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Tell us how you broke your neck


Broken Neck  

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Actually, in the Spring of 1980 I was standing still and moving my Vantage LP copy left to right about 18 inches and then let go of the neck and down it went. :blink::wacko::huh:

Dunlop Straplocks ever since. :P

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1979 Standard, one of the first black ones Hamer made.

Set it on a stand during rehersal, walked away, tripped on the cord.

The Standard did a faceplant on the cement floor and suffered a near complete decapitation.

Serious "Oh $hit" moment.

Edited to add "black". Obviously, Hamer had made quite a few Standards prior to 1979.

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1979 Standard, one of the first ones Hamer made.

Set it on a stand during rehersal, walked away, tripped on the cord.

The Standard did a faceplant on the cement floor and suffered a near complete decapitation.

Serious "Oh $hit" moment.

Almost word-for-word what happened to my Vector.

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It's 1986 and I'm living in the fraternity house. Future wife and I wrestling around. My SG was in its OHSC with the case sitting long-ways on its side feet (sitting on the hardwood floor in about the orientation it would be when played). Case falls gently over on to its slightly rounded face. I think nothing of it and set it back up on the side feet. Next day I get it out to play and it is oddly out of tune. I look at the volute area and it's cracked! It is uncanny how little force was involved. It was a REALLY long time before I bought / trusted another set neck guitar.

I fixed it with Titebond and some good old engineering - better than new, but, its new "broken" status was the catalyst that began a terrible series of "mods" that for all practical purposes ruined the guitar (yet, taught me a great deal about working on guitars).

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What? Practicing on the toilet when it happened?

Now THAT would be an "Oh, $hit" moment.....

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Idiot acquaintance (not a friend) put it on the stand wrong and then proceeded to knock it off to boot. Luckily this happened to a Gibson Sonex 180 30 years ago. I've never had any serious damage to a nicer guitar.

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My Hamer Studio which I bought new in the mid 90s…..I was playing a really crappy basement house show in about 2004 and the leather end of my strap ripped through the stitching. I had strap locks too, but clearly they didn't help in this situation. If I remember correctly I had my guitar just hanging off me as it was some droney feedback freakout part. The guitar dropped right off my body and cracked right behind the nut. Got it fixed and it sounds and plays great to this day. Quite the battle scar though.

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Very early 80s, my brother stepped on my Raven Les Paul copy. He and the wood shop teacher got together, removed the fretboard, and glued it on a neck they built. Thinking back now, I wonder why they didn't just go with a re-glue/splint option...would've been easier. But I appreciate the effort...even though the new neck was the size of a baseball bat.

1988, my Larrivee (about a freakin' week old) tumbled off the stand after the neck support part just kinda slipped sideways. Right back to the factory for a new neck. Never used that type of stand again....for years I just put the guitar back in the damn case when I wasn't using it.

1995, same Larrivee had the strap screw rip right out of the body, drop to the floor, and off came the headstock. Wood glue and masking tape (as a "clamp") later, it amazingly held up ever since.

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Somewhat intoxicated, last gig with band (1990ish) decide to swing my beloved Kramer Vanguard by its strap on the last song. It looked cool till the strap broke and off it flew into the crowd narrowly missing some dancing hotties.

Snapped the headstock clear off, and sounded explosive though the PA.

After the show people asked if it was part of the act, through my tears I lied and said yes...yes it was...

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Truth ?

A fit of rage . Jamming with my long-time Drummer , I'd worn the Frets on my '75 Stratocaster pretty badly , so I borrowed a Neck from a '76 that a Friend had and put it on mine . In the middle of jamming ..... I took it off my Shoulder and started to SHAKE it (I don't use a bar , and it sounded great at that moment .)I wasn't aware that the Neck screw holes were almost stripped . The whole fucking thing folded and I lost it .

Ripped the Neck off (pesky strings were still holding it together somewhat)and tossed the Neck , it landed perfectly at a 45 degree angle on the front of my Mesa combo . Without a thought , I ran over and have it a good stomp . My Drummer (Matt) looked like he was going to be sick . I picked up the shredded Neck , threw it across the room , and turned back looking at the Boogie .

I managed a single step towards the Amp before Matt was up-and-over his Kit (He was/is a big fella , so that was 'interesting' to see ...) and tackled me . I laughed it off , but he seemed quite worried that , caught up in the moment ... I was going to burn the Planet .

Nothing like surviving your early-20's , in spite of your own idiotic efforts !

D.~

P.S. - Matt and I are not Friends anymore (long story) , but he still has the Neck on his wall at home .

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Back in 1978 I was backstage at a battle of the bands at the local ballroom. I just tuned up my beloved Epi sheraton the guitar I worked so hard to get. Standing half way in a double door opening with my guitar hanging around my neck waiting for our turn on stage. All of a sudden 3 guy's from the band that was going to follow us start fighting I mean hay makers were flying! I think it was there drummer who tackled there guitar player pushing back towards me, one pinned the neck of the guitar at the 6th fret against the cement door frame while the other one ran into me pushing me back. I still remember that awful sound and looking down and seeing my neck snapped clean thru. It was just hanging there being held from hitting the floor by the E & G string.

None of my current guitars, basses or amps are rare or very expensive but they all are insured!

Carl B

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1976 or 77. Trying to nail a part after hours at the studio where I worked. It wasn't happening and I put my original Firebird V on the stand, but, evidently, not quite right. Over it went and snapped the headstock right at the body. Pretty amazing for a neck-through Firebird. The break was such that it was like a lock-key combination and it played fine after it was glued back together. That fall wrecked the value though.

P.S., I eventually got the part down, through a river of tears, with a Fender Bass VI :huh:

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1980 ish I had a 60's Strat that had a John Birch neck on it, at the end of a particularly good set I did the guitar hero thing, running the neck up and down a mic stand etc generally abusing the shit out of it and as it was the last encore I didn't even notice until I came to put it away later that I'd broken the headstock right along the line of the tuner holes.

It was a very clean break so a bit of wood glue and clamping set it right.

God, when I think now about the terrible things I did to that guitar it makes me shudder.

I can remember swapping the pickups for a set of Dimarzio SDS1 and looking at the windings and thinking they looked very poorly wound so I chucked them in the bin. :blink:

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Why does it say there are 5 votes but only 2 showing in the poll results?

C'mon, you're from Florida and you question votes? :D

Must be hanging chads. Don't worry, in six months we will have the results.

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Some stellar stories here.

Only one* I ever broke was at a routine rehearsal, was fucking about with a multi-effect unit and not getting the desired result, and took off my Ibanez RG560 and pitched it across the room headstock-first.

Initially, there didsn't seem to be any ill effect. About 2 bars into the next song after my childish episode, I could hear a bit of a tuning issue (it was a loud band).

Took it to the store where I bought it, told them to fix it, whatever, call me when it's ready. Couple weeks later got it back, along with a bill almost as much as the guitar cost originally. A few years later I looked at it and saw 'USA Custom' under the Ibanez logo. No idea where they scored that. Knowing them, it could have been off another customers guitar, or maybe they did really get one 'new'. Either way, it forced me into going out and finding another guitar at the time, which wasn't all bad.

* - There was this one time, with my high school band, and we were playing a really big party. I scored a Memphis LP copy for $40 for the sole purpose of smashing it to pieces during a song, cause man, I always wanted to do that. Heh. It went over pretty well. Now those things are supposedly somewhat collectible? Wtf?

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