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CRACKED HEADSTOCK!


Rich
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Picked my Status up for a bit of a play the other evening, and to my horror I noticed a hideous crack in the headstock! :huh: :huh: :)
The photos will explain it better than I can, but it seems to start at the E string tuner hole, runs through the screw hole for the tuner across to the B tuner hole, through its screw hole and exits at the edge of the heastock. From what I can see, the crack only runs about 3/4 of the way through the thickness of the headstock, which is probably the only reason it hasn't snapped off completely yet.
Needless to say this is alarming in the extreme and I need to fix it pronto. Not sure of the best way to go about it though... should I try to force some glue into the crack somehow? Or take a surgeon's approach and actually break the whole section off and then glue it back on again (not keen on this)?
Or should I be sensible, and just give it to a luthier who knows what he's doing?
[attachment=12599:DSC02781.JPG] [attachment=12600:DSC02782.JPG]

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I think the common, probably only, solution is to inject glue into the crack. Most glues these days are stronger than the wood itself so if done properly a repaired crack can be very stable. Just look at the bass of doom! :huh:


I'd certainly give it to a luthier to make sure the job is done proper like though :)

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Even if out of warranty (not sure what that entails on a Status) I'd be contacting them to see if they can remedy at cost! The nature of the cracks (for it looks like 2 separate ones) seems to be because of the screws inserted into the tuner retainers either over tightened or no guidehole/tap prior to inserting the screw? Whatever it is it looks like a wood/factory fault rather than a knock/abuse by the owner, especially in light of someone else having the same fault.

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[quote name='warwickhunt' post='269013' date='Aug 24 2008, 07:51 PM'][...] Whatever it is it looks like a wood/factory fault rather than a knock/abuse by the owner, especially in light of someone else having the same fault.[/quote]

Indeedy. It looks like the kind of thing that happens when you put a screw in a hole which is too small for it. Sometimes you get away with it, other times it splits the wood. (I don't think I have ever unintentionally written anything more loaded with double entendre!)

Best of luck getting that fixed. Hopefully you can get it done on warranty. As stated above, some glues are stronger than wood, so it is not a huge problem.

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I think this damage looks too severe to be down to the suggested causes - I can't see something as major as this appearing overnight on a bass that I'd guess is a few years old already. I'd say it's somehow had a knock, probably to the backs of the tuners. Looks like 3 individual cracks, each one starting at the respective tuner screw, but you'll need to get the hardware off to see properly.

A warranty or other manufacturer repair certainly would be the best solution - but speaking as a bodger, I'd probably just remove the tuners and flow superglue around the cracks. Chances are with the hardware off, it'll close up so it might need to be flexed open fractionally to allow the glue to penetrate. Then I'd clamp it up and leave it overnight, next day buff any superglue excess off with fine wire wool.

Whatever you do - [b]don't[/b] go breaking lumps of it off!! :) You're very lucky it's just a couple of splits as it is!

Jon.

Edited by Bassassin
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Not that it's much help, but my first ever Spector bass had the same issue. Opened the case one day to find part of the headstock had practically snapped off!! No bumps or knocks either!

Completely fixable though, so don't worry too much. I had mine repaired by a good luthier and it was fantastic after that. No further issues at all.

Just a bit of a bummer in the meantime I suppose.

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Whatever you do take the tension off the strings and don't play it otherwise you will have a headstock in pieces, and it will be more difficult to repair.
It's probably worse than it looks ! but can be rectified easily with the correct glue and clamps. Don't use superglue !

As with most failures it's usually a combination of several things.
Too small a pilot hole would not cause this on its own, the wood has probably dried out more than it should, which is usually caused either by it not being seasoned correctly or the bass living in a room thats too hot and dry.
I would contact Status in the first instance with the photos and see what their reaction is. If it was one of my basses I would want to find out why this has happened.

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Thanks for all the responses and advice guys... I think a luthier is deffo the best course. I would take it to Rob, but with him in Essex and me in Brizzle it's a rather long trip... but there are several more local guys I can approach. As for warranty, well the bass is an original S1 and well over 10 years old, so I reckon there's a slight chance it could be just out of warranty by now..! :) But it is interesting that mine is not the first to suffer.

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