Life on the road can be rough for the touring musician, but even more so for their instruments! Friend of the store Andy McKee has been jet-setting around the world, playing his unique combination of top-tapping, fingerstyle and percussive acoustic guitar, and his gear has logged some serious miles with him. Unfortunately, the headstock on the bass side of his Greenfield HG Harp Guitar broke off while traveling back to Kansas. General/Repair Manager Mike Horan came up with a clean, elegant solution for repairing this truly unique instrument and let us tag along in this installment of the Repair Spotlight.
The process began with removing the tuners, and the bolt-on headstock from the Harp Guitar.
Close up of the broken ebony
It wouldn’t be a Repair Spotlight without a custom jig. Mike built this jig to route a clean surface to receive the Ebony patch.
Here is a closeup of the cleanly routed surface ready to be glued up.
Next, an Ebony patch was made from our in-house stock of wood. Mike found the perfect piece with a similar grain and color.
Then the patch was dry-fit before being glued. While the color doesn’t match here, once a finish is applied things will be much closer.
Next, the patch was glued and clamped up.
Then the piece of the headstock that is mounted to the neck was cleaned and prepared for glue as well. Here you see the remains of the Ebony from where the break occurred.
Clamping and glueing of the completed headstock.
Close up of the bass side of the harp neck, ready to receive the repaired headstock.
The completed patch, headstock and tuners installed and strung up. Mike did a fantastic job making the patch seamless. Once the finish starts to settle into the Ebony it will be almost invisible.
Finished headstock.
Whenever we get something cool in the Repair Shop the rest of the staff has to check it out! Here Josh and Mike are going over the exquisite appointments on the HG.
A very happy Andy and Mike after this completed repair. Make sure and check out Andy’s website for examples of his fantastic artistry.