tom brown Posted April 19, 2009 Share Posted April 19, 2009 Today i looked at a les paul standard (used) at a local shop and the neck relief looked unusual.. What i know is (i guess? )the normal neck relief, with the first three to five fret area appearing forward when looked at from the side, then dropping back down. However this neck was level at the first fret, the second was popped out, and at the third fret the neck went back level with the first... can this be adjusted or is there another problem?.... thanks for any input..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thundergod Posted April 19, 2009 Share Posted April 19, 2009 You mean the second fret was too high? That's weird for a new guitar, of course I have read and heard of lots of people with that problem but I have never seen one like that, new, in person. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tom brown Posted April 19, 2009 Author Share Posted April 19, 2009 Actually was a used guitar, and the action was set high, or what i would consider very high........ And it was like a lump under the rosewood fretboard at the second fret... but yet the first fret and the third looked normal... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
80LPC Posted April 19, 2009 Share Posted April 19, 2009 It can be deceiving looking at neck relief due to the binding. Did it buzz or choke at the 2nd fret when you played it ? Of course, the 2nd fret might have literally popped out of it's slot. If it's the fretboard that has the bump, its not unusual for 'boards to have variations, but it is unusual for a quality guitar to have a bad one. Necks and fretboards change dimensions with changes in humidity and temperature, and on new guitars, there is a settling in process. This accounts for Plek'd guitars sometimes needing a fret level within the first few months. A bad bump might need the frets lifting, and the board to be leveled. The alternative is to dress/ level the frets in that area, but the fret height suffers accordingly. Someone who plays with a high action probably wouldn't notice the majority of these problems. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
80LPC Posted April 19, 2009 Share Posted April 19, 2009 Just seen your post above - typical set up to get around the problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tom brown Posted April 19, 2009 Author Share Posted April 19, 2009 no buzz or choke but the action was set high....if i dropped the action i think there would be buzz though... It seems its the fretboard that has a hump under it, but the bump is where the relief starts and then tapers off towards the third and fourth fret....... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thundergod Posted April 19, 2009 Share Posted April 19, 2009 Actually was a used guitar' date=' and the action was set high, or what i would consider very high........ And it was like a lump under the rosewood fretboard at the second fret... but yet the first fret and the third looked normal...[/quote'] Sorry I don't know why I read "used" but thought "new"... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Mick Posted April 19, 2009 Share Posted April 19, 2009 just walk away. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dawg086 Posted April 19, 2009 Share Posted April 19, 2009 Is it the fret board separating from the neck? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockstar232007 Posted April 19, 2009 Share Posted April 19, 2009 This is what is known as the "ski jump" effect, and as close to the nut as it is it was most likely caused by over-tightening the truss rod nut. I had the same problem a couple years back, because I let a D-bag "tech" from a guitar store in a mall, work on my LP. There a 3 possible solutions to this problem. 1.) A complete fret-level 2.) A leveling of the fretboard itself 3.) Loosen the TR nut, and re-string the guitar, tune it just enough so there is slight pressure on the headstock and let it sit in the case for a few hours, then tune to pitch If it's not that bad, these suggestions will work, but worse case scenario, it would need complete fretboard replacement. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigneil Posted April 20, 2009 Share Posted April 20, 2009 If you really like the guitar, you could go in the shop and haggle the price down because of the neck problem, then take it to a really good guitar tech. I would make the shop aware of the problem. And i wouldn't buy it unless it was remarkable in some way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tom brown Posted April 20, 2009 Author Share Posted April 20, 2009 there is no seperation of fretboard to neck.. if i buy it and can't resolve the problem, it doesn't seem worth it.. thanks for the information, its hard to get info on this stuff....tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
80LPC Posted April 20, 2009 Share Posted April 20, 2009 The term 'ski jump' is a loose description of a fretboard with excessive curvature. It's usually used to describe a neck with too much relief, or can refer to a 'turn up' at the end of the fretboard. Regarding this LP, you see these 'blips' in the fretboard occasionally. Despite Yamaha's quality control, I found a similar problem with an SG3000 which was (and probably still is) their flagship electric. The bump was at the 3rd fret on the treble side, and was preventing a low action. I leveled the frets and reprofiled them, and that guitar is still in regular use 18 years later without ever needing another setup. Maybe someone with experience could look over the guitar and help you make a decision. Might be worth considering at the right price... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tom brown Posted April 20, 2009 Author Share Posted April 20, 2009 Thanks ... Wasn' t the sg3000 the guitar santana used before going to PRS? There is a old film of him using a LP back in the day don't remeber where i saw that.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
80LPC Posted April 20, 2009 Share Posted April 20, 2009 You are thinking of the SG2000 that Santana helped to develop in the mid '70s. It's a great guitar with high build quality. They had a brass block under the bridge. The SG3000 came out in 1984 I think, and had special inlays of mother of pearl and abalone. They didn't fit the brass block to this model. It's still available new in the UK, but expensive at around £2200 retail in the UK. Don't see many videos of Santana with the LP, will have a look.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
esch Posted April 20, 2009 Share Posted April 20, 2009 just walk away. +1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chongo Posted April 22, 2009 Share Posted April 22, 2009 Thanks ... Wasn' t the sg3000 the guitar santana used before going to PRS? There is a old film of him using a LP back in the day don't remeber where i saw that.. Santana actually used an LS-175 Yamaha, upon which the SG 2000 (he had some input on that one) was later based. I've got photos (somewhere) of Santana using both LPs and SGs. In one case the LP actually belonged to a young Neal Schon, who joined the band at about 15 years old and who did some of the solos that some erroneously credit to Santana. The SG2000 (as mentioned) is a neck-through double-cutaway Lester-alike with a nice tummy cut, some great pickups, a 10 ounce brass "sustain block" under the bridge, ebony fretboard and real MOP inlays (and a flatter radius fretboard than on most LPs). The SG3000 doesn't have the sustain block, but does have abalone trim just inside the body binding, and it has spinex pickups (some think these are some of the best in the world). Both guitars are still produced (though it's tough to find a new one of either, and VERY tough to find a new SG3000 outside of Japan or the UK. These days both are actually model numbered SBG 2000 and SBG 3000. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chongo Posted April 22, 2009 Share Posted April 22, 2009 Today i looked at a les paul standard (used) at a local shop and the neck relief looked unusual.. What i know is (i guess? )the normal neck relief' date=' with the first three to five fret area appearing forward when looked at from the side, then dropping back down. However this neck was level at the first fret, the second was popped out, and at the third fret the neck went back level with the first... can this be adjusted or is there another problem?.... thanks for any input.....[/quote'] This can also be indicative of a problem in the joint where the headstock is glued onto the neck. I've also seen this happen where the neck was actually broken at some point. While the repair can be done very well and may be nearly impossible to detect, sometimes the fretboard is overlooked as part of the repair and some high frets or bumped-up rosewood results. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tom brown Posted April 23, 2009 Author Share Posted April 23, 2009 Thanks for the input everyone...........tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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