Broken Peghead on a Gibson

This lovely early 70’s Gibson Heritage Classic acoustic came into the shop with a complex fracture with many cracks deep into the neck. Mahogany Mush. I find injecting glue into these kind of breaks usually doesn’t hold very long. This is an example of an extreme solution to a heavily fractured peghead on a nicer guitar.

After agonizing over it for an extended period the decision was made to do the most unnatural thing a luthier can ever do. Cut the peghead off. You can see the cross-section of the break

The Guitar featured a 3-piece construction so I attempted to match that by laminating a few pieces of mahogany to form the graft.

Of course I measured the neck beforehand and planned out the graft that would replace the damaged wood. The truss rod hole and counterbored pocket were challenging to replicate

All the broken wood has been cut away and a clean scarf joint prepared using chisels

Same with the peghead.

Gluing the graft into the peghead.

Graft in place on the neck now. Hot hide glue is used throughout this repair.

The graft is shaped and sanded and ready for finish.

Some stain before applying lacquer. Looks strange but It appeared to be a very close match when wet. I was happy with how well the 3 piece lamination lined up

The final repair went very well. The guitar’s old lacquer had become milky and opaque over time and contrasts with the new stain and finish, which is a bit darker, but it wasn’t an issue for the client.