Sp8ctre and RVA's Guitar Adventure

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^ Hi, Alyson...... hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha
 
I see the frets are pulled, but I'd figure I'd share what has saved a few necks for me. I loosen the truss rod. Place the neck fret side down, blocks under the first fret area and approximately where the neck meets the body. I do this near the edge of the work bench. I then use a single clamp, at the same area I'd check the relief at on the neck, to apply enough pressure to create a reverse bow. I use one of the heat bean bag things you stick in the nuke-a-wav that is long enough to cover the length of the neck and heat it up real good in the nuke-a-wav. I use a towel over the neck to protect the neck finish from the heat, put the hot bean bag thing the length of the neck, and then cover it with another couple towels to hold the heat in. Then, I just let it set until it gets cold. Generally I do this a couple times. One of my favorite player guitars came to me like the neck in this thread and this procedure allowed me to set the neck so that the string laid across the frets flat. Of course it let me loosen it up and set it where I like the relief too. That was quite a while ago and it's still hanging in there. Sometimes it works great, sometimes not great but better than it was, sometimes it's like that sucks it didn't do a thing. A couple guitars went from not being able to get the guitar to spec relief to being able to achieve it, although the they wouldn't go flat-flat. A couple said screw you and didn't budge. Be careful, heat will not only mess with the neck finish but glue gets hot too and things can (possible anyway) move (hasn't happened to me yet though). The ones I've done successfully still intonate, notes are correct, etc. Also, obviously, you don't want to put excessive back bow on the neck when doing this. I've never made things worse doing this, but, try this at your own peril. Not sure if this procedure is a no-no or not in luthier land, but, well, works for me at times - lol...

Looks like this is going to be a great thread to follow along with you. Thanks for sharing with us...
 
SirFlintstone said:
I see the frets are pulled, but I'd figure I'd share what has saved a few necks for me. I loosen the truss rod. Place the neck fret side down, blocks under the first fret area and approximately where the neck meets the body. I do this near the edge of the work bench. I then use a single clamp, at the same area I'd check the relief at on the neck, to apply enough pressure to create a reverse bow. I use one of the heat bean bag things you stick in the nuke-a-wav that is long enough to cover the length of the neck and heat it up real good in the nuke-a-wav. I use a towel over the neck to protect the neck finish from the heat, put the hot bean bag thing the length of the neck, and then cover it with another couple towels to hold the heat in. Then, I just let it set until it gets cold. Generally I do this a couple times. One of my favorite player guitars came to me like the neck in this thread and this procedure allowed me to set the neck so that the string laid across the frets flat. Of course it let me loosen it up and set it where I like the relief too. That was quite a while ago and it's still hanging in there. Sometimes it works great, sometimes not great but better than it was, sometimes it's like that sucks it didn't do a thing. A couple guitars went from not being able to get the guitar to spec relief to being able to achieve it, although the they wouldn't go flat-flat. A couple said screw you and didn't budge. Be careful, heat will not only mess with the neck finish but glue gets hot too and things can (possible anyway) move (hasn't happened to me yet though). The ones I've done successfully still intonate, notes are correct, etc. Also, obviously, you don't want to put excessive back bow on the neck when doing this. I've never made things worse doing this, but, try this at your own peril. Not sure if this procedure is a no-no or not in luthier land, but, well, works for me at times - lol...

Looks like this is going to be a great thread to follow along with you. Thanks for sharing with us...
Click to expand...
I think this, or the clamp/truss rod fix I tried before pulling the frets, are both worth a try if you have just a bit too much relief. This had a lot too much relief, .0185 after trying the clamp fix and leaving it clamped for 12 hours. After discussing this with Sp8ctre, we decided to gamble on a complete fix, if possible. Since this is a bolt on, worst case scenario, a new neck will make for a perfect playing guitar, even if it is not a rosewood neck.
 
Well i read read where i thought you said you clamped it straight but that didnt work so i thought maybe a hair of back bow and tighten it up but heck that might break the neck .So you think its that Rosewood itself thats causing the trouble ????
 
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JohnnyGoo said:
Well i read read where i thought you said you clamped it straight but that didnt work so i thought maybe a hair of back bow and tighten it up but heck that might break the neck .So you think its that Rosewood itself thats causing the trouble ????
Click to expand...
I think that maybe the truss rod was not set right when it was made, or the below opinion that I found online
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https://www.thegearpage.net/board/index.php?threads/truss-rod-tight-and-neck-still-has-bow.822383/
I find this a lot in vintage style rosewood necks ,particularly Mexican. There is nothing you can do about it if the rod is already straight (the problem I see all the time) It is caused by the filler wood pressed over the rod in the channel under the fingerboard not being pressed home .This allows the rod to go totally straight in the channel before it exerts enough pressure . These neck are easy to find when adjusting as the rod is always very tight even at subtle settings. These neck are (if this is your problem) irreparable but should be covered under warranty as there are a manufacturing defect and not fit for purpose.
 
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