Decapitated guitar, damaged in shipping...

[eggymoo]

If a guitar arrives broken it's either the shippers fault for not handling it properly, or the seller's fault for not packing it properly. Whether a shop or an ebay seller, send it back and insist on a refund! 

[billgator2005]

1st: if you cannot handle the unit do not buy it...2nd: the unit may be what is called surplus in asia areas. already defective from factory, purchased by wary middlemen who will resell to unsuspecting buyers. good for ebay sales since you cannot handle it first and the pics likely didn't pickup the fact it had defective glue joints..designed by WESTERN INTERESTS and MADE IN CHINA SAYS alot about the product...profit is all that matters...

[woofwoofwoofie]

Having said that. The rest of your video was great. Very cool and interesting problem actually, (and one I've never seen before) and I'd like to see which direction you decided to go with the repair.

Cheers! :-)

[woofwoofwoofie]

First of all, your diagnosis is incorrect. There is no such thing as "overclamping" It's physically impossible to "pump the glue out" by clamping it too tightly. it will merely force the glue into the grain of the wood... which is exactly what you want to happen. It is however VERY easy (and common amongst the uninformed) to not clamp tightly enough, thus leaving a thick layer of glue between the two pieces of wood. Clearly they just didn't use an adequate amount of glue. period.

[smbstressfest]

@woofwoofwoofie I suppose that depends on the type of glue and the particular timber we're glueing. When you clamp a joint, the glue will follow the path of least resistance. If that happens to be out of the joint, then that's what happens. Certain adhesives that need a good fit between the parts and that fill cosmetic but not structural gaps (aliphatic resins like what is typically used for this application) can have their bond compromised by too much pressure in the clamping procedure.

[smbstressfest]

But, epoxies and cyanoacrylate adhesives (rare for this application) fill both cosmetic AND structural gaps and will not experience a weaker bond by less clamping pressure, assuming there's enough to bridge any gaps between the pieces. I agree with you, probably the factory didn't use enough glue on this neck. But at very least I would say that at a certain point, overly tight clamps CAN in fact cause a problem with the glue joint on guitar necks when using common yellow wood glue.

[woofwoofwoofie]

@smbstressfest I like you and I don't want this to turn into a pissing contest because that will detract from the overall quality and informative nature of this video.. I'll pm you and try to explain a bit clearer what I'm talking about, but suffice it to say, you are correct about epoxys, but not about aliphatic resins.

[snakev10v5]

@smbstressfest I don't see why over tightening the clamps would make the joint any weaker, infact it will make it stronger as you have a tighter bound. I use PVC glue, and am currently gluing wood using the highest amount of clamping pressure I can get with 3 clamps. That seems to be working the best for me ^_^.

[tinytux100]

@smbstressfest In response to woofwoofwoofie,You can most certainly clamp to hard and squeeze out most of glue in a joint.I have to assume that your experience in woodworking is limited.

[doctorgone]

Why not just buy a new neck to replace that one? If he found that guitar for a $100, then one can probably find another of the same model for that again. I understand that this is missing the point of learning to repair a broken head-stock, but I can't help but think this would be more economical.

[smbstressfest]

@doctorgone You're right, that would be more economical.

[gnrcr]

A homemade Steinberger.

[MrHeavysteel]

Why would you sell a guitar to friend who gave it to you ? 

[smbstressfest]

@MrHeavysteel He gave it to me because in the condition shown here, it's worthless as a musical instrument. If you were in my position and decided to make this a playable guitar again, wouldn't that time spent be worth something to you?

[MrHeavysteel]

@smbstressfest Well we're in different positions. You are maybe married man and have children and all that while i'm in school. Summer vacations are in about month and half and i am looking for something to do. Since guitars are my love, i'd be doing this. I'll find, try to repair and do something to guitars that would make them look like they are from the factory, hang them on my wall and make a collection of hardly playable guitars. Maybe if you put diff. strings and tune them in diff. key ?

[designator99]

@MrHeavysteel Because if he didn't, the guy would've technically had a free repair and that wouldn't be fair to Jason's other costumers IMO

[MrHeavysteel]

@designator99 I would take a guitar, repair it and charge repair job.

