Watch how we restore a vintage guitar that was quite literally “trashed.”
If your 1963 Polaris White Gibson SG Junior had a broken headstock, you wouldn’t throw it in the garbage would you? Well the lucky new owner of this guitar found it sticking out of a Chicago trash can with all of its original parts! He brought it to us to repair, still amazed by his fortune.
After the head shaking and jaw dropping was finished, we got down to making this gorgeous vintage piece look and sound like nothing happened.
While you and I would never throw a guitar like this away, you can certainly understand why someone might have looked at this break and said, “Well, this old guitar is finished. Toss it.” But we’ve seen and repaired worse breaks and we knew we could make it sing again.
First, we glued the pieces together, making sure the fit was precise and that the two sides came together perfectly.
Then we filled the pits and gaps, matched the color on front and back and aged the new paint to blend in with the old. All of the original parts went back on the guitar with a fresh set of strings and… Voila!
If you’re thinking of throwing away your broken 1963 Gibson SG Jr., please contact Chicago Fret Works at (773) 698-6246. We’ll be glad to take it off your hands at no charge.
Good grief! You guys almost make me want to smash one of my old warhorses just to see what magic you could do with it … fantastic job.
thats my guitar – it was stolen! lying bastards
Good guitar
Crazy story and looks fantastic. I’ve got a Les Paul with a similar break. What’s the ballpark on a headstock repair like this?
Sorry, disregard that. I see your structural info now.
Hi,
I’ve got an original ’63 Gibson SG Standard (only owner) that has never been reworked in any way. As you probably know Gibson necks often need to be reset after years of play and mine has reached that point (action is at about 4mm at 12th fret with bridge as low as it will go).
How much to reset the neck? It should be a straight forward operation (heat glue to loosen, clean surfaces, re-glue in jig position). Can you give me a +/- 15% price range for this guitar rework? I’m hoping it’s under the $350 neck reset posted on your site (which certainly makes sense for an arch-top but seems a bit steep for my model).
Jon,
Thanks for getting in touch. I’ll contact you directly by email.
Hi,
Did you end up re-finishing the whole back of the neck or matched the color and spot filled it?
I have a ’61 lefty Special that needs similar work as it is also a Polaris White model with repaired headstock.
Thanks,
A Felder
In this case, we did not refinish the whole neck. There are times when that’s the only way to make an invisible touch-up (like a translucent finish or gloss black) but this one worked out with just a regular touch-up. Happy to discuss yours further if you like. You can email info@chicagofretworks.com