Your headstock break - how'd it happen?

[Lowdown]

Drunks. They're the pot-holes of gigs.
There's always one drunken idiot who will somehow find his way onto the stage,or even in some circumstances be playing on said stage,that will use a guitar/mic stand/drumkit as a place to rest his body.

In turn,he ends up being a place for the band and crew to rest their fists.

My 6mnth old Fender Tele,found itself being a mattress for a drunken relative of the vocalist.
Bet he wished he had a real mattress under him when I clocked him in the mouth after he left a 1 inch gouge in the side of my treasured new guitar too.

 

[straybeat]

It's this:

Not much wood left around the truss rod route. It sounds great - just have to be careful not to bump it!

If they put a radius in that corner the headstock would be much stronger.

 

[straybeat]

On a sidenote, anyone know a good repair guy in The Los Angeles/Orange County area that doesn't charge rockstar prices for repairs? Funny, I'm quickly finding most repairmen here are pretty much setup guys. Maybe a fretjob but this kind of stuff, not so much. Plus it's just a studio. Cant really lay a ton of cash into a $700 guitar.

Let me check for you. My best friend does all the amp repair over there, surely he knows a bunch of great guitar guys?

 

[YoshiJimbo]

This is kinda' embarrassing, so I hesitated to tell it. About 25 years ago I was crouching above my FX boxes, got mad and threw my Charvel across the room. It landed on the guitar plug and broke it halfway off, bending it. It was on carpet so no harm to the guitar. Stupid, I know.

Now, I have had my SuperStrat, which I bought new, a year ago, not a scratch on it. And my Les Paul Trad, also new, 1 month old, so far, so good.

 

[iTim]

Yep, mine also fell face down from a stand onto the carpet.

 

[Kirrt]

This is kinda' embarrassing, so I hesitated to tell it. About 25 years ago I was crouching above my FX boxes, got mad and threw my Charvel across the room. It landed on the guitar plug and broke it halfway off, bending it. It was on carpet so no harm to the guitar. Stupid, I know.

Now, I have had my SuperStrat, which I bought new, a year ago, not a scratch on it. And my Les Paul Trad, also new, 1 month old, so far, so good.

What kind of shit was made you that mad?

 

[iTim]

What kind of shit was made you that mad?

Huh?

 

[Kirrt]

Huh?

Sorry, I'm asking the guy above you

 

[Bandit79]

I launched a Standard across the room when my sister pissed me off(I had a temper issue back then) and off came the headstock. Just through the guitar away lol.

Also had a LP build I had completed and was preparing it for a finish. It was leaning against the garage door when someone decided to open it and pull the car inside. I don't think the conclusion needs to be said lol.

 

[YoshiJimbo]

Quote:
Originally Posted by YoshiJimbo
This is kinda' embarrassing, so I hesitated to tell it. About 25 years ago I was crouching above my FX boxes, got mad and threw my Charvel across the room. It landed on the guitar plug and broke it halfway off, bending it. It was on carpet so no harm to the guitar. Stupid, I know.

Now, I have had my SuperStrat, which I bought new, a year ago, not a scratch on it. And my Les Paul Trad, also new, 1 month old, so far, so good.

What kind of shit was made you that mad?

Well, I also had an '82 Standard at the time, and I wasn't about to throw it. That would be CRAZY!

 

[Lowdown]

Well, I also had an '82 Standard at the time, and I wasn't about to throw it. That would be CRAZY!

Oh,right...well then that makes the world of difference.
I understand now

I launched a Standard across the room when my sister pissed me off(I had a temper issue back then)...

Might've been a bit wiser to tell her to "Fk Off" or something to that effect,maybe...


Wow. Some of the stories in here...I don't know whether to laugh or cry.

 

[RenegadeDave]

I read somewhere (I think it was the Gibson manual) that you can break a headstock if the guitar is in it's case, stood on end, and falls over! - so don't stand your case up vertically!

It is a combination of shock and string tension that does the damage. Peronally I think Gibsons are prone to neck breaks because of the angled head-stock. The break occurs in line with the wood-grain.

Hear hear.

I broke the neck/headstock of my Studio Mahogany Exclusive when I was fiddling with a tuner in my hands, the guitar was hanging on the strap, I leaned forward to adjust the music stand and the strap let go of the pitifully small Gibson stock strap button. To be fair, the strap leather is worn and soft from use. So if fiddling with a music stand with a strap that had previously never let go of another guitar counts as stupid, then sign me up. Had it repaired. it plays fine, but the color match is awful.

Anyway, ALL of my nice instruments get the Schaller strap locks now.

 

[Fresh]

I read somewhere (I think it was the Gibson manual) that you can break a headstock if the guitar is in it's case, stood on end, and falls over! - so don't stand your case up vertically!

It is a combination of shock and string tension that does the damage. Peronally I think Gibsons are prone to neck breaks because of the angled head-stock. The break occurs in line with the wood-grain.

seems like a poor design to me. But you cant argue with the results, as long as it doesnt break

 

[jlu52]

Never in 50 years - but I have been lucky a few times. Busted a control knob or 2 on falls. Was very lucky they fell that way.....

 

[chilton]

I did a lot of gigs with a LP Custom in the 90s when either the band, the audience or both had been drinking. Jumped around a lot too. But I never thought about getting strap locks back then. I just stuck a pair of those white plastic clips that you get when you buy sliced bread between the strap and the strap buttons. That was a rock solid solution. I guess I had some luck too since nobody ever knocked the guitar off its stand, whenever there was a stand to leave it on.

 

[guitarfish]

I haven't been a Gibby owner too terribly long (4 yrs). Thankfully, no breaks. Hey a suggestion for you guys throwing your axes like, well, axes: throw the PICK next time.

 

[Indyclone]

Mine was knocked over by a cat... fell over face first while on a stand.

My stepson's got an Epi standard LP, and he's been warned several times that it could happen to his, but I still see him leaning it up against random things in his room.