[francheskolini]

titebond 50 super glue is solution ¡¡¡

[mahoganyrush300]

Send that guitar to me I can fix that in the aircraft shop in 20 minutes and less than 40.00 cost gauranteed never to break.

[jazzbass1961]

Wow if your'e really gonna go to all the trouble of making a new neck the neck will be worth more han the guitar could ever be. I say glue the headstock back on mount a clock face in the body and hang it on the wall. You would have one cool shop clock! Good vids by the way

[jazzbass1961]

Wow if your'e really gonna go to all the trouble of making a new neck the neck will be worth more han the guitar could ever be. I say glue the headstock back on mount a clock face in the body and hang it on the wall. You would have one cool shop clock!

[deicidalmaniac]

I bought a guitar off ebay from Musicfarm. Its a B.C. Rich kerry king 7 string warlock. I bought the guitar from them because I saw a video of kerry king himself handing musicfarm a B.C. Rich dealer award. The guitar was in a carboard box exactly like the one shown in this video and the horns of the headstock were snapped. It cost me $400 and it took 3 months to have the guitar completely fixed. . WORST SHIT EVER! Always deal with people you can see, even if it means paying $500 extra..

[mqmqmwmw]

Why are you taking as an option the replacement of the Fretboard ? I only see a neck problem.. why you show us a new fretboard if the original one is ok ?

[TheDime4life]

heres a tip dnt buy a guitar with a scarf joint.

[VoodooIrons]

suggestion: The person that bought it should have used ebays return policy.

Even if the item is shipped WITHOUT insurance the item was received as broken, file on it and ship it back.. ebay will refund or make seller send a new. I'm still trying to figure out who this guys is trying to blame; either Dean for faulty glue or the ebay shipper? btw, its a $100 guitar buy one from ebay that has a junk body and swap - 30$ tops.

btw; youre break looks like a over tightened truss rod - not shipping

[guitarbrain666]

hello from indianapolis!!!!

ill come to you for all my guitar maintenance needs :)

[tomomifishy]

Price point? Really? There are quite a few crappy $4000 Taylors floating around. If it is a production line guitar, I think the manufacturer is at least as important as the price point. It's not like a company that cuts corners is going to stop just because you give them an extra buck.

[smbstressfest]

@tomomifishy Yes really. I'm of the opinion that price point is the most useful indication of quality with inexpensive instruments.  I would agree that things do change a bit when you look at high end pieces like the hypothetical $4K Taylor you mentioned. Basically though, manufacturers are in competition with each other for your business. When someone is looking for a guitar, they'll compare the features and specs of similarly priced instruments.

[smbstressfest]

@smbstressfest I.e. $400 is going to get you $400 worth of guitar. Getting back to the $4K dollar Taylor though, at that price point you're rapidly approaching the "high end" market where the prestige and clout inherent to some brands might actually get you less features for the same money on another instrument. The same trend is apparent with other items too; shoes,electronics, cars, wine and spirits. As the price climbs, you see more disparity in value among different manufacturers.

[changing3]

Good video Jason. You seem very knowledgable about guitar repair and you're a good communicator BUT I very strongly disagree with you when you say, " at the very least, don't insult the seller on how to pack your guitar".

[changing3]

There's nothing wrong and everything right with respectfully voicing a concern with someone, especially when you're a customer and you're spending your hard earned money. I bought n $12.000,00 Martin on Ebay that was destroyed in transit because of poor packing. It took 2 months to get my money back and in that time I missed out on getting some other good bargains.

[changing3]

I asked a seller to pack a $375.00 banjo ukulele in a particular way and she cancelled the sale. A bother for me, but she lost a good sale because when she relisted the instrument it only sold for about $250.00. I just received a banjo today through eBay that was packed exactly as I asked and it arrived perfectly. A happy buyer AND seller. The seller was smart enough to be courteous and respond to my reasonable wishes, Be polite, but speak up for yourself. That's what I aalways say.

