“Our headstocks have their quirks. That’s part of what makes it Gibson. However, there have been 60 years of constant attention to this”: Why do Gibson headstocks break? Gibson addresses the headstock debate and what it's been doing to remedy the issue

Headstock breakages – and those that affect Gibson models in particular – have been widely documented, and served as the subject of many rock ’n’ roll anecdotes. The legendary Greeny Les Paul has suffered such a fate at the hands of all three of its guitar-hero owners: Peter Green, Gary Moore and Kirk Hammett.

Jeff Beck’s Oxblood – the most expensive Gibson Les Paul ever sold at an auction – received a headstock repair during its storied history. The headstock of Clapton’s The Fool SG was snapped clean off before Todd Rundgren fixed it up.

But the decades-old issue is receiving renewed attention this month after an Instagram video was posted by guitar tech Luis Munoz, who has worked with Olivia Rodrigo, the Smashing Pumpkins, and Simple Plan.

“Unfortunately, Gibson will never change this,” Munoz wrote on his post, as he showcased how he typically fixes damaged Gibson headstocks.

“Gibson breaks headstocks so often because of their steep headstock angle, soft mahogany wood, and the thin, weakened area behind the nut (thanks to the truss rod cavity). When they fall, all the force hits that weak spot – so they snap.”

Munoz’s video caught the attention of many a Gibson enthusiast, including the company’s Vice President of Product, Mat Koehler.

The debate got considerably more heated when Koehler gave his two cents – branding Munoz’s video “disinformation” and, in the follow-up comments, suggesting that “less than 1% of Gibson guitars made have ever had a headstock issue” – which is why Guitar World reached out to set the record straight on whether Gibson has done anything to fix what many perceive as an intrinsic structural fault.

“I admit: our headstocks have their quirks – that's part of what makes it Gibson,” Koehler tells Guitar World. “However, there have been 60 years of constant attention to this issue.”

Although he acknowledges it is difficult to present the whole scope of Gibsons that have ever been made, Koehler asserts that headstock breakages are not as common as the general narrative might suggest.

According to private insurance company data from the past five years that Gibson has access to, “the average instances of headstock breaks of insured guitars, privately insured guitars, are 0.2%.

“If you’re extrapolating to broadly all the Gibsons that have been made, I definitely do not think it is a reach at all to think that less than 1% of all Gibsons have had a headstock break,” he continues, also citing Gibson’s own shipping data for guitars damaged in transit.

“And that’s mainly because less than 1% of all Gibsons are probably gigged hard and on stage with a guitarist who’s jumping all over the place or knocking over things. I don’t think that’s a bold claim at all.”

Koehler insists that, even if the “percentage is much greater than that, it's just that the facts can be skewed whichever way you want. And that's not what I was debating. What I was debating is the idea that we don't do anything to address it.”

So what are some of the innovations that address this issue?

“You could go back to 1965 – headstocks go from the 17-degree angle to the 14-degree angle. Many headstocks in the late ’60s changed to multi-piece necks to help reinforce, and of course, in the ’70s, you have the volutes and multi-piece necks.

“All of those solutions, and even the more modern ones, can still result in headstock breaks if you drop your guitar on stage. Guitar playing is one of those things where it's not fun unless you're jumping up and down on stage and dancing all over. If you're in the audience, that's what you want a guitarist to be doing.

“But I think when we've introduced solutions... you could look most recently to 2017, we introduced the Apex headstock, which is a really brilliant idea from our longtime master luthier, Matt Klein, and we rolled that out in a number of models, not only was it panned, but people were like, ‘Oh, you're admitting your headstocks aren't perfect.’ And I think we've never tried to say that. We've just said that the classic headstock style is the original part of the recipe.”

Then why does Gibson continue to build the headstocks the traditional way?

“We want to give buyers a choice. I started in 2016, and it was definitely a very low point in Gibson's history of trying to solve problems that weren't there, and going too far with it, and then doing it across the board.

“So it was a very easy decision once there was regime change and ownership change to offer an Original Collection and a Modern Collection. With the Modern Collection, we have permission to play, permission to innovate new structural things, ergonomic things, [and] new aesthetic things that you wouldn't find in the Original Collection.

“It was really, really important for us to have both the Original Collection and the Modern Collection. That said, people still overwhelmingly prefer the Original Collection and historic reissue designs. The expectation is that we build them like they were built originally.

So which Gibson and Epiphone guitars have reinforced headstocks?

“On the Gibson side, the Custom Les Paul Axcess has the Apex headstock. It's also a custom order opportunity for any of our Custom Shop guitars. We had initially debuted it on what we call the Les Paul Modern Double Cut in 2017, and then it kind of spread its way around that Modern Collection – and then elsewhere in our Modern Collection.

“If you look at the SG Standard – things that are not crazy modern and different from our Original Collection – there are little subtle tweaks that we do on those instruments to pull them more modern leading.

“That's the angle of the headstock, that's the way the heel meets the body on, say, an SG. It's also the increased access 24 frets. It could be a cutaway or deeper cutaway scarf neck joint.

“And then, on Epiphone, we've got different ways of fusing the headstock to the neck. But then the same thing – buyers are like, ‘If this Epiphone only had a single-piece headstock with a 17-degree neck angle.’ So even then, we've continued to try to get them closer in line with Gibson, because that's where the demand lies.”

We were also curious about the warranty policy. Does it address accidental headstock breakage, or is it considered user damage?

“I think there's an understanding when you buy a Gibson guitar that it is a potential fail point if a guitar is dropped. So, we offer strap buttons or strap locks. There are lots of different ways that you can mitigate it. Personally, I'm sorry, but I don't think there's any reason why a warranty should cover user damage for anything.

“We have Gibson Repair and Restoration. Again, I trust the luthier community. They know this is a huge part of their education – fixing headstock breaks, not just for Gibson guitars, but for a variety of different guitars. We have our own channels for repair, but I think a reputable luthier is going to be just as qualified as Gibson to repair headstocks.”

Are replacement necks or structural reinforcement available for owners of older Gibson models who want to reinforce their headstocks?

“I would advise people not to do that. You're going to ruin the value of your guitar, first of all. And secondly, I think it's one of those things that, all right, if it happens, God forbid, there are fixes.

“It's unfortunate, but I don't think there's any reason for people to be alarmed and proactively try to reinforce their headstocks. One thing you could do if you have, [for example] an old, early ’60s SG is ensure that it's properly cased. I think that is definitely something that you could proactively do. Honestly, for any Gibson, make sure it's properly cased. Make sure the case is protective.

“Because even if a guitar falls off a stand, it may not break if it falls over onto the headstock, but if it's been in a shoddy case and kind of been worn down over the years, it's way more likely to be structurally unsound.”

Given how deeply you’re connected to the Gibson brand, how do you balance listening to the luthier community and consumers’ critiques with staying true to the company’s vision?

“These debates are what make the guitar community so special. My uncle’s a luthier; I grew up around luthiers. My best friends are guitar luthiers. The luthier community is super important to me, to guitars, and to Gibson, because they're the ones keeping guitars alive.

“There's just a tremendous amount of passion for anything regarding repairs and different techniques, even within the luthier community, and a lot of opinions on what Gibson should be doing differently. My root feeling towards all of that is – I'm so happy that people are so passionate about this, right or wrong. I'm just enjoying being a part of that community.”