Is the myth of the Les Paul headstock true?

[Barron1]

I keep hearing people say that Les Paul headstocks break easily. I've had a LP Studio for five years now and the headstock is still intact. Where did this myth come from? How true is this myth or is it just isolated incidents exaggerated by haters?

[formula73]

I don't know if the guy got banned or just run off by us villagers with our flaming pitchforks, but there was a dude who insisted that all Gibsons were pieces of crap with geometry problems that lended themselves to headstock breaks, especially Les Pauls. It's basically an inside joke to everybody here.

[Barron1]

I don't know if the guy got banned or just run off by us villagers with our flaming pitchforks, but there was a dude who insisted that all Gibsons were pieces of crap with geometry problems that lended themselves to headstock breaks, especially Les Pauls. It's basically an inside joke to everybody here.

It might be a joke on here but there are so called experts in the real world who claim it is true

[TheLivingDead]

I thought it was pretty well known that they have a weak spot there. But unless there's an impact around that area, they'll be perfectly fine.

[gibson175]

any guitar with an angled headstock has the same issue. So what?
Noone here has actually broken one have they?

[sosomething]

Depends.

Do you drop your guitar on the ground a lot or smash the headstock into things?

[TheProphet]

I don't see why it would be any worse than any of the other multitudes of guitars with the same headstock angle and scarf joint.

[BrianS.]

I've had a LP Studio for five years now and the headstock is still intact

Clearly you need to leave your guitar laying around more. Say, on the kitchen table or on the sofa...maybe leaned up against your amp or better yet a wall in the hallway. Then you'll know what all those folks are talking about!

[sosomething]

I don't see why it would be any worse than any of the other multitudes of guitars with the same headstock angle and scarf joint.

Gibson don't use a scarf joint on their headstocks.

[Edgecrusher]

Ive always chalked it up to mahogany necks. While it is a suitable neck wood it isnt as hard as maple is. I think it gets blown out of proportion though but I do see it happen.

[TheProphet]

Gibson don't use a scarf joint on their headstocks.

Interesting, always figured they were (except with the three piece necks from the Norlin era). I need to take a look at mine as I figured it was.

Now that I think of it, it makes total sense as most breaks I've seen would have run directly into the join plane.

[sosomething]

Interesting, always figured they were (except with the three piece necks from the Norlin era). I need to take a look at mine as I figured it was.

Nope. They never have. They introduced a volute carve during the Norlin era to increase stability but stopped doing it after Henry J. & co. bought the company to appease the vintage purists.

This pic is of a non-volute, typical gibson headstock... no scarf joint. Just a solid carved piece.

Ive always chalked it up to mahogany necks. While it is a suitable neck wood it isnt as hard as maple is. I think it gets blown out of proportion though but I do see it happen.

Mahogany isn't as rigid as maple, but it's due more to the way the neck is made than the material its made from.

The angle of the headstock creates what's known as grain "run out" behind the nut; meaning the grain of the wood runs more perpendicular to the surface of the headstock rather than parallel as it does up the length of the neck.

That's why the area behind the nut is considered a weak spot on Gibsons (and other guitars made the same way)... though in my experience, it's not really "weak" as much as it's just less-strong than other points. I've owned, gigged, and abused many Gibsons over the years and have yet to break one.

So... like anything controversial on the internet... it's a big broo-ha of misinformation and exaggeration wrapped around a small nugget of truth.

[TattooedCarrot]

All of Gibson's angled headstocks can be prone to breaking as that's a known weak spot. But you still gotta smack the sh!t out of it, they don't break spontaneously.

[Bludave]

It might be a joke on here but there are so called experts in the real world who claim it is true

Its not just Les Paul's its Gibson in general. Most headstock breaks occur due to inappropriate care. Like having the guitar knocked off a stand or leaning the guitar up against an amp and falling over. There is nothing really inferior with the design, it is how you care for it that causes the headstock to break. I've seen headstock breaks on 335's, Sg's, L5's 175's etc. I am not a Gibson hater.... in fact I love them... but I have had a Gibson since 1968 and I have never broken a headstock.

[pandroid]

It's not going to spontaneously break for no reason, only if there is some impact.

[formula73]

It's not going to spontaneously break for no reason, only if there is some impact.

Agreed, but to be honest, it's an impact you ought to be ashamed of, as an owner, you know? Like others have said, it's not really a problem unless you're swinging the thing around, dropping it constantly, or leaving it propped in stupid places! I love how people blame their inability to care for their own equipment on poor design.

"This car runs like **** and it's only got 60k miles. I can't wait to get a new one."
"When was the last oil change?"
"What?"

[CapoFirstFret]

also Gibson necks are cut with the angle in the wood as opposed to taking a straight piece of wood, cutting an angle in it, turning the headstock around and then regluing it. The glue would be farm more stable than the less than inch grain of wood in the carved version of the neck.

[Ashurbanipal]

I don't know if the guy got banned or just run off by us villagers with our flaming pitchforks, but there was a dude who insisted that all Gibsons were pieces of crap with geometry problems that lended themselves to headstock breaks, especially Les Pauls. It's basically an inside joke to everybody here.

Maybe you're probably thinking of Octave Doctor. He's quite adamant about the bridges on many Gibsons being in the wrong position, prohibiting accurate intonation. Being a tech, with many guitars having passed through his hands as a result, I imagine his opinion has some qualification, but that's another thread..

He did a LP headstock repair thread some years ago: http://www.seymourduncan.com/forum/s...ad.php?t=74865.

[GuitarGuy503]

I keep hearing people say that Les Paul headstocks break easily. I've had a LP Studio for five years now and the headstock is still intact. Where did this myth come from? How true is this myth or is it just isolated incidents exaggerated by haters?

I think it's a rather exaggerated subject. Having said that, I don't think it happens as much as people think.

[Left_Hand_Strat]

i don't think it was octave doctor, it was someone else, forgotton their user name but i wouldn't give it anyway....

it was one of the 'regulars' like JOLLY or Lucid for example, like a very frequent visitor to the site, he was quite a prolific guy, i remember the bust up thread, man that was intense