The Electra Forums

Well, I have fixed them before, but I have never CAUSED one until now. But while working on an amp in my cluttered garage I had my X310 I put back together a few months ago lean forward in the stand and do a face plant onto the concrete floor snapping the headstock in two. Now the headstock was already chipped on the top edge of the binding but this completely snapped the headstock.

So right now I the woodglue spread onto the mahogany and it is tightly clamped down with two clamps. Wow. I am so bummed. I think as far as headstock repairs this one should take quite well, but you never fully recover unless you spend $1000 at a real luthier that could make this guitar look new again and no one would ever know. The value of the guitar does not justify that nor does my bank account allow me to do so right now. So I am clamping her up and hoping it does not look like Frankenstein when it dries and that it holds properly. I have had REALLY good luck with "tightbond" before.

_________________
Thorny

Oh, mate.... that's a drag, eh!

Fingers crossed for the repair, John....

_________________
"... and on the eighth day, God created New Zealanders.

Because even the Australians need heroes."

progress report - tightbonded together. Although I repeatedly removed the excess, there was excess to removed after I removed the two clamps. I smoothed it all out and sanded and sanded and sanded. Well, I removed some of the finish at the joint so I resprayed. I confess, it is black, I used a good gloss black spray bomb on it. More learning, I smoothed it all out with various steel wool and sand papers. After I felt it needed a some more coats as I sanded through in an area. So I resprayed. It started to turn to a wrinkle finish right before my eyes. Now this was the SAME paint I sprayed earlier. I took off as much as I could, and it removed most of the original spray this time. So time to READ the instructions to see what I did that was stupid....

It said, dries to touch in like 10 minutes, dries to handle in an hour, but says to spray additional coats within minutes of the first coat OR AFTER 24 hours! Hmmm, I was in between that time. The new paint reacted with the paint sprayed earlier and most of it wrinkled off. I sanded off what I could and resprayed yesterday. I applied several thin coats, a few minutes apart, and today it looks pretty good. I used some steel wool (very fine) and then 1000 and 2000 grit, and it looks quite good. I will let alone until tomorrow and then spray a clear over it all (a clear poly gloss).

I wound up removing the outer most layer of the multiply binding on the headstock (pieces were missing) and ordered a ply to replace it off of ebay for like $6 or so - so that will be glued on afterwards and I will shape with a razer blade. I probably will spray it after I get that with clear - or I might do that before, not sure of the order. I might have to wait several days to get that binding strip. I have never done this before but it looks like it won't be difficult.

Now, the top of the headstock had sections I filled with black marker and super glue, and scraped and sanded (and sanded, and sanded). It actually looks remarkably good given how it looked before. But the OLD black on the headstock was a little lighter or milkier looking than the new section - a very slight difference. I don't know what it is going to look like with the clear on it. I took some pictures that emphasize it on both sides, and you see the differences mainly between the super glue filled areas. But after a sand and maybe a layer of clear poly and it might look respectable.





All in all, this MAY even look better than previously because some binding was chipped off and missing anyway and some dings have been filled in the process. Hey, I am hopeful!

_________________
Thorny

Looks pretty good...i repair quite a few and used the same glue and then switched to Elmer woodglue Max and only the max ..however the last 5 or 6 i repaired i used Locktite 2 part self mixing epoxy and you cant beat it....3200 lb psi and best if you clamp... but... you dont have too...I just repaired a old Goldtop LP for a friend of mine pro/tour player and it was broken straight across and rough...had been repaired before with junk like liquid nail or something ugly and of course didnt hold up anyway..couldnt geta good clamp but with this stuff ...you can hold tightly in place...and sets to allow you to release in 4 minutes...you really only have to hold pressure for about 90 seconds...you must clean off any excess immediately with mineral spirits but what a great bond...havnt had any of these come apart . Its available at any hardware store , lowes, home depot,walmart etc.....I am a speaker cabinet builder and used titebond glue by the thousands of gallons but for broken necks...im a loctite instamix epoxy guy....Great job Thorny and its gonna rock just like it did before

The repair looks good. Glad to see it went together good. Great job.

_________________
Always give thanks for everyday, It may be your last so Rock On Semper Fi!!

Hey, I won't have the outer binding for probably a week yet, so it is not on there. I just sprayed some clear this afternoon. So this is what it looks like with two coats of clear over the headstock and back of the neck. This time the headstock front is still detectable but VERY GOOD. The back is almost undetectable. I will have to let it harden and polish it out, maybe even touch up. The binding has to go on, then maybe another clear. Finally, with the hardware on it should be not noticeable at all from the back, and not from the front from a few feet away, the light is just right, or if you didn't know it was there. Looking up close I am not fooling anyone, and I am not trying to trick anyone. But this almost makes me want to spray and polish out the whole guitar (don't worry, I am NOT). I don't have a lot of money into the repair, but I sure have a LOT OF TIME. But I'll (or anyone) will be able to play this now and not be embarrassed.

_________________
Thorny

Looks very good, congrats! When I read the original post I had to cringe, but very impressed at the results. Thanks for the photos, would love to see what you started with. What are you buffing it out with, a dual action wheel? Thanks, Mike.

_________________
Electra Guitar Videos ===> http://www.youtube.com/user/mjm33mjm?feature=watch

I didn't take any before pictures. I was so friggin' mad that I had done something SO STUPID that I didn't think to take pictures. I think my son learned some new words (naw, not really, he ALREADY knows them). The first pictures gives you some clues though. The "frown" dark spot is from the finish chipping off and needing to be refilled. The binding is cracked and you can clearly see where the break extended through the binding (what is left of it). The back picture shows some dark spots as well, more of a "smile" break below the volute. Let me tell you, I was not smiling.