[riskotibor80]

I bet it burns nicely :D

[NerdForMIT]

sadly it's both the packaging and the guitar. i have a jackson randy rhoades i picked up in a pawn shop. i don't have a stand for it or nothing it sits on my desk tuned and all. and the head stock is good as the day i got it. there is no neck support on my desk it's just as of you put your guitar on the table duh..

[adidas331]

fix it!!! very intrtsd!!!

[42littlebit]

Well what do you expect??? its a DEAN!!!! Srry bout tht though :[

[42littlebit]

Well what do you expect??? its a DEAN!!!!

[smbstressfest]

@42littlebit Brand name doesn't really mean much for guitars at this price point. This guitar has more in common with other guitars that cost about as much than it does with the rest of the Dean line. 

[42littlebit]

@smbstressfest I have to disagree, i get your poin,t but its still a dean, i own 2 and trust me they do not have the quality control of most other brands.

[smbstressfest]

@42littlebit @42littlebit Do you think it's statistically accurate to arrive a that conclusion with a sample size of only two?

[42littlebit]

@smbstressfest My Uncle owns a local music shop and he is an authorized Dean dealer. Trust me, we have many VERY high end instruments in our family. I know a good quality instrument. No matter what the price....Deans are never that great, even the USA Deans. The only reason deans are popular is because of Dimebag...R.I.P

[XB0XFR34K]

@42littlebit so you're saying that ALL deans are bad because the 2 you have suck?

i dont think my 1200 dollar dean sucks

[PassionOfGuitar]

@smbstressfest true dean guitars sucks

[ckngumbo]

Nice run through!

[buddyeagle]

MADE IN CHINA. iF YOU cHINA YOU BUY TRASH. THINK AMERICA.

[smbstressfest]

@buddyeagle xenophobia

[jacktheripped]

LOL!! I wish the one's I've repaired were broke like that. I repaired a Hamar Standard that was a $1000 guitar at Guitar Center, hung on the wall for a year about 12 feet off the floor, a display. I was going to buy it anyway but when we went to get it we were told it fell onto a Marshall full stack then the floor, breaking the headstock off and it was green stick broke, twisted break. It was in 7pieces, I used 4 different glues to put it back together.

[dieselmac]

I do have a suggestion on on what to do with that neck.duct tape the split end real good and make a big whoop ass stick to beat some youtubers over the head.

[smbstressfest]

@dieselmac HaHa, now that's something worthy of serious consideration.

[dieselmac]

after reading all the professional theories.my 2 cents.if the guitar had no glue on the head the rest of the guitar was probably not glued well either.comon on your chinese stuff with no QC.gluing just the head would give you a guitar with just a well glued head.it would still need work.thus the money and time thing.some people just don't understand.

[EldubeG25]

Heres one tip, don't buy a Dean guitar, even signature models.

[XB0XFR34K]

@EldubeG25 i have a 1200 dollar dean, and im happy haha

[HearGear]

I would never do a serious repair on that guitar... i mean it could be glued in back in place in less than an hour and still be as good as a guitar should be for about $120, if that would be a Gibson or a similar guitar.. then a great job is needed and maybe build a new neck or remove the fretboard to get it right.. thats my opinion about this... maybe i should just have throw it in the junk and buy a new one.

[IamtheSpankster]

Jason is great, such a knowledgeable guy

[metalliholic]

My epiphone les paul neck cracked and the only thing holding it together was the fretboard.

I glued that sucker back together for like 10 bucks and it works just fine.

[iPhone2663]

This is sad....

[TechnicalFreak]

Remove fingerboard, glue the head back on, let it be there for a week (or so). Then glue the fingerboard back on, let it sit for a week (or so).

Done.

[Danglesboy1]

so so so so damn . your killing me smalls! what the f happened . do we have a happy player or no for god sakes tell me now .

[ht448]

if you still have that neck laying around ill pay for it, im trying to earn how to fix?build guitars would be a good practise Thanks

[ravenshield56]

why didnt they guy ask dean to replace it?

