Ginsu knife, hair dryer and a hacksaw

crazydoc

crazydoc

Master Baiter
This has nothing to do with recording, but thought I'd show a neck reset I did this last week on an old Mexican classical guitar with high action I had lying around, using the method outlined here: http://www.frets.com/FRETSPages/Luthier/Technique/Guitar/NeckReset/BCRIchReset/bcrichreset1.html

I heated the fingerboard with a hair dryer, slid the ginsu knife between it and the guitar top to loosen it, and cut throught the heel with hacksaw to remove the neck. Reset the neck angle on the heel with a disk sander, drilled bolt holes through the heel block into the guitar, drilled holes for the inserts in the neck, and bolted through from the inside.

My hand hurts.
 

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I used some plastic wood and maple stain (not quite the right color) to seal the heel/body joint.

There is now a wedge shaped gap between the fingerboard and the guitar top. I don't know if I should make a shim for this, or just leave it. There may be some tonal difference one way or the other (though with this POS it wouldn't be noticeable.)
 

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Here's the finished job. It needs some nut work, and I'll take out the Q-tip I'd put under the saddle to raise it a bit, and see if that helps the playability a little more.
 

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I read the title of the thread wrong, I thought it said hackysack, needless to say I was disappointed.


Nice work. You'll never catch me cutting through the neck heel with a hacksaw though. :rolleyes:
 
Next time, do a read up and go to www.stewmac.com they have a tool you insert thru one of the fret markers and you steam the dovetail, loosen the glue and pull it out without hacking anything to death.
 
Clive Hugh said:
Next time, do a read up and go to www.stewmac.com they have a tool you insert thru one of the fret markers and you steam the dovetail, loosen the glue and pull it out without hacking anything to death.
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Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't believe you can disassemble this type of joint without taking the top of the guitar off. That would be much more trouble than I want to go to on a guitar of this caliber, and as it stands I have a playable beater guitar with minimal investment in time and money. (The guitar was free - I even hated to put a new set of strings on, but I'd thrown away all my old strings when I moved last year.)
 
crazydoc said:
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't believe you can disassemble this type of joint without taking the top of the guitar off. That would be much more trouble than I want to go to on a guitar of this caliber, and as it stands I have a playable beater guitar with minimal investment in time and money. (The guitar was free - I even hated to put a new set of strings on, but I'd thrown away all my old strings when I moved last year.)
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You are right, it's a repair I have never done but have seen a neck removed by someone else and was going by my memories of it, memory banks are slipping.
 
An update (back from the dead.)

Over the years the neck gradually developed more of a forward bow, making it difficult to play above the third fret. I'd long heard of heating the fretboard, thus softening the glue binding it to the neck. If the glue reset (cooled) with the neck straightened, the fretboard could keep it straight.

So I thought I'd give it a try - nothing to lose.

I removed the nut, placed a couple of pieces of wood, one over the headstock and the other on the fret board over the heel area. I clamped a bar over these, with the clamp bearing on a caul (a piece of wood wrapped in an old sock) at about the 4th fret, where the bow was most marked. I tightened it down so there was a few millimeters of back bow.
 

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Then I used a paint stripper to heat the fretboard. I ran it up and down the board, several inches away, for about half an hour on maximum setting. The fretboard and neck were warm to the touch, but the frets were hot as hell. The fretboard got a little brown in places, but no burns.
 

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Voila! The action is about 4.5mm at the 12th fret - a little higher than I'd like it. The neck may also develop a little relief over time, so eventually I may unbolt the neck and shim it a little, as it should point a little more toward the top of the bridge anyway. That way I could raise the saddle to an appropriate height also.
 

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It's hard to work on a guitar with no truss rod, and cut from one single piece of wood.

GAWD I love my multiple laminated necks. So trustworthy and don't walk on me with age.
 
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