Repairing a broken classical headstock

Over the weekend I repaired a broken classical headstock. Headstock breaks are pretty common (especially on Gibson guitars), but it’s rare that I see a classical guitar with it’s headstock broken, which is odd because classical guitars are generally much more delicate instruments than their electric counterparts. But when they break – hoo boy, does wood go everywhere! This particular case shattered into five pieces:

broken classical headstock

This guitar didn’t belong to the customer who brought it to me – it belonged to their friend, and was broken while it was on loan. Ouch! I try not to get into the middle of such things – I simply explain their options and try to figure out what’s best for them and their budget. This wasn’t a terribly expensive guitars, so the customer (and presumably, the owner) opted out of doing an finish work, to keep the costs within a limited budget. I was sure that it could be repaired without spending a ton of cash, and we all agreed to go for it.

Now, I couldn’t very well take any pictures while I was working with the glue, so all I have is a picture of the completed job. Not bad considering that it was in multiple pieces before, and we didn’t do any finish work. Sure, it won’t win any beauty pageants, but it’s a solid repair, the crack lines are smooth to the touch, and it came in under budget. If we had opted to do finish work, the repair would have been almost completely invisible. Regardless, I would still count this as a solid win!

broken classical headstock

Now, I’d like to impart an important point: even for budget jobs, all my repairs are guaranteed for life. I want my repairs to be rock solid, and I’m willing to guarantee my work for as long as I live. Yeah, I’m serious. If this guitar breaks right where I previously fixed it, I will repair it again for free. It’s important to me that my work is good, and that it stays that way.

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