ok when i started it looked like this
split at the top all the way thru, the split goes all the way thru on the back side but on the face of the head stock it only goes down to the low E.
after i got the stings off the first 3 tuners fell out. screws and all.
took out the bushings to have a better look...applied some hand pressure to get a good idea of what the finshed product will look like before starting.
backside of it minus bushings and tuners
so my main problem with this thing was that it was split allllllllllllllllllllllllllll the way down to the end on the back but not on the front...there was no way to get glue in there where it was needed, and if i didn't get it in there it was just going to be super wimpy. so i had to pull it off. i hated doing it but it had to be done. it made me sad. I imagine doctors get the same feeling re-breaking someones leg when it didn't heal right on its own.
doing this made it much easier to apply the glue and get it reset
jam the bushings in there before you lock it down or else who knows what fuck all will happen to the holes. its just a better idea to make it dry around the bushings than dry without them. provides more support in there under the clamps.
after you get it laying exactly the way you want it to dry, get out your tools for traction. Im using a 2 1/2" gripper for the top and a 3" heavy duty C clamp for the bottom. the gripper goes right on with out hassle. the C clamp you have to fashion a flat surface for the thing to put pressure on. thats why there is a yard stick jammed in there....if you just put a clamp on that joint, it will just roll right out as you tighten it due to the curve.
the yard stick is made of some very soft light wood...so as i tighten the clamp down it gets dammaged, not the guitar. I also stuck a round felt disk from my dremmul set under the top side of the clamp so it won't fuck the wood all up on the top side of the headstock...although at this point i don't think one more little mark is even going to be noticable.
it has sat here on my bench like this for a day now. I will let it sit until tonight before i clean the excess glue off and give it a go with filling in the screw holes and redrilling them. its going to be tricky because all the screw holes are right IN the break. vibration might fuck the whole thing up and I will have to start over. hope that doesn't hapen.
