Last week I found a guitar that has the same locking nut as the broken one on my first guitar. I paid $70 for it and transplanted the part so my other guitar is now whole.
I was playing both of them yesterday through an amp and was actually impressed with the donor guitar. The part I needed doesn't effect either guitars playability so its a win.
Today I bumped into my neighbor and he told me that he heard me and thought I was pretty good (I'm not) and he always wanted to play. This is where the perfect timing comes into play. I asked him if he is serious about wanting to play and he said yes.
I have a guitar that I really have no need for and he wants to learn so I gave him the donor guitar. I showed him a few chords, showed him a couple of websites for learning and found a tuner app on his phone (I'm jealous that they didn't have that when I started). I told him that playing doesn't come easy you have to practice period.
I really hope he stays with it. Plus I feel bad for the amount of pain that's coming to his fingertips.