[Murderthepatient]

im pretty sure its fake....Made in china lol

[jonahguitarguy]

Hey man I'm not bashing anyone but that repair is a piece of cake. Most guitar repair guys would love a break that clean. Even the loose fretboard is no biggie. The lack of glue in that joint wouldn't be because of not wanting to glue the rod in. The rods not there when the scarf joint is glued up. This is a quick repair at low cost and a happy customer. Or it should be anyway.

[gib412]

As soon as the "MADE IN CHINA" sticker came into the shot-that answered a lot of questions.

[smbstressfest]

@gib412 There are plenty of guitars coming from China these days that a good quality, this particular example just wasn't one of them. Price point is a more reliable measure of quality than the country of origin.

[maxoz2255]

My apologies, but I laughed. "Maybe make a new neck for the guitar". New neck my eyeballs. It's a 100$ guitar. Fretboard off. Truss rod too. Or mask it. Sand and superglue the thing. Reassemble. Done. 30 minutes, a couple of $ for the glue and a happy customer. Certain luthier techniques are SO overrated. Save them for custom shop orders :P

[smbstressfest]

@maxoz2255 You can "monday morning quarterback" me if you'd like, but the "quick and easy, 30 minutes and it's done" philosophy is why this thing fell apart in the first place. Your "certain luthier techniques are SO overrated comment" is a non sequitur, are you trying to say that craftsmanship isn't important?

[maxoz2255]

@smbstressfest I'm saying that a 100$ guitar isn't going to an art gallery for display. And yes, 30 minutes is more than enough, if your mind and skills are up to it.

[smbstressfest]

@maxoz2255 I tell you what cowboy, if you wanna drop the dime for the shipping I'll gladly send it to you and let you show us what your mind and skills can do in 30 minutes. Interested?

[maxoz2255]

@smbstressfest Very professional conduct, sir. Very professional indeed. If I get to keep it later, then PM me ;)

[smbstressfest]

@maxoz2255 If you'll pay the shippimg and agree do a video and post it as a response to mine showing your 30min fix, of course you can keep it.

[maxoz2255]

@smbstressfest Sir, check your inbox :P

[TorzJohnson]

@smbstressfest ...crickets...

[typeonegfr]

@maxoz2255 i do some guitar work myself and for a 100$ guitar i would try to pry the fingerboard pressure shoot some glue in clamp it and reglue the whole headstock sand and she would make a kid very happy

[rAFiCoRe]

i have to say FUCK the people who say made in china means it is crap. fender usa are imo more crappy then the cheap ones made in china and indonesia. the guitar is damaged because of the ebay vendor and the shipping company, not the country where it was manufactured.

[D3spairExE]

Made in China......

[BCI9279]

'Made in China' There's your problem.

[juanvencl94]

lol made in china

[Chequelito14]

Your a nice guy for selling it back to him really cheap! It ended up better then what he bought it for!!

[nomenanook]

after this vid im never gunna buy a dean guitar

[LittleMikey7]

I see you'll be having it nice and warm in the coming winter. That'll make a nice piece of firewood =)

No but seriously, if the remains of the neck are as poor as the joint (rattling truss rod, gap in fretboard-neck join, Badly seated frets), then might as well make a new one. It would be cool to see a walnut neck on this one!

[michaeltroke]

dude you can just glue the headstock back on and glue the fret board back down...........the neck dident really break its mmore like the joint job dean done is terrible and fell appart

[vinnie01]

@michaeltroke is that why it seems like such a perfect break?? it looks super clean for something that snapped in transit

[michaeltroke]

@vinnie01  its just that they dident evenly spread the glue on the joint......personally i think deans quality control is shit

[Monkeybread2010]

I just bought a dean VMNTX and the screw was striped from the neck and didn't looked to have much glue. And didn't looked shiped good.

[gooney0]

Interesting video. I haven't seen a guitar with a glue on headstock that was broken before.

I suspect you've already spent more time on this guitar than Dean did. I would think a replacement neck would cost more than the guitar was new. Of course if you have one lying around you might as well.

[SchecterCollin]

i think you should make a new neck or replace the fingerboard. i have a guitar that i could do either or to and wondered if it were possible

[blogtvpunk]

Lol, that crappy version of a fretboard you made, are the frets slotted the other way around?!?. 

