Official Luthiers Forum!

Can anyone tell me what they would charge for repairing a cracked Les Paul peghead at the nut plus a refinish on the neck to hide the repair?

That needs some serious work. $150 at least

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John Hall
blues creek guitars
Authorized CF Martin Repair
Co President of ASIA
You Don't know what you don't know until you know it

I admit , I have a mill that does that this job much less but I agree , it is a doable repair and $300 is better then 150 - 200. The touch up can be the hard part.

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John Hall
blues creek guitars
Authorized CF Martin Repair
Co President of ASIA
You Don't know what you don't know until you know it

On a Les Paul, a typical headstock break would devalue the guitar by approx. 50%. Assuming that is a later model LP custom, I would guess the buyer/owner would have been able to purchase that guitar at a $1,000 discount or more. With the amount of work required for an entire neck refinish, I'd say $500-$600 would be a fair price to pay for that kind of repair. BTW, a professional headstock repair would typically devalue a LP by approx. 30% after it's fixed.

cheers!

Edit--I just noticed it was a partial refinish, not an entire neck refinish. I'd still say $300-$500 is fair for a great repair.

That is a nasty looking break. I've never seen one like that before where the crack is at a right angle to the neck shaft, and I have done lots of those repairs especially on LP's. That will need to be splined as others had suggested. That and finishing touch ups should be $300 as a base price and then track your hours so you can charge your hourly price. That's the way I handle repair pricing anyway.

$300.00 is where it would fall if it were coming into my shop for repair. The actual
repair is very simple and would be much stronger than the original neck at that point.
I always glue the joint and then work a Mahogany strap over it and bring the neck back
to its original profile or add a carved volute that allows extra material and the strength
it provides to be present.

The time and money come into play when it comes to the finish touch up and matching
the color to blend it into the existing finish. Seal, fill, color and clear coats would be necessary
to make it look like the gibson finish so there is time involved.

Regards,
Kevin Gallagher/Omega Guitars

I agree with Kevin. near $300 you have to price for labor, material and a profit margin. Also on thing that most new to repair never take into consideration in regards to profit is liability. Each and every repair you do you are putting yourself at risk of some form of liability. so your profit margin should include some to accumalate asafty net in the long run to account for the unforseen.

I have the luthier I've become friends with price list on the wall and that style of invisib;e repair starts at £130 so that probably $250 splines and such add to the cost

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Formerly JJH

I learn more from my mistakes than my successes

Thank you everyone for your generous replies. It took me a bit to get back as I have caught that bug going around. Put me flat on my back and I still ain't 100%