Is This Amp Shop Haunted?

[Hardrock69]

Naaaah......

Here is the description from the YouTube page:

The following video is of an occurrence that happened at British Audio Service in Nashville, TN on Saturday, October, 20th 2012. Something like this may never have been witnessed before, nor seen again.....let alone captured on video!!!

Our customer and friend, Daniel Marshall, had left his Gibson Les Paul for a set-up. Once complete, we let him know the guitar was finished. He asked if he could come over and try out our British Audio Amplification JTM45 tribute. We put the guitar in a stand next to the amp so that he could give both a good "test drive". Then something surreal happened. We have condensed five minutes of footage into just a few seconds. While watching the time delay portion of the video, you can see the headstock of the guitar starting to twist - via the reflection change. When it snaps, the released string tension "throws" the guitar out of its stand. We have talked to several other industry professionals and none have ever seen this happen. After our own "autopsy", and the expert opinion of others, we DO know what caused the failure....but that is another story....Enjoy the video....

They showed me the video before they posted it online.....here is what happened....the owner of the Les Paul had piano wire strings.....an .060 low E string......the truss rod cutout was routed out too deeply at the factory.....and of course, no telling how many times the headstock had been bumped or abused in it's lifetime....causing weakness.....

So watch the time-lapse portion of the video and closely watch the headstock of the Les Paul....

Amazing..........

And....those JTM45 Tribute amps are the shit.....they sound amazing....all NOS point to point circuitry.....the best JTM45 clone I have ever heard.....

[jhale667]

Wow~ that is some crazy shit, and yet another reason to ponder dropping $3-6K on a Les Paul...

[Nitro Express]

The fact is that classic Gibson headstock we all know and love is not a good design. There is a lot of tension right where the truss rod pocket is routed. Even when done right there is not a lot of wood there. It's the main reason why Gibson headstocks snap off real easy. In this case, even string tension can cause it to fail. A guitar has about 300 lbs of tension on it if it's tuned to A440. A piano has over 1 ton of tension and this is why there has to be a cast iron harp in a piano. Without it the wood would bend and not hold pitch.

I even learned about tension trying to tighten some cables with turn buckles. It bent a steel pole over just trying to get the cables tight. The pole failed. I have no idea how much tension there was. I was just turning the buckles with a little wrench and then the pole gave way.

I think this is why Eddie Van Halen settled on a Strat type guitar. He had a guitar around or on him most the time. If he had a Gibson, he would be constantly breaking the headstock off. So he wanted that fat sound with the durability of a Strat and made it happen. Plus he wanted the wiggle stick too.

[Hardrock69]

Well, needless to say, if he broke a headstock he could just throw another neck in there....but yes, the Gibson angled headstock leaves them open to failure.....my first real guitar was a 1975 Gibson Flying V. One day in early 1980, it was leaning back against the foot of my bed. I was on the bed, and moved my foot......it was stupid of me to have it where it was....the guitar stood up for just a second due to my foot movement...then fell face down on the floor. Headstock broke right off.

I glued it back myself....crummy job....then later that year (August of 1980) I had my parents ship it to me where I was living in L.A. by UPS. It arrived with the headstock broken.....I blamed UPS, and they paid to have a luthier fix it right, lol.

[ashstralia]

Nitro, it's nowhere near your quoted poundage, go read a string packet, lol!!

Yeah, I've owned and played lp's; they just ain't my thing.

[Hardrock69]

I have an Epi Les Paul Studio, and I wish I had a Gibson of some variety, but not for performance...just for recording purposes....

[jhale667]

Some of the more proactive replica-builders put graphite reinforcement rods in the headstock/neck joints... looks like a Gibby, but won't snap off if you look at it sideways...

[Nitro Express]

Nitro, it's nowhere near your quoted poundage, go read a string packet, lol!!

Yeah, I've owned and played lp's; they just ain't my thing.

You are right. I just checked the D'Addario chart on their website. It's around 100 pounds for a light set of electric guitar strings. I got my figure from our piano tuner. He was over tuning our piano and replacing some pads and I asked what the string tension on the piano was and then my daughters guitar was in a stand by the piano and he said the guitar string tension is 300 lbs. I guess you don't get accurate guitar stats from a piano guy. LOL!

[Nitro Express]

Well, needless to say, if he broke a headstock he could just throw another neck in there....but yes, the Gibson angled headstock leaves them open to failure.....my first real guitar was a 1975 Gibson Flying V. One day in early 1980, it was leaning back against the foot of my bed. I was on the bed, and moved my foot......it was stupid of me to have it where it was....the guitar stood up for just a second due to my foot movement...then fell face down on the floor. Headstock broke right off.

I glued it back myself....crummy job....then later that year (August of 1980) I had my parents ship it to me where I was living in L.A. by UPS. It arrived with the headstock broken.....I blamed UPS, and they paid to have a luthier fix it right, lol.

I have a couple books on guitar building and guitar repair. They go into detail on how to fix broken Gibson headstocks. Another problem is the wood is mahogany and not maple. Maple is stronger. I bet most Les Pauls sold are not even really played. It's like Steinway pianos. Most are sold for furniture and room decoration. Rich people want a Steinway in their living room and it's rarely played. People are buying the name and the classic look for the most part. People with money who want to own an icon.

[Nitro Express]

Some of the more proactive replica-builders put graphite reinforcement rods in the headstock/neck joints... looks like a Gibby, but won't snap off if you look at it sideways...

I have an SG. I love the guitar and it sounds great but it feels like you could just snap that neck off real easy. I do the Townsend and shake it to get that vibrato effect. I goes right into the case after I'm done with it. My Strat is never in a case.

[ELVIS]

Not all Les Paul necks are mahogony...

I had a 1980 lefty black Les Paul Custom that had a maple neck...

[Coyote]

Wow~ that is some crazy shit, and yet another reason to ponder dropping $3-6K on a Les Paul...

Which is why some would opt for the cheaper (and better, IMO) Tokai/Edwards/*insert Asian brand* knock-offs.

[ELVIS]

Agile...

[jhale667]

Not all Les Paul necks are mahogony...

I had a 1980 lefty black Les Paul Custom that had a maple neck...

True, but that headstock design is just prone to breakage no matter what it's made of...