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We've had other HCAG members post their neck reset in progress pics, those skills aren't for the faint of heart! Was there anyone thing that was unforeseen or a challenge when you were doing the neck reset?
Check to see if there's a loose brace underneath then.
Seriously, I have similar issues with a 1970s era Takamine that was my prized guitar in the years leading up to my first solid wood guitar. It had the belly bow and even binding coming off at the neck joint. I took it to a tech who told me the cost of a traditional neck reset would cost more than the value of the guitar. He offered a "plan B" for 1/3 of the price and I went with it. A week later my guitar was like new but after several years the bridge started lifting again even though I stuck with light guage strings as the tech instructed. A cracked X brace beneath the treble side bridge wing was the cuplrit and it was causing a noticeable buzz. As for the neck joint, it appears that he used either marine epoxy or CA glue and he was not neat with it.
I had grand designs of steaming off the neck joint and re-topping the old girl but alas a couple of beers greatly ehanced my daring but subdued my caution and intellect. I never got the neck off. In short: I destroyed the neck trying to work it free because while I applied steam I had done so at the wrong point and the epoxy wouldn't have let go anyway. I'll let the pictures tell the rest of the sad tale:
Glue slop from the previous repair:
My first mistake: using the "cold chisel" method of removing the bridge, but in my estimation both the top and the bridge were going bye-bye anyway
I opted to try the neck reset and retop the guitar because the next had considerable drop-off:
Sooooo, I took it over to my friend's house where he has the special tools needed to pull the neck - and a capuccino machine to appy steam:. THe thing is though that the aforementioned beer dulled both our senses and I pulled the wrong fret:
After about 10 minutes of accompishing nothing more than clearing our sinuses I put the guitar in the jig and proceeded to pound away at the heel cap with a fretting hammer. Piece began to fly and my sanity came apart as did the neck and 20 years of memories. I think I was madly singing Maxwell's Silver Hammer as I did this:
The moral I took from this story was almost literally "don't bite off more than you can chew" - or more appropriately don't take a hammer to a prized momento. Now the guitar sits in its case awaiting its ultimate fate while I work carefully try to complete a scratch guitar build and collect materials to build another rosewood dreanought. Like Freeman, I've decided that building a replacement from scratch might be easier. I intend to strip the old Tak for parts and will use its case to house its successor that now resides in my basement in the form of planks:
BTW, I did the Bridge Doctor thing several years ago. I wish I'd learned a little more about woodworking first and was more appreciative of the immense stress that the bridge is under though. I used one of the drill-in types and my major mistake was tightening down that screw too quickly as it split the bridge along the grain. It did solve the problem otherwise and I dare say that it did mellow out the guitar's tone somewhat - but on a dread that I was advised not to use medium gauge strings on that's not necessarily a good thing. It increased the mass of the guitar which IME reduces its resonance, which on a laminated guitar glued together with crazy glue is not necessarily all that good to begin with. If I had to describe the tone, I'd say it was along the lines of an older Breedlove Atlas AD25SR but quieter. It was an interesting experiment though and I chalked it up as a learning experience.
Seriously, I have similar issues with a 1970s era Takamine that was my prized guitar in the years leading up to my first solid wood guitar. It had the belly bow and even binding coming off at the neck joint. I took it to a tech who told me the cost of a traditional neck reset would cost more than the value of the guitar. He offered a "plan B" for 1/3 of the price and I went with it. A week later my guitar was like new but after several years the bridge started lifting again even though I stuck with light guage strings as the tech instructed. A cracked X brace beneath the treble side bridge wing was the cuplrit and it was causing a noticeable buzz. As for the neck joint, it appears that he used either marine epoxy or CA glue and he was not neat with it.
I had grand designs of steaming off the neck joint and re-topping the old girl but alas a couple of beers greatly ehanced my daring but subdued my caution and intellect. I never got the neck off. In short: I destroyed the neck trying to work it free because while I applied steam I had done so at the wrong point and the epoxy wouldn't have let go anyway. I'll let the pictures tell the rest of the sad tale:
Glue slop from the previous repair:
My first mistake: using the "cold chisel" method of removing the bridge, but in my estimation both the top and the bridge were going bye-bye anyway
I opted to try the neck reset and retop the guitar because the next had considerable drop-off:
Sooooo, I took it over to my friend's house where he has the special tools needed to pull the neck - and a capuccino machine to appy steam:. THe thing is though that the aforementioned beer dulled both our senses and I pulled the wrong fret:
After about 10 minutes of accompishing nothing more than clearing our sinuses I put the guitar in the jig and proceeded to pound away at the heel cap with a fretting hammer. Piece began to fly and my sanity came apart as did the neck and 20 years of memories. I think I was madly singing Maxwell's Silver Hammