CrazyHeart Posted January 13, 2012 Posted January 13, 2012 A friend of mine just told me that Gibson sets the neck and then sprays them. I have a 2007 AJ that I love and no neck reset is needed at this time, but he says it will get messy when the time comes. Has anybody ever heard of this or had a neck reset? Thanks for your input.
eltonwce Posted January 13, 2012 Posted January 13, 2012 Gibson does set the neck before finishing. I had Gibson reset neck on my J45 deluxe. The removal of the neck for reset will cause some finish damage at the neck joint. They will touch up finish at the joint after reset.It is noticeable. It was not a big deal to me as my guitar is 40 years old and has considerable wear and finish cracking. They also planed fingerboard and did refret.If you take care of the guitar it should be many years before you would need reset and by then if you have played the guitar a lot the finish will have many nicks , scratches and wear that will give it that cool vintage look.
j45nick Posted January 13, 2012 Posted January 13, 2012 A friend of mine just told me that Gibson sets the neck and then sprays them. I have a 2007 AJ that I love and no neck reset is needed at this time, but he says it will get messy when the time comes. Has anybody ever heard of this or had a neck reset? Thanks for your input. It is not uncommon to do a very small amount of re-touch at the neck joint when a re-set is done. I've had neck re-sets done on two guitars in the last year, and the amount of touch-up required was negligible. You wouldn't even have known anything was done. Generally speaking, the person doing the job will score the neck/body joint carefully to minimize finish damage before removing the neck. Re-setting a neck is a science. Doing it so you can't tell the guitar has been touched is an art.
Jinder Posted January 13, 2012 Posted January 13, 2012 There's a lot of nonsense spoken about neck resets, and the persistent myth that all acoustic guitars will require a reset one day. It's true that Gibson glue in the neck of their acoustics before the lacquering process, but for a skilled luthier this isn't an issue when it comes to a neck reset. A luthier who is doing his job right will score the joints with an X-Acto knife or similar, prior to steaming the internal joint and removing the neck. Whether or not you'll want the area refinished afterwards is up to you-I'd personally not worry about it, if the reset is tight there will be very little problem with regard to gaps in the finish. Failing that, a very fine artist's brush can be used to apply a minute Nitro fillet to the join, and, if done with artistry, it'll be virtually invisible. But, the fact is that in nearly 20yrs of playing, I've never owned a guitar that needed a neck reset. My oldest guitar is 119yrs old, has never had a reset and doesn't look like needing one anytime soon. I've owned guitars from the '30s, '60s, '70s, '90s and '00s, and none of them have needed the dreaded reset. There are plenty of guitars out there that do, but to assume every guitar will need a reset at some point is needlessly pessimistic...in fact, in the UK it's hard to find a luthier anywhere who will take on a neck reset. A friend of mine has an '03 J45RW which is VERY close to needing a reset (it almost needed one when he bought it new), but it's extremely hard to find a luthier who is prepared to tackle a reset on any guitar, let alone a top-end guitar. I recently heard a horror story about a local chap with a vintage Stella who took it to a guitar shop a few towns across from me who told him they'd never done a neck reset before, but were confident they'd be able to handle it...their workshop monkey made some egregious errors with his geometric calculations and reset the neck with far worse playing action-nearly AN INCH at the 12th! The poor owner was heartbroken when he went to pick it up, rightfully refused to pay and left in a cloud of expletives. He then took it to a luthier pal of mine (who told me the tale) who turned down the repair job, it was so bad.
Jinder Posted January 13, 2012 Posted January 13, 2012 Nick, my "nonsense" comment wasn't aimed at you by the way-I posted before I read yours...100% wisdom as always in your post, my friend!
jedzep Posted January 13, 2012 Posted January 13, 2012 Wassup Crazy...You won't have to worry about this for 15 good years. If you string it with 11's ( I love DR Rare 11's ) you'll be dead and gone before it needs to be reset again.
Jerry K Posted January 13, 2012 Posted January 13, 2012 Have fun with your instrument; it's a good one. Don't worry about neck resets. If the angle is good now you are unlikely to need anything done for decades. And if by some weird chance it needs a neck reset in only a few years, so what? Get it done and play on. Go ahead and use mediums if you like them. The guitar is a tool for you to express yourself, not a museum piece you want to preserve on velvet (unless you are a collector). Use 'em, wear 'em out, it's not a bad thing.
j45nick Posted January 13, 2012 Posted January 13, 2012 Nick, my "nonsense" comment wasn't aimed at you by the way-I posted before I read yours...100% wisdom as always in your post, my friend! No offense taken. Timing is everything when you post....