[smbstressfest]

@blogtvpunk What you've asked makes no sense to me. Fretboards are slotted, frets are not. If you'll restate your question in a coherent manner and refrain from the insults I'll be happy to get you an answer.

[gib412]

@blogtvpunk >>>Uhhh, what?

[blogtvpunk]

@gib412 4:28 look at the fret slots. it goes from wide to thin, large spacing to small spacing. Usually guitar fretboards are thinner at the first fret and wider at the last. Am i right?. So in theory, he's going to have a 24th fret that's as wide as a first fret on most guitars. :-O

[gib412]

@blogtvpunk Yeah but smbstressfest didn't make the fretboard-it's still the original one.

[LittleBuddah118]

buy a new neck it wouldbe the easyest option

[fatboybmx87]

its a 100 dollar guitar throw the piece of junk away.

[buddyeagle]

@fatboybmx87 no don't do that, i need for my next gig.

[changing3]

@fatboybmx87 Mind your business. Don't be so free with someone elses 100 dollars.

[iatemine]

Definitely replace the neck.

[charlesdespres]

Nothing to worry about, a break can be much more severe, with broken splinters all over the place. This is just a very common scarf joint that was badly glued to begin with. Just clean up the old glue and glue it back on. To help glue the fingerboard back on, I would use a syringe and a needle to get glue into the tight spots. Just use wood glue, no epoxy needed. You could then spot-repair the finish with clear satin polyurethane.

[Olpaj]

Korean luthiers FTW, I ordered an LTD online without having it played before and i was really pleasantly surprised with the quality

[getupstairstobed]

the profits are right out the window, it wouldnt make sense for me to take this on because itd be hard to say to someone right £60 please when anybody would just look at it and just say "i could have glue that back on myself", some rip off merchants charge £150-£200, id definately be happy to give my guitars to this guy if i was just a regular player, youd know it was getting done more than neccessarily precisely

[getupstairstobed]

exactly and im a luthier, made 187 or so from scratch in 6 years for the £400-£800 mark not to discredit the guy, ive fixed 2 headstocks before and they are a subject that has got a bit more to it, ive heard people diying it and coming straight back off within days, i think this may be to look the dogs dogs bollocks esp if hes a repair guy

[avhcbeaver1]

glue it using the original parts

[cortarelva]

Just glue that thing and sell it. The body wood is not worth a new neck or fingerboard.

[Demonrik]

I think it would be better to replace the neck since the original neck might become discolored over time causing the glue and damage to show up, depending on whether or not it will have a lacquer coating of some kind. Not only that but it could eventually break again. In my opinion its better to be safe than sorry. although it's cheep it could have a potential sentimental value as a first guitar for someone.

[smbstressfest]

That would be the easiest, but I doubt I'd be able to source an identical neck from Dean, and of course not just any neck will work.

If I fix this neck, I'll sand the finish down and reapply it so that there would be no evidence of the original damage. And I can assure that when I fix a broken peghead, it WON'T break again.

This is an inexpensive guitar, hardly worth fixing to be honest. I'm a pretty busy guy, but EVENTUALLY I'll either make a new neck or fix the old one.

[fuzzmeister13]

it looked like you had strategically placed the MADE IN CHINA sticker,well done ha ha!

[Emceetem]

@smbstressfest

Do you fix guitar nuts? My guitar nut recently just broke off it's an imatation nut and it's made out of some weak plastic.

I have the measurements, i'm wondering if maybe you could make me one out of brass, i'd have to make an paypal account but if i know where'd you live it could be easier, i live in florida.

But i'd appreciate it more if you could find information for me to where i could fix it in miami florida.

i've been looking everywhere but no luck...

[smbstressfest]

@Emceetem I could make a new nut out of brass for your guitar but I'm in Indiana and I'd have to have you send the guitar to me.

Are you close to Ocala? I'm sure grasshopper at Bass Central could do it if he's still there. I haven't talked to those guys in years.

[Emceetem]

@smbstressfest

I'm in miami,florida.

