Headstock Warping?

[CharvelRocker]

Yes you read that right. I was playing my CX391 today for the first time in about a week when I thought something looked odd. It appears the headstock is warping around the 3rd and 4th tuners. like it wants to bend into a subtle U shape. I tempted fate and bent it back soemwhat to where it looked like it should, but i took my hands and it went back. Is there a way to be sure its actually warping and my eyes aren't decieiving me?

[Dutchman]

Are you sure it's not cracked, I've owned dozens of guitars, some of them 50-60 years old, I feel comfortable in telling you the headstocks don't start bending until somethings broke. Look for small cracks. Also could be your tuners are loose. My Charvels have very rugged headstocks. Takes pretty good shot to snap one. They have been fallen on by drunks in bars and never broke Chipped the paint on one quite nicely though!!!

[fett]

Follow the grain in the wood. It's possible, I guess.

[Carbuff]

Ive seen pointies that were bent somewhat but not a strathead or semistrathead like your cx. But I guess its possible.

[CharvelRocker]

Thanks for the help I looked and yep, theres a crack runnig 7/8th the width of the headstock about in line with the second tuner. It's hard to feel, and because of the angle, see, but it's there. So what do I do now?

[Dutchman]

That depends on how handy you are......Since it's not broken completely there is a excellent chance of repairing without a trace of damage. A Luthier could repair, or you could try yourself. Remove all of the tuners, depending on the way it's cracked you may need to break completely to glue or you may not have to and use a syringe to inject the glue into the crack and then clamp. use blocks of wood when you clamp so you don't damage the finish. This is a good illustration

http://www.timeelect.com/headstock.htm

[Tiddles]

Different headstock designs are clearly susceptible on some types of guitar. The obvious example is Gibson where it’s common to find the headstock completely snapped off just at the top of the neck…obviously that’s because the headstock is angled back at 17deg and that creates a weak point in which a fall at almost any angle will impact the headstock & snap the top of the neck.

On Jackson’s you do see a lot of cracks coming off the tuner screws, so for some reason that’s obviously a weak point. It does seem those pointed headstocks are dangerously awkward in the sense that they seem to get knocked a heck of a lot. It’s also not uncommon to see cracks between the fretboard & the neck just below the nut (as I and others found), and again that seems due to impact on the point of the headstock.

In complete contrast, you can bash a Tele headstock all day long as hard as you like and only thing that happens is another dent.

Ian.

[Sunbane]

Mahogany is also a lot softer than maple, which probably is why you see more decapitated Gibsons than Jacksons. But unless I'm mistaken, people also reported a lot of headstock breaks on the Jackson SLATQH?

[CharvelRocker]

Thanks again for the help. I'm gonna take it to see about repair costs. If its anything crazy I'll just sell it for little I can get it for it. Anything more than $80 and I'll see if I can trade for anything.

EDIT: Actuall ythe repair wasn't very hard at all. He said the crack was VERY small. He said they're may be a slight warping, but it could be due to the change of weatehr and enviroment over the past 2-3 months. He also said the angle I was setting at could have made it look more severe than it was. So he fielld the crack anyway free of charge