Stubee Posted January 13, 2012 Posted January 13, 2012 I have a 2007 AJ that I love and no neck reset is needed at this time i have a 2003 AJRI that also doesn't need a neck reset. I bought it new and the neck tilt since then with 13s has been a hair that I took out with minimal saddle adjustment (and this might have been top lift, not neck tilt, no matter). Also got a '52 J-45 and '53 LG-2 that don't need neck sets. The set on the J-45 is down there but hasn't moved a hair since I bought it at least ten years ago. Heck, I've had vintage guitars that could have used a set when I bought them but played fine and still were the same when I sold them ten+ years later after tons of playing. I've had dozens of vintage & newer guitars and I say this only to provide reassurance & calm: some guitars will need a neck reset some day (many will after decades) but it is a long-term thing and should not shadow your enjoyment of a good guitar. Play it and don't worry. And the AJRI can take 13s all day/month/year/decade, that's what it was designed for.
steve_73 Posted January 14, 2012 Posted January 14, 2012 found this thread, wonder if one of you could tell me what a job like this should cost? I have an Epiphone electric-acoustic, which has suffered a great tragedy (the headstock is completely snapped off). I can get one used for around $200, a new one for $300, and I found one with some cracks on the back of the body, at the very bottom end (toward the strap knob) for $125. I know it's more cost-effective to just buy the used one for $200 and toss the headless one, but it seems a shame to let a beautiful guitar get thrown away for scrap. How much would it cost me to take the neck off of the damaged guitar and swap it out for the one with the broken headstock (basically turn two broken guitars into one solid one).
blindboygrunt Posted January 14, 2012 Posted January 14, 2012 found this thread, wonder if one of you could tell me what a job like this should cost? I have an Epiphone electric-acoustic, which has suffered a great tragedy (the headstock is completely snapped off). I can get one used for around $200, a new one for $300, and I found one with some cracks on the back of the body, at the very bottom end (toward the strap knob) for $125. I know it's more cost-effective to just buy the used one for $200 and toss the headless one, but it seems a shame to let a beautiful guitar get thrown away for scrap. How much would it cost me to take the neck off of the damaged guitar and swap it out for the one with the broken headstock (basically turn two broken guitars into one solid one). its about 15 years ago but i had a sigma guitar with a broken neck , just at the nut . it cost £80 at that time to join it back up . and the guitar is still fine today
slimt Posted January 14, 2012 Posted January 14, 2012 a 2007 AJ needs a neck set already? are you the original owner and are you in the U.S? that would be warrenty issue.. Ive only seen Guitars needing neck sets after 30 years of full tensioned strings and in a case.. or heavier strings than whats suppose to be , without a proper adjustment of the Trussrod to componsate the Tension.. if your not the original owner... Ive seen some neck off body Gibson Repairs that were very hard to detect ,, and the Finish was Intact .. Do you have a picture of the saddle and the neck of this AJ ?
j45nick Posted January 14, 2012 Posted January 14, 2012 Unless it has been thoroughly abused--for example, using heavy-gauge strings tuned to higher pitch--a Gibson guitar should not need a neck re-set for decades, if ever. To clarify, one of the two Gibsons that I had necks reset on this year was a 1968 ES 335-12. Twelve-strings are notorious for eventually requiring neck re-sets due to the additional string tension, which is typically at least 50% higher than the same guitar strung as a six-string. Yes, you can build a 12 that is stiff enough to never need a neck set, but for an acoustic, the cost may be an over-braced guitar that is tonally compromised. The other Gibson that required a neck set was my 1948 J-45, which we converted from a 1968 Gibson adjustable bridge back to an original-style fixed bridge/saddle. The geometry of the adjustable bridge is slightly different from that of the fixed bridge, and the result of a straight conversion without a neck re-set would have been a non-adjustable saddle that was too HIGH rather than too low. It's a long and complicated story, but Gibson set the neck angle on this guitar for the adjustable saddle during repairs in 1968, and we were just undoing that alteration. When buying a used guitar, you should by all means carefully evaluate the action, neck angle, neck relief, and saddle height. But just about the last thing I would expect to find on five- or 10-year-old Gibson would be the need for a neck re-set. If you have any doubts, get a competent luthier to evaluate the guitar. While it is not cheap to do a proper neck-reset, that issue alone would never stop me from buying a vintage guitar, provided the value of the guitar, and the resulting playability of the instrument, could justify the investment. If I were buying a vintage guitar in need of a neck set, I would certainly adjust my bid accordingly. But I wouldn't walk away from it.
Clayfingers Posted January 15, 2012 Posted January 15, 2012 Just curious, but from the bits and pieces I've picked up about guitar making most builders spray after neck setting - or is it that most of the things I come across just happen to be about Gibson?
j45nick Posted January 15, 2012 Posted January 15, 2012 found this thread, wonder if one of you could tell me what a job like this should cost? I have an Epiphone electric-acoustic, which has suffered a great tragedy (the headstock is completely snapped off). I can get one used for around $200, a new one for $300, and I found one with some cracks on the back of the body, at the very bottom end (toward the strap knob) for $125. I know it's more cost-effective to just buy the used one for $200 and toss the headless one, but it seems a shame to let a beautiful guitar get thrown away for scrap. How much would it cost me to take the neck off of the damaged guitar and swap it out for the one with the broken headstock (basically turn two broken guitars into one solid one). Depending on the guitar, a neck re-set on a guitar such as a Gibson with a dovetail neck joint should cost $400-$600 in the US, so it's only worth doing on a fairly valuable guitar. I asked Ross Teigen (the guy who did mine) if it was a hard job. He said the first couple were a little difficult, but the last couple of hundred have been a lot easier. He does a LOT of vintage Martins (pre adjustable truss rod). Clearly, you want someone who isn't doing this for the first time.
zombywoof Posted January 15, 2012 Posted January 15, 2012 There's a lot of nonsense spoken about neck resets, and the persistent myth that all acoustic guitars will require a reset one day. But, the fact is that in nearly 20yrs of playing, I've never owned a guitar that needed a neck reset. My oldest guitar is 119yrs old, has never had a reset and doesn't look like needing one anytime soon. I've owned guitars from the '30s, '60s, '70s, '90s and '00s, and none of them have needed the dreaded reset. I gotta say you must be the luckiest guy on the face of the earth. I have and still own guitars made in every decade from the 1920s to the 1970s. Some of the necks are great (they may, of course, have had a neck reset long before I snagged them). Others are not so great but not because they have gotten inky but because they were not angled perfectly to begin with (I leave these be as I have never been a fan of as low as I can get actions on an acoustic). Two just flat out needed a neck reset. As long as it is the natural tendency of the backs to flatten out under string tension causing the neck and end blocks to distort tilting the neck forward neck resets will remain a fact of life. Certainly a well braced and cared for guitar will help but I remain of the mind there are only two kinds of guitars out there - those that have had a neck reset and those that will need a neck reset. The lighter built the guitar - the more likely there is a neck reset in your future. I also have the feeling that guitars made with a good quality laminate back and sides may be less likely to need a neck reset due to their stiffness. I have two from the 1950s (a Gibson and Epiphone) and the necks have remained perfect while my more recent early 1960s Harmony Sovereign with the solid mahogany back and sides has not fared as well.
BluesKing777 Posted January 15, 2012 Posted January 15, 2012 I thought I would point out for the less experienced that a 'neck reset' is pretty drastic guitar surgery involving removing the neck and not an easy adjustment with an Allen Key or screwdriver like the 'reset' name makes it sound. (and expensive!) I am sure some of the repair experts on this forum could explain the process properly if we ask them nicely. BluesKing777.
roughdiamond Posted January 15, 2012 Posted January 15, 2012 I thought I would point out for the less experienced that a 'neck reset' is pretty drastic guitar surgery involving removing the neck and not an easy adjustment with an Allen Key or screwdriver like the 'reset' name makes it sound. (and expensive!) I am sure some of the repair experts on this forum could explain the process properly if we ask them nicely. BluesKing777. My gonads get squirmish just at the thought of surgery
rar Posted January 16, 2012 Posted January 16, 2012 I am sure some of the repair experts on this forum could explain the process properly if we ask them nicely. This is one of those "one picture, 1000 words" deals. Have a look here. -- Bob R
j45nick Posted January 16, 2012 Posted January 16, 2012 This is one of those "one picture, 1000 words" deals. Have a look here. -- Bob R Those are superb tutorials. Now you appreciate why a proper neck re-set and re-fret costs so much money!
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