There are a couple of reasons that Gibsons are prone to this fate. One is that Gibson makes most of their necks from Mahogany, which for a hardwood is actually quite soft. Additionally, their necks are crafted from a single piece of material and include a fairly steep angle where the headstock meets the neck. This places a weak area of grain runout right at the transition of the neck to the headstock, which is where they tend to break. A stronger way to build the neck is to use a scarf joint in this location (a scarf joint is two angled pieces of wood glued together, with the wood grain crossing to create ply). When the neck and headstock are made from separate pieces of wood, the string force is never trying to pull the grain open. It is always pulling in line with the grain. This may seem like a small matter, but when you’ve got 150lbs. of tension continuously pulling on a delicate and vulnerable area of the guitar, every little bit of extra strength helps.
