Gibson Les Paul - Broken Headstock

[Neil4Speed]

Hey Guys,

Wondering if any of you guys could give me some insight before I throw it up for the vultures on kijiji. I had my Les Paul Studio against a chair at home and when someone moved the chair it ended up falling on the headstock part. Its broken but still attatched together - Apparently a pretty common problem. What is it worth in the Used market?

Its an early 2000's Wine Red Studio with Gold Hardware in generally good shape, and plays nice.

I don't mind fixing it, but at the same time, it doesn't get a whole lot of use because I prefer playing my Turner Model One, so I would rather grab something different like an ESP Les Paul take, or a Squier Classic Vibe etc.

[Lex350]

Ya...It is pretty common...I had mine crack years ago and had it fixed. If the person does a good job of fixing it I don't think you are going to be noticing a huge drop in the value. The fix itself isn;t the touff part...it's the paint job.



I can't remember if Mozel is still in town fixing guitars. My Floyd Rose basicly broke from the body of my strat. He fixed it and from the surfce you could nver tell anything happened. He does good work but is very slow.

[Neil4Speed]

Originally posted by rotten42
Ya...It is pretty common...I had mine crack years ago and had it fixed. If the person does a good job of fixing it I don't think you are going to be noticing a huge drop in the value. The fix itself isn;t the touff part...it's the paint job.


Thanks for the post. I kind of want to sell it as broken because I know that for many players they would rather repair it themselves so they can be assured of the work done.

"luckily" for me, it wasn't a complete snap, so limited paintwork if any.

[finboy]

Call Jarin at guitar OR, tell him adam sent you.

He does TONS of these repairs and is a standup guy

Get it fixed professionally and you will take a $50-100 hit on resale, if I were in the market I wouldn't pay over $4-500 for an unrepaired guitar. There are lots of studios on kijiji, so most wouldn't pay anything more than full price if there are lots of non-break ones available

[rage2]

Originally posted by rotten42
If the person does a good job of fixing it I don't think you are going to be noticing a huge drop in the value.
Yea, if you don't tell them of the damage lol. Fact is, any guitar with significant damage like that will drop huge in value, even if repaired perfectly.

Just look at the price differential against Gibson factory second guitars, these have very minor cosmetic damage and are discounted huge new, and stays cheap in the used market.

I'd say if you want to keep the guitar for yourself, repair + keep. If not, sell it to the vultures and let someone else fix it right, and enjoy it for themselves.

[Lex350]

I suppose. I get it might also depend on the age and model. I had contacted Gibson about getting my 74 deluxe refinshed head to toe. They told me it would be worth less (even with the repair) than having the original finish.

[Neil4Speed]

thanks for the input guys, I will probably throw it up on here first.

[The_Penguin]

Originally posted by Neil4Speed
I had my Les Paul Studio against a chair at home and when someone moved the chair it ended up falling on the headstock part. Its broken but still attatched together - Apparently a pretty common problem. What is it worth in the Used market?

Ouch! Sorry to hear that. I used to leave my guitars propped against couch/chairs etc. Then one day my Golden Retrievers were chasing each other and knocked over a big wrought iron and glass shelving unit. Although no guitars were involved, I started taking better care of them, especially my Les Paul.
As others have posted it's a common injury, and most reputable luthiers should be able to do a good job of fixing.