Looks like as well as being too thin you've butt-jointed that piece on the back right where it should have been continuous, plus chopping the front back at right angles has exacerbated the problem...there's a reason why Fender make a curved transition at that point to keep the thickness and strength at that potentially weak spot. It's not so much bending as hinging round the part Naz has circled, you've only got about 1/8" of wood thats actually doing anything, and I'll wager that butt-joint has actually parted company under tension- glue doesn't work well like that.
Naz has got it about right I reckon - you need a decent lap of the two pieces, and the two faces to be glued need to be dead flat so the glue line is nice and thin.
Maybe you could do something like this: Cut the Head off at the joint, make a new, thicker headstock and use a scarf joint to connect the pieces (purple line).
Scales can be from over 30" to under 20" so that's no issue. BUT if you fretted it, then you really can't shorten it. The 12th fret is 1/2 the distance from the nut to the bridge/saddle so if you cut any off you're screwed. I usually make the headstock part no less than 5/16" deep.
Post a pic if the bending head. Maybe there is something that can be done.
Seeing a photo would help greatly in diagnosing the problem....BUT in theory you could shorten it by chopping off the skinny headstock and simply move the nut up the neck a few frets to one of the fret positions and re-do the headstock..it's just like putting a capo on a standard guitar. It would still work and play in tune, just that your scale length would be shorter.
Maybe you could cut off the thin headstock and glue on a thicker one in its place. Do a search for scarf joints and you may find a solution. A good cigar box can always be fixed (even a bad one can be fixed) just takes a little ingenuity and patience, oh and also some tools.
hey west thanks for the info, i had a feeling that i was screwed, thanks agina
Wes Yates said:
Depends. Did you fret it yet?
Scales can be from over 30" to under 20" so that's no issue. BUT if you fretted it, then you really can't shorten it. The 12th fret is 1/2 the distance from the nut to the bridge/saddle so if you cut any off you're screwed. I usually make the headstock part no less than 5/16" deep.
Post a pic if the bending head. Maybe there is something that can be done.
Scales can be from over 30" to under 20" so that's no issue. BUT if you fretted it, then you really can't shorten it. The 12th fret is 1/2 the distance from the nut to the bridge/saddle so if you cut any off you're screwed. I usually make the headstock part no less than 5/16" deep.
Post a pic if the bending head. Maybe there is something that can be done.
Replies
Naz has got it about right I reckon - you need a decent lap of the two pieces, and the two faces to be glued need to be dead flat so the glue line is nice and thin.
Naz, you beat me to it [grin] -Wes
-WY
Wes Yates said:
Wes Yates said:
Scales can be from over 30" to under 20" so that's no issue. BUT if you fretted it, then you really can't shorten it. The 12th fret is 1/2 the distance from the nut to the bridge/saddle so if you cut any off you're screwed. I usually make the headstock part no less than 5/16" deep.
Post a pic if the bending head. Maybe there is something that can be done.
-WY