Gary Palmer

29 all solid and several partially laminated then there's the electrics

Ah im in the UK. How do i remove the nut/saddle. Just pull it out forcefully or something? Use a special glue to put the new one in? Having a read through www.frets.com should help

Cheers. I've never strung an acoustic before. I forgot the most important thing. Welcome to the forum.

You're more than welcome and it gets easier with every string change.

Ello! Got my first acoustic guitar the other day. It's a Greg Bennet/Samick or whatever D5, I traded a crappy Zoom G1X effects pedal for it. The strings kinda smell and im guessing the fingerboard is'nt very clean either. I want to take all the strings off at once and give the fretboard a good ol clean! Im scared the neck might warp or something while i do it. . Will the neck warp? . Do you guys have any acoustic-guitar-string changing tips? . Which way should i turn the allen key if the neck bows inwards or whatever n stuff? Don't worry about the truss rod unless you find a need to make neck relief adjustments. No and everything should be fine if you change the strings. Regardless of one at a time or all at once, the neck should stay as it is. This should help; http://frets.com/FRETSPages/Musician/Guitar/Setup/SteelStrings/Stringing/ststringing1.html

Man, I've had it wrong all this time. I shoulda gotten a guitar with a laminate top because it woulda blown away my crummy solid topped 914CE Yep, perhaps you should have, but all that's been said is that not all solid tops are equal, whilst precisely the same can also be said of laminates. --------- Double-tops and double-backs typically involve the use of two outer timber veneers applied to an inner ground of nomex. Not plywood, unless you replace the inner layer of nomex with a timber veneer and certainly not a cheap process in terms of labour or quality when done correctly.

I reduced the images, noticed that this may be a little hard to see but.... Here she is. (Click for a bigger image) Here if you can look you can see where a big piece is now missing, leaving some exposed wood. (Click for a bigger image) And here's a closeup, the dang flash makes it difficult to see but, you can see the bubbles forming and where the giant piece is flaking. (Click for a bigger image) Taking a picture with the flash directed across (Instead of at) the target image should help reduce glare. If what I'm seeing is a gloss finish, my initial impression is that it may be a result of a poorly prepaired neck overspray, as this version of the OM-28 is spec'd with a satin neck finish but appears far glossier than any of my Martins. Another cause of de-laminated finish at the neck:fingerboard transition is when fingerboards are over oiled and the oil is drawn beneath the open edged finish via capillarity/capillary action. The source - in this case of de-lamination - appears to originate at the upper fingerboard edge. It also appears to soak back along the neck:fingerboard seam.

Does it look like this?: That is the neck of my 1994 HD-28. The finish began bubbling about a month after I bought the guitar. In this next picture, which I took the day I got the guitar, you can see that it's not as bad. The first picture was taken only a few weeks later. Since then it's gotten worse and has begun to appear in other spots on the neck. I was going to leave it alone, but at this point it's grown to the size of a half dollar and is down to bare wood. My guitar tech sealed it with shellac until I decided what to do about it and now I think I'm going to have it repaired. I don't have a warranty, but I don't live far from Nazareth and I can take it to the factory and they'll do it right. In all honesty the flaw has every appearance of being a reaction between the finish and the rubberized neck support commonly found on guitar stands and hangers.

The reason behind the questions is that the problem area is isolated to the parts of the neck that come in prolonged direct contact with the left hand, guitar case neck support and - potentially - a guitar stand neck support. Accurately identifying the cause tends to be the surest way of finding both a cure and ways of avoiding future problems. In terms of the problem in hand, something has recently lead to a cascading deterioration in the neck finish. Have you used anything other than a damp cloth or instrument polish to clean the neck? eg. Acetone is one particular chemical perfectly capable of causing this kind of problem on a satin nitro finish. In light of your comments regarding the gloss neck finish. The Jonh Mayer OM-28 is supposed to have a satin neck finish and - like Boxorox - I'd suspect a "re-spray" problem if the present finish is gloss. What is the general appearance of the neck beneath the bubble defects? Does it appear to be a satin finish and is ths intact?

Nope, i don't really use any oils, i've used a martin guitar polish a few times, but not to the extent that it would be to blame. My last guitar, a Taylor 414ce, started to get a lot of fret buzz because I left it out on a stand in my room, where the humidity and temp fluctuated, and that's why I've been extra careful with this one, always keeping it in the case, with a humidifier and hygrometer (don't know if that's what it's called) that tells me the exact humidity, temp, and keeps track of highs and lows. I'm 100% this is a Martin finishing defect so we'll see if they try to keep their reputation. I'll try to get in touch with them. Thank you guys for the concern though, I really appreciate your feedback!!! All of your ideas are very appreciated! Thanks again guys! -Jeff Whereabouts in the case do you store your humidifier and which type is it? It just seems strange for the problem to manifest itself during the short time you've owned the guitar and not during the previous five years.

How and where do you store your guitar and do you oil the fingerboard? I'm simply wondering if it may be the nitro finish reacting with something on a stand, or finish seperation due to over oiling.