Gibson Sonex-180 Custom repairs - Estimates?

bottlegreen

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Hi, everybody.
My friend found out I was getting into ukes and was looking for an amp. She had been given a Fender Squire 15 amp along with a Gibson Sonex-180 Custom. She said she'd never use it and gave them both to me. Nice!
So I got the goods home and opened up the case (it's the original case, too), and took a look. It seems repairs are in order, and I'm hoping someone can give me an estimate.

Shallow crack in side of headstock, reaching around to back.
Nut is a fright.
Rusty screws, corroded metal.
Marks that look like left-over duct tape (THAT we could live with!)
And a whopping crack on the L side. Starts just in the front, then wraps around.

I plugged it in to the amp and noise came out. That's good, right?

I don't live anywhere near a repair center, but I found a few in the Big City, several hours from here. One guy seems to charge $100/hour minimum. Nut is $60, cracks are $150 min + $20 per inch. There are a bunch of other things I don't get yet, but I'm wondering what you guys might think it would cost to overhaul this brute.

Thanks for any help you can offer.
 
I would google values first. If you're looking at several hundred or more for repairs to the guitar but the value isn't what you expect, it might be a loss. Dependant on the level of repairs you want, some of what you list is go to the guitar store and find the All Parts rack which carries screws, stop pieces, knobs, switches that are close to brand tolerance and style. The duct Tape marks can be removed with simple Naptha or Ronson Lighter fluid, except if the finish is nitrocellulous, which on a GIbby could be suspect as in it might be, it might not be.

The cracks are the money pit. THat's where real luthiery will have to come into play. Good luck.
 
I would contact Gibson directly and ask what a new neck would cost installed. I agree with the previous poster that this could be a money pit... but it also could be a chance to learn a bit of guitar repair and luthiery.
 
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