Ouch... I think it needs a band-aid.

[rjohnstone]

Ok... well this is not good.
Body is still in great shape (1977 Memphis).
But the neck... not so much.

Suggestions?

IMG_20140506_212900sm.jpg

For reference, here's what it looked like when I bought it in 2010.

http://www.jcfonline.com/threads/103145-Nice-little-lawsuit-era-find?highlight=

She fell off a wall hanger, hit a chair and landed headstock first into the tile floor.
Neck is in about 3 chunks and the fretboard is in about 5 pieces. Unrepairable, so those bits are in the bin.

[Radiohead]

Get it to Sully

[contilon]

Ohhhhhhhhh man that hurts. So sorry!

[sully]

Seems like a good time to learn how to build a neck! It's not the toughest thing in the world if you have the tools. Or get one of these, and rout the pocket away to accept this heel. http://byoguitar.com/Guitars/Single-..._BYO-SCSN.aspx

Sully

[rjohnstone]

I would love to learn how to build a neck from scratch.
I have most of the tools needed (table saw, belt sander, drill press, hand router).
Unfortunately "spare-time" is not something I have an abundance of, so I may have to either buy a pre-made one and fit it myself or send it off to have one made.
I like the Maple version they have. http://byoguitar.com/Guitars/Maple-S...CSN-Maple.aspx
Never was a fan of finished necks and I love the feel of Maple.
And who doesn't love a bound neck with dot markers?

I just need to figure out how much I want to put into fixing this guitar.

[toejam]

Ah, that's a bummer. I always liked that guitar. Good luck!

[jgcable]

Tough love bro. That's not a guitar. That's firewood. I wouldn't put a dime into it unless it has TREMENDOUS sentimental value.

[rjohnstone]

Dropping $100 on a prefab replacement neck is doable. (I already have the rest of the parts)
I only have $100 into the guitar to begin with and it needed a fret job anyway. :p
At this point it is my time and labor that I need to consider, not so much the cash.
It is a beautiful looking guitar in person. It would pain me to simply toss it without trying to fix it first.

[sully]

Yep. Since the truss rod is out of there, it's simply routing yourself a new neck pocket. And as long as you've got the tools, it's nothing too insane.

Sully

[h.e.l.shane]

I did a similar replacement for a guy a using an EBAY prefab neck a few years ago..

all in all it wasn't a bad neck.. but the problem was that the neck angle was off by a small amount, which necessitated trimming of the area around the tennon where it meets the front of the body so that it sat flush against the body.

this wasn't a fault of the neck manufacturer, the guitar in question used a different pickup plane than a standard les paul (and different models of les paul use different angles and pickup planes as well)

I cut the new pocket to match the tennon width and bottom angle no problem using my overarm router and a temple on "angle jig" (big contraption that locks the guitar onto two boards hinged with piano hinge and adjuster studs at the front to set the correct neck pocket and pickup plane angle, and everything looked all good until the dry fit..

wasn't that big a deal, but still an hour of mucking about that i didn't intend

if you know the angle that Memphis used.. you might be able to get a drop in replacement

[rjohnstone]

The Memphis used the same neck angle as most 70's era LP's, which was 4.5 degrees, give or take a few hairs.

I figured I will have to make some tweaks to the tenon, but won't know until the neck arrives.
I found a builder who makes them in batches between 10 and 30 necks for a little bit more than the mass produced ones.

I can get a neck with an Ebony board and trap inlays for about $150-$160 with the correct headstock shape. (The Memphis was an true LP copy in many ways)
Nice part is having fret size choice. A rosewood board would drop the price by $30 bucks.

It is supposed to have a 4.5 degree angle and the builder said he left enough material to allow for variations in the pocket.