. I've called the luthiers I know and haven't reached anyone tonight and I won't sleep because of this... The only thing I do know is not to mess with it and do more damage. Is this something that can be fixed? Please, please tell me it can be. I wanted to play this guitar at a gig on the 18th... not gonna happen now. Days like this make me wonder why I can't leave well enough alone. Many people are satisfied with plastic nuts... if only I had been...

Any thoughts or advice? Please, I'm desperate!!!!

Thanks in advance!

Hard to imagine you could have made that much damage just tapping a nut out.

[QUOTE=Alain Lambert] Hard to imagine you could have made that much damage just tapping a nut out.
[/QUOTE]

That's what is so bewildering to me... I just don't understand it.

Are you sure it was not there before?

[QUOTE=Alain Lambert] Are you sure it was not there before?
[/QUOTE]

I am fairly certain it wasn't... if it was, I certainly didn't notice it. I bought it on e-bay and got it just a few days ago. Is it possible it was repaired at the factory or that it was so well repaired I couldn't see it?

It is possible that the damage was pre-existing and unlikely that simply knocking off the nut was the problem. I say this because the headstock would not have been under tension at the time. It is more likely this damage was done due to heavy handling in transit while still under string tension. I say this because if it were repaired previously it is unlikely the glue joint would have failed.

On the bright side, I think that this should be repairable and in skilled hands, the repair will be near invisible.

Cheers

Kim larkim39031.9125347222

It's unlikely you caused it. Probably there all along, maybe just opened up a little because of taking the nut out. Unless of course you tapped it out with something really BIG!!

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Joe Beaver
Maker of Sawdust

John, you bought this on E-bay you said. Is it new or used? It's my suspicion that this was probably there before you purchased it, you just were not told about it and when you opened up the case, seeing as this is your dream guitar, you never noticed it, till you got right down there after removing the nut. Maybe the finish was touched up prior to it being shipped and the neck was cracked all along. I always fear buying something without seeing it.

I very well could be completely wrong having said all that though.

Regardless, I too think that it is repairable and even to the point were it will never be seen. Just take a look at some of Frank Fords documented repairs and you'll see that your cracked neck is very repairable.

I am no repairman, I will leave that to CMM (Crazy Man Michael), or Evan or one of the other repair guys here. I'm sure they've seen much much worse. I don't think you want to wick in CA though (sorry Hesh), my guess would be to thin down some HHG and work the crack open and closed (very gently, very very gently) so the glue can work into the crack. Make sure you can clamp it some how before you put any glue down there.

Take what I say with a salt lick please. Be patient one of the pros will be along to help.

Take a look at this neck repair, Frets.com and you will see that yours is not really that bad.

I mean look at some of this stuff the Frank repairs, I'm amazed

Before


And after
Rod True39031.9661226852

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Did this guitar ship in its original case??

Have seen a lot of guitars damaged when moved about in a case that did not fit perfectly, just curious.

Cheers

Kim

Oh, thank you all-- you're making me feel so much better about this. The guitar did ship in the original case, however, there was no padding in the case itself, althou the guitar was packed well in the box. I guess it is completely possible this small crack was there and only opened up when I tapped the nut out. I will get this to my local luthier in Raleigh, NC (Ben Runkle) asap and have him check it out. It's a great guitar, for sure...

Do you all think this repair will be less stable than the neck was originally? I hear a lot of people say that a glue joint can be stronger than the original wood, sort of like a healed broken bone actually becoming stronger than the original bone.

I am VERY glad the repair can be made invisible. Once again, please let me express my sincere thanks to this wonderful group of people. For a couple of hours, I've sincerely contemplated just playing guitars instead of working on them from now on... however, you all have made me want to continue wanting to learn. Without a doubt, this is an opportunity to do just that.    

Ouch! Yeah, unless you misunderstood "dead-blow hammer" to mean "ten-pound sledge," that crack had to be lurking there all along. As Rod mentioned, the finish may have been touched up, and your tap just relieved the stresses that were already there.

You still should be able to play it on the 18th if you can get it to a repairman (that knows what he's doing!) quickly. It should be plenty stable after it's repaired.

BTW, this may have happened in transit, but it also looks like a guitar-fell-off-the-stand injury.

[QUOTE=pharmboycu]
Do you all think this repair will be less stable than the neck was originally? [/QUOTE]

No, the repair, if done correctly, should be at least as strong as original and almost completely invisible unless examined very closely by someone who is trying to find evidance of it.

Cheers

Kim

Hmm, Hesh you post while me type....one finger per hand larkim39032.0090162037

Sorry to hear about your misfortune John, i hope the repair will go smoothly for you, good luck!

Serge

You might want to send an e-mail to the guy you bought it from on E-bay and tell him you noticed the crack on the neck. His response might tell you a great deal about how the crack got there.

first;y, you did not cause this damage removing a nut unless you used the sledge referred to above.

you say there was no padding in the case when it arrived? the headstock should have been supported.

it was incompetently packed and you should request your money back!!!

were the strings at pitch when it arrived? ditto the above!

the bad thing is that you probably will not be able to claim on the insurance due to the incompetent packing. your only recourse would appear to be to the to the vendor. john's suggested approach to get him to acknowledge pre-existing damage may be the best way initialy.crazymanmichael39032.8078472222

You're right... no extra support on the headstock and the 11's were strung to pitch when the guitar arrived. Fortunately, here's an update. The local luthier I was taking classes from who subsequently vanished is now found. I tracked him down to a new music shop that has opened here in town. While he was not at the shop today, the man and woman behind the counter helped me out a great deal. The general consensus was what everyone here had suspected-- 1) this crack was most likely already in existance and either was not a big enough or was an internal split that was laquered over at the factory; 2) was already in existance from a previous repair (although we decided this probably wasn't the case... highly unlikely); or 3) the guitar suffered a jolt in shipping which caused the crack and it didn't open completely until I tapped the nut out. We decided #3 was the most likely scenario.

We even talked about our options... what was decided was this... I've got a guitar on my hands that I love that obviously needs a repair. The joint will be as strong, if not stronger, than the original and this es 335 will never be the collector's item that a 1950's es 335 is (nor would I want it to be). Therefore, the decision was made to simply repair the guitar, play the fool out of it, and be happy with it. While it's there, I'll go ahead and have him make the new nut for it as well. Yes, I'll pay for it, however, to me there is something to be said for continuity of repair work. And, hopefully, if he is still up for it, I can start building the acoustic under his guidance... Today, they said I just might have it back in plenty of time for my gig on the 18th... Maybe if I ask nicely, this can be a "class project" for me-- crack repair 101?

Thanks again everyone!!! Pictures will follow when it's done...

John

Great to hear that all is under control John May you and the 335 have a long and loving relationship.

All the best

Kim

John--Looking at the bright side--if you had not decided to replace the nut and discovered the crack--it may have created a buzz at some point that would have drove you nuts trying to find.
Nelson

[QUOTE=CarltonM]
You still should be able to play it on the 18th if you can get it to a repairman (that knows what he's doing!) quickly. [/QUOTE]

Yeah the 18th will be fine...all the damage is around the 1st and 2nd! (I'm sorry! Just a little humor to add levity to the situation!). Seriously tho, rest assured that you didn't do this. Even if you tapped the nut out from right-to-left, this crack was already there, and you just opened it up. It is a very simple repair in the hands of a talented repair guy or girl and will likely be invisible. I had an SG back in high school that got this same injury when a kid going thru late puberty (the awkward, all-feet and hands stage) tripped and knocked it's stand over...it landed flat on it's front, tipping from the end pin onto it's fingerboard, and there you go! The repair was invisible! Let us know how it turns out!

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whether the tapping out of the nut was the thing that made the crack apparent is not necessarilly a fact either. to me a more likely scenario is that the string tension would have served to keep the crack closed. then when you removed the string tension, the truss rod would have exerted pressure that could have caused it to open up.

[QUOTE=crazymanmichael] the string tension would have served to keep the crack closed. then when you removed the string tension, the truss rod would have exerted pressure that could have caused it to open up.[/QUOTE]

Bingo! neck unsupported during transit with guitar at pitch, heavy handeling from the carrier because they simply know no other way, open the case, it looks fine, remove the stings and wad tha!

Kim