I told you the same thing on another video.

:P

I could send it to you sure, i'd have to ask some people but in a week or so i could send it to you.

Message me your adress and if i have time i'd like to send you my fake strat.

[BuzzyFredrick]

what a pile of garbage. ?No glue

[beyondthedot]

The guy that bought that guitar must have been gutted.

I'd report it to Dean Guitars, for the design of the neck is truly shocking and the attention to its correct assembly is sadly lacking.

My suggestion is - It would be great to see you fix the neck using its original parts, even in the state they're now in.

You'd be showing the Chinese how to properly glue and do the job in the first place and then getting the guitar to play well afterward, well that would be a great project victory indeed.

[TheYeasteatingwalrus]

You should just glue the headstock back in and try to pump some glue under the fingerboard. Its a crapy guitar that gos for like $100 new dont spend to much time on it.

[mikeytheskinhead]

i won't ever buy a dean guitar now i've seen this.

[guglio1290]

it's not dean so much as ebay.

[mikeytheskinhead]

he says it's a Dean.

[jg76aries]

It would make for some good youtube video if you repaired the neck and documented the process.

However I like the idea of just replacing the neck altogether. What kind of wood is the body?

[Jed9133]

i had experiences with this and im not surprised with what happened to that guitar cause honestly they dont know the basics of guitar making,they just mass produce that thing so they can earn mass money,

[Jed9133]

I can say this with confidence,dont buy dean guitar that is made from china,they make shitty bad guitar,they had no dedication in work,the quality is horrible,they just look fine in the outside but inside youll be surprised to see how its done,its a complete mess,would you believe they sell a guitar with a slanted truss rod.they cant even cut a straight cavity,...

[sirgerry]

2:21 the "made in china" label says it all for me. Great vid

[apokara83]

...and make sure it goes everywhere. then do the same for the hearstock on both sides and rejoin the neck. Press it with 2 clamps and be carefull the it will not slip of (very important)!!! To succeed this do it slowly. And remember that you should dilute the tidebont glue with water first.

[apokara83]

Hey there, I m a luthier in Greece.I think its not the transpostation that damaged the instrument but the bad joint. They did not overclamped this, but they did not put enough glue! I can tell it. If you say they overclamped it you are wrong. Thats what they should do. The right amound of glue will stay there and make it live forever. Actually in goes into the wood. The rest just overflows.

Now, just to fix it: Put a desent amount of glue under the fretboard...

[tkojams]

four screws, new neck, less work JMO

[frankenstrat25]

id just replace the whole neck

[ibanezman007]

Hey jason, personally I would like to reuse as much of the current materials as possible. This goes to chow 2 things in how I see it. 1: Dean needs to rethink their construction process. And 2: Dean needs to rethink how they pack their guitars for shipping.

[thewizardofaz]

I'd remove the truss rod, then the fingerboard. Then make a jig so you can apply pressure to the scarf joint evenly and glue the headstock back on. Then put the truss rod back in and glue the headstock back on. Make sure you clean off all the old glue before re-gluing it. Personally, I use hide glue, but it's just me. I feel the aliphatics commonly used will flow, like your neck joint did.

[motov80]

thin down the new fretboard and definatly new neck but reuse the headstock

[novisplit]

new neck!

[rex3453]

Oh man, I'd love to make that crap into a headless guitar, like those steinburgers (can't spell it) it'd look nice, but I'm assuming you can't do that.

[twoboots4you]

I'd be interested in watching some step by step How-to-make-a-neck videos. But for this guitar it kind of seems like a waste of your time and talents. I vote. do your best to fix what you have. It may not be the prettiest neck around, but it'll work, and you won't have near as much labor in it. Plus, that would also be a fun set of videos to watch. My 2 cents. Glad to see some new videos, can't wait for the new stuff!

[Parley454]

tutorial on how to make a neck sounds awesome, that tulip wood looks like it would go great with the color of the guitar body

[lisannhodges67]

lol 1:40 AHHHHHH!!!!!!!!

Wow! That shocked me ha. Wouldn't the seller be responsible?