I will polish out by hand. I don't have a wheel. So far all I had was 1000 and 2000 grit wet and dry paper. I have used some maguires swirl polish and then finer polish in the past. I can probably use that after the finest wet and dry paper. I will probably have to buy some at this point. My old stuff is either dried out or gone. I can almost use it like it is. I don't know, don't have much experience at this point. I haven't done this kind of level before. Prior most of my work has been scratches and filling.

_________________
Thorny

Yay, you! Thank heavens that went well, eh... though I never doubted it would!

_________________
"... and on the eighth day, God created New Zealanders.

Because even the Australians need heroes."

Glad to see it went well. Repair looks great and glad to see it will return to use.

_________________
Always give thanks for everyday, It may be your last so Rock On Semper Fi!!

I have sanded some more trying to remove a little orange peel texture and wound up sanding most of the clear off again. I will respray in a while after enough time has passed. I will attempt to fill some of the dings on the neck that were already there since I am going to all the trouble.

_________________
Thorny

Hey Thorny are you using lacquers for color and clear...I always light sand with wet 600 to clean finish, then build up about 3 double coats of color...will spray thin coat to tack wait about 3 minutes than spray heavy ..this is one double coat....if fairly smooth i repeat in 20 to 30 minutes an if a little rough I let dry for 6 to 8 hours.now i use 1000 then the same process again up 2 or 3X...I do same with clear....The thickness or amount of spray is very dependent on temperature..the colder it is the thicker the spray...i often heat the cans in the sun and if cold i warm can with hair dryer to get paint flowing well...have heated them before by laying on heating pad and cover for a while..and amount of spray volume always varies slightly per can...if thicker i only do 2 double coats color and clear....I use a lot of lacquer from local hardware store but i also buy paint shop goods as well as the stewart mcdonald lacquers...i always finish with 1000, then 2000 wet, then medium white compound...and last fine...Im in Florida so i have to pay close attention to humidity to prevent fogging up with moisture. Man you did a outstanding job on the face of the headstock...im not familiar with uploading pics on this site but i can always email examples of repairs that i have done...i ran across corsairs refinishing projects on this site and they look PRO....

Best way to post pictures is to post to photobucket (free) and then choose the direct link option from the upper right of the individual picture (that copies the link to your clipboard). The choose the img option from up above when you reply, and then <Ctrl><V> between the img statements. That is it.

I am using krylon for color and a clear poly and doing this on the cheap. I was told these already had poly on them and I have had BAD results painting lacquer over poly in the past (I tried to sand and decal a squire headstock and the stewmac lacquer kept reacting to the possible remnants of the poly below, so I went with a tinted poly for an aged effect and that project turned out pretty well). Here I resprayed the black and it looked even BETTER (I have one run though to sand/buff out). I followed the instructions on the can, and tried to space multiple light coats of color, about 1 minute apart. After remove that run and sand this out I will clear it. I will start with coarser paper this time (like you did) to smooth it out initially. You know, if I redid the top of the headstock it might completely cover the break and the "blacks" would match. Taping that off and doing a really good job may prove difficult. But I want it to look good. It still will be a repair, but you having one done so well you can't easily tell is nice. Again, not looking to fool anyone, I just want it to look nice again.

Yeah - Corsair's ARE professional jobs. I want it the best I can make it. I can't do that well - that guy must paint bikes or cars or something, he has talent. I think I am doing ok given my limited experience. It will have to do

_________________
Thorny

Just to be perfectly clear here, fellas; the paintwork on the Corsair Avenger, XV-1 and Raider II ARE professional work!! The bloke that did them is just phenominally talented and does indeed do motorcycles and cars for a living; he seems to have taken pity on this poor guitar player and charges me much less than what the job is worth!

I chose to do that simply because finishes like the Avenger and especially the Raider are well beyond my rather meagre abilities; the APII Urchin and strat are my work but I find painting a little bit too much like black arts, so elect to get Hans to paint 'em!

As an added bonus, he uses a 2 pack clear which is as hard as nails and as clear as glass - I think it is an automotive product - which I won't use because of the toxicity and because he has a drying oven!

Sometimes, I think you gotta just bite the bullet and pay for someones time and expertise....

_________________
"... and on the eighth day, God created New Zealanders.

Because even the Australians need heroes."

about 2 years ago i bought a Outlaw with broken headstock and previous repair attempt where they used wrong glue. I repaired it with the Elmers max and finished it with ace hardware black lacquer gloss and the same in clear... no one can tell it was ever repaired.I worked in automotive paint an body shops in high school summer breaks an learned how to refinish. I have spray guns an equipment and finished maybe 20 or 30 cars, bikes hot rods,etc as well as custom metal flake work but never use them on Gits unless its a complete refinish which i never do. The 2 part catalyst mixes and basecoat clearcoat are nice and the new HVLP high volume low pressure paint equipment is really the way to go compared to older spray systems but i get very professional results with can touchup repair and small patchwork and do a lot of guitars several electra and lots of gibson and fender and i have never had a paint problem working on the factory finishes. The only problem i have with cans is to fade/burst evenly...you cannot keep even/constant over a large area and near impossible to match spraygun fade due to spray pressure...just cant get that even pressure an spray fan adjustment from can. One of these days Ill get to posting some pics. Im just too slammed for now and no time to figure out. These Forums are great and i have learned so much and remember the day when we had no computor...Now here it is...anything you need to know....Always enjoy visiting this site..

Take care and........... "the more you do, the better you get"