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12 Detailed Examples of the Gibson Les Paul Neck Surgery



Now you can access the Full Video Library

Take your time and 
browse through these 12 Videos

Although the subject matter is the same; 
these videos will cover every possible case scenario  
from a split to a completely severed headstock.

Enjoy !

Michael
















Neck Surgery Kit
#lespaulneck

3 more NSK's ....


Play by Play Neck Surgery
( link below )




Setting up the NSK


Why Guitar Necks Break




These videos ( above and below ) are 
 current examples of  
"worst case scenario "
Neck surgery candidates.


A fully detailed, step-by-step,
 instructional video with
 accompanying booklet,
is supplied to
all who have purchased the 
Neck Surgery Kit.



If you are interested in buying 
 NSK and support material contact:
mcconvilleguitars@gmail.com

Gibson SG.
 Final rub-out,
before assembly


This ( below ) was the initial break.
Sorry for the fuzzy photo ... an I-phone camera.






I also fabricated an intonated nut,
 for this Gibson SG,
after the neck surgery was completed.







Here it is ...
 after slicing splicing , shading and top coat.

All that is left is final rub-out and assembly.




Here is another shot of the finished repair.


It is always more of a challenge when we are 
dealing with a see-through finish as 
opposed to a solid ( opaque ) black or white etc... 

Darcy did his magic,
 and blended it in perfectly !  


This is the start of the Gibson nut removal.
Sometimes it'll come out like a
 broken impacted wisdom tooth ... lol ! 






Other times it'll come out in one piece.

Most importantly; in every case,
I got the nut out without removing any wood or lacquer.
Super-clean extraction ... every time ! 



Feb / 2015


Jeff Rice is a full time super-pro Guitar Technician, 
that runs his business down in Atlanta Georgia.

Jeff received his TechDeck and " Neck Surgery Kit " March 2014.



Hi Michael.  Good to hear from you.  I’m loving the Neck Surgery Jig.  I’ve done 5 neck surgeries in the last 6 months.  Works like a charm.  One customer took his ES-339 that I had just completed, to a gig that night, and had it on his guitar stand plugged in.  He tripped over the cord and the guitar went face first onto the stage (the same way he broke it originally) but this time it didn’t break.  It’s stronger after the surgery.
Hope all is well up north.

Jeff


This Level 2 Group, 
( June 2014 ) completed 
6 Neck Surgeries
 during the first 4 classes 








Hi Michael

Thanks for sending me the video. Very well done. 

I've been using the TechDeck almost daily for the past 4 weeks.

Tony Spina ( London, Ontario March 20th 2015 )


Hi Michael,

Great video!  The Tech deck is a work of genius!

All the best

Bernie Funston
Funston Guitars

Hi Michael,
Great to hear from you, our tech deck is going great, earning us money and still as good as new (maybe a layer or two of sawdust)
Keep the videos coming - always good to learn!
Many thanks,
Steve
--
The Guitar Repair Workshop Ltd
c/o Professional Music Technology 
Red Rose Retail Park,
Regent Road,
Salford
Manchester
M5 3GR

Great video, Michael.  Nice guitar playing as well!  We are loving our TechDeck, it’s paid for itself with the neck surgery jig.  I LOVE that thing.It recently came in handy in re-binding a Gretsch Country Gentleman.  The TechDeck could hold the instrument in virtually any position I needed which made it a lot easier to work, especially in scraping off all that nasty crumbling binding.  It’s also great for holding a guitar for routing.

I expect you to have great success if you are marketing this for the public.  It really is a great tool.

Peace,
Jeff Rice
Intown Guitar Repair
Atlanta, GA USA









The "spline template" ( above ),  is much thinner than the 
elliptical dado cut. This allows you to do a "visual check"
before you trace the shape onto the full size spline.
This way we guarantee 100% contact along the length of the cut,
 BEFORE it is glued into place ;^ ) 













4 necks sliced and spliced in a day

Repair broken Guitar Necks

BC Rich / Gibson / Epiphone / Guild headstocks

These jobs alone,
were enough to cover the cost of 
the Neck Surgery Kit,
the TechDeck Workstation
+ shipping.... !

Super Pro Guitar Technician,
Steve Curtis ( Manchester UK ) 
 completed over 20 LP neck surgeries 
in a 4 month period between March 
and June 2014 !


The best part of this deal, is that 
all of these customers got the  
perfect neck restoration for
a fraction of the cost of a replacement neck.


The length / depth / and placement
 of the splines is adjusted to address 
the worst section of the break.

Overlooking this long-grain-
to-long-grain contact,
 is the most common mistake
 made by novices,
attempting to do 
this type of repair.

Short-grain-to-short-grain gluing ,
is like trying to glue two popsicle sticks 
together, end-to-end.

When you drop a plunge router
 into the back of the neck, 
and cut a straight line ( no elliptical curved cut ) 
and pull it up and out at the end of the cut;
you have just made the neck weaker than
  it was before the initial damage !

Please read through this post carefully.
Many of the spline repairs that I see online
are done incorrectly and will actually
 reduce the structural integrity
of the neck, drastically !

With this NSK, the router 
sweeps in at "0" ( the outside of the finished surface),
 then sweeps down deeply, 
into the worst part of the break, 
then sweeps up and exits at "0"  
 (the outside of the finished surface), on the 
opposite end of the cut.  

This guarantees 100% long grain-to-long-grain
 contact on ALL 3 sides of the splines' mated glued surfaces.

By introducing these splines, the"wood grain 
is now confused"; there is no longer a break line 
( or grain line ) for the initial crack to follow.

This is why laminated necks rarely break,
 in comparison to one piece solid wood necks.


 Tele's and Strat's necks are one piece necks,
BUT 
... #1 They are Maple ( as opposed to Mahogany )

 #2 They do not tilt back at the headstock
 to create the weak spot
 that is created in the LP style neck.

#3 They rarely break ...
 even if you make a deliberate effort to break them.

Try and break a Strat headstock over your knee ...
you'd be going in for knee surgery
 long before THAT neck would break.



















After breaking for the 3rd time !!!

The neck surgery restoration was the only option.



First pic .

This is what it looked like when it came into the shop.

This is exactly why I spent a full year developing,
 refining and perfecting the NSK and restoration procedure.

Once this repair was done properly, the neck 
is still going strong, after years of use.

The rest of the play by play pictures and written tutorials 
have gone out to all who bought NSK this time around.





 I flip the guitar up like this
 to let the hide glue flow into the break.





Neck Surgery Kit includes ...

Multi-Adjustable Aluminum Jig +
 CNC'd Hardwood Router Sled
( Router not included )

$315.00 

Free Shipping for Canada
 + Continental USA.
( Please inquire for International Shipping Rates )


This kit will help you
 to execute these jobs ....
Fast Fast Fast !
Safe Safe Safe !
Easy Easy Easy !

With the combination
 of the NSK and the TechDeck,
 this will become such a routine task 
for all of you Pro-Guitar Techs,
that you will continually flip over 
the price of your TechDeck and the NSK,
the entire investment
every 3 or four jobs .... ;^ )


The customers will love you for saving "their babies",
by doing a great job / at a great price.

Everybody wins !



The universal design of the 
"TechDeck / NSK combination" 
will have you setup to handle 
pretty well ANY broken guitar neck.


The Hardwood Router Sled
 is engineered to fit 
a Bosch Colt palm router
( router not included )


Contact:

info@techdeckworkstations.com


This page is dedicated to my GRAD students, 
TechDeck owners,
 and the countless customers who have arrived 
at my workshop door over the years; 
completely devastated, by a broken headstock 
on their beloved Les Paul's.

After a couple of years of Design / Research / and Refinement, 
I now have the answer to this "all too common" scenario. 


The "Neck Surgery Jig" slides onto 
the upper neck platform of the TechDeck. 



With this continuous,
 un-interrupted cut, 
we have 100% 
" long-grain to long-grain"
contact 
on all gluing surfaces

The common "start and stop-cut" 
that I have seen done on 
this type of repair in the past,
creates a weak end-grain to 
end-grain glue joint 
at the beginning and 
end of the router cut.

This method, when done properly,
will give you a neck that is 
much stronger than the original. 
   



4 necks sliced and spliced in one day

BC Rich / Gibson / Epiphone / Guild headstocks

Ch-Ching $$$ .... Ch-Ching $$$ ... 
just paid for the Neck Surgery Kit,
the TechDeck Workstation
+ shipping.... in a days work !
All four of these customers got
 the "deal of a lifetime" too !  

A completely restored neck,
 that is twice as strong,
 as the day it left the factory !


                                                                             
Guitar Neck Splines

The long elliptical slice on either side of the truss rod
 and the corresponding splines that are glued in, 
will yield a neck that is stronger than the original.
 In most cases, after professional finishing
 and touch up, this repair job is
 essentially undetectable.   

By "confusing the grain orientation of the neck wood"
 with the splines; the break no longer has an
uninterrupted wood grain to follow. 








Slicing and splicing 4 broken necks, 
completing a fret job on a Taylor acoustic, 
completing a compensated nut and re-fret
 on a maple neck Tele, a partial refret 
on an American Jazz Bass, 
gluing up a separated acoustic
 guitar back and more ++ ..
all in a days work :^ )  




This Gretsch guitar was destined for the garbage can.
 ( a very nasty break )
When we were finished, it was ready for the showroom. 














For a completely different type
 of headstock repair go here:



Guitar neck router Jig

The asymmetrical, elliptical arch on the aluminum jig, 
allows the operator to splice any tilted guitar headstock.

Guitar headstocks generally tilt back from the plane of the fingerboard
 by 11-17 degrees. The elliptical arch of the jigs' large U-channel, 
is shallower on one end and deeper on the other. 

This allows for any degree of tilt to be 
sliced and spliced; cleanly, safely and consistently.