Salvage a Twisted Neck

[Lefty Bill]

I bought a used neck recently which has a noticeable twist in it, and I was pondering the possibility (not necessarily the cost effectiveness) of being able to remove fretboard material to attain a properly-straight/level surface.

 

I've seen explanations of how a proper straight crown is added to a raw fretboard using a fixture and a router, but before fixtures and routers were widely available I assume it was performed with a small hand plane, a sanding block and maybe a radius gage.. and experienced hands.

 

I haven't yet figured out how to measure just how bad the twist is.. although sighting down the neck from the heel end (and ignoring the nut) there is a visible drop/change at one side of the heel.

 

Removing material from a fretboard may then require the fret slots to be re-cut to full depth in the area that was removed, and the overall shape of the neck would change slightly, but that may not be a problem in all instances (maybe this one is just beyond repair).

 

I've been chasing Epiphone necks recently (to have a spare, or two, just in case) and have been a bit surprised at the $70-90+ auction prices for used bolt-on necks from low-priced models, some with repair issues.. might as well just buy a complete new or used guitar and have extra spare parts.

 

Thanks,

Bill

[Whitmore Willy]

I've been chasing Epiphone necks recently (to have a spare, or two, just in case) and have been a bit surprised at the $70-90+ auction prices for used bolt-on necks from low-priced models, some with repair issues.. might as well just buy a complete new or used guitar and have extra spare parts.

Have come to the same conclusion.

I have a guitar I want to re-fret. But I want a cheap neck to practice on.

I can buy a used inexpensive style Jr. guitar off Craigslist for less than what Epi bolt on necks cost on the bay.

 

Willy

[Gordy01]

Have come to the same conclusion.

I have a guitar I want to re-fret. But I want a cheap neck to practice on.

I can buy a used inexpensive style Jr. guitar off Craigslist for less than what Epi bolt on necks cost on the bay.

 

Willy

 

 

Willy, I would go to my local luthier and ask if he has any old necks lying around. I did and was able to get an old acoustic neck to practice on.

[Whitmore Willy]

Gordy,

 

Thank you for an excellent suggestion.

I will pursue that.

 

Willy

[Lefty Bill]

There are some China mainland sellers offering new necks (and lets face it folks, many necks are fabricated in China), but the descriptions aren't very detailed.

 

I've been checking my area's Craigslist offerings for a number of months, and have seen/gotten some deals on other gear, but haven't been seeing a selection of Epiphones.

 

I've done some additional reading and have seen instances where some owners have claimed that just releasing the truss rod nut and letting a neck acclimate or rest without tension can cause a neck to straighten.. but no real indication as to how much it had been twisted.

Another story cautioned about going to extremes such as steaming, torque clamping against the twist, which may straighten a neck initially, but that it may revert to it's twisted/natural state later.

 

So, I've concluded that the answer is, it depends.

 

I completely agree with your approach, Willy.. better to practice on something that's not absolutely needed. One of my "wonder if I can do that?" procedures is adding binding to a plain neck. AFAICT, the tricky part would be setting up a guide if using a router (and I suspect that using a more compact trim router would be a good choice).

 

Thanks,

Bill

 

 

Have come to the same conclusion.

I have a guitar I want to re-fret. But I want a cheap neck to practice on.

I can buy a used inexpensive style Jr. guitar off Craigslist for less than what Epi bolt on necks cost on the bay.

Willy

[Gordy01]

It depends on how much the neck in the OP is twisted. You could simply sand a proper radius back into the fingerboard using a radius sanding block. You would then have to, as you said, re-saw the fret slots. Not too difficult if you have the correct tools, but very hard to get a fingerboard surface that angularly corresponds to the neck pocket joint. In other words, everything has to measured back from the butt end of the neck. That flat surface is the basis of all other angles.

 

Things to Think About:

 

1. It would cost you more in proper tools than a new neck would. Unless you're going to do something like this more than once, or work on guitars professionaly, it's too expensive.

 

2. The neck might keep on twisting once tensioned.

 

3. Once re-leveled, would the fingerboard still be high enough to have a good base for the nut?

 

4. If you sand very much at all, you will most likely sand through any fret markers or inlays. They are quite thin.

 

5. You would need new frets, a method of extracting the old ones, and either hammering the new ones in, or pressing them.

 

6. If you bound the neck afterwards it would only accent the twist, as the uneven edges would show up more.

[Lefty Bill]

Thanks, Gordy.. good points, all.

 

Yep, maybe the biggest factor is if the guitar is a valuable vintage model with a set neck.

 

Bolt-on necks are often shimmed at the factory anyway.. they're just a faster production method. If manufacturers didn't believe this was advantageous, they'd very likely all use a little glue instead of a hardware kit, as the glue is much cheaper, but the assembly/completion time is much longer.

 

Some owners say that a very minor twist doesn't matter much, other than maybe the action is just slightly larger/higher on one side, which is even less problematic if that side happens to be the wound/low string side.

 

At least one owner claimed he had eliminated a small twist by applying only light string tension on one side, and over-tightening the other three, and just letting the guitar sit like that for an extended time.

 

Tools aren't a scarcity for me, although I suspect a flat surface would be handy for gauging the overall shape. A thick metal plate would likely suffice if it's fairly flat. Like I mentioned previously, guitars were hand fabricated long before present-day tools were available.

Knowing whether a twist could be corrected would be worthwhile to know, IMO.. and I don't have a fireplace.

 

My desire to try to install binding to a neck, wouldn't be for a twisted neck.. just to add a special touch (if I would happen to build something special). What got me interested in trying it is that a friend mentioned he'd like to find a guitar with a slightly wider neck because he has trouble with his fingers, partly due to age.

Other than going to a classical guitar, neck/nut widths are fairly limited to 2 sizes for electric guitars, AFAICT.

 

Regards,

Bill

 

 

It depends on how much the neck in the OP is twisted. You could simply sand a proper radius back into the fingerboard using a radius sanding block. You would then have to, as you said, re-saw the fret slots. Not too difficult if you have the correct tools, but very hard to get a fingerboard surface that angularly corresponds to the neck pocket joint. In other words, everything has to measured back from the butt end of the neck. That flat surface is the basis of all other angles.

Things to Think About:

1. It would cost you more in proper tools than a new neck would. Unless you're going to do something like this more than once, or work on guitars professionaly, it's too expensive.

2. The neck might keep on twisting once tensioned.

3. Once re-leveled, would the fingerboard still be high enough to have a good base for the nut?

4. If you sand very much at all, you will most likely sand through any fret markers or inlays. They are quite thin.

5. You would need new frets, a method of extracting the old ones, and either hammering the new ones in, or pressing them.

6. If you bound the neck afterwards it would only accent the twist, as the uneven edges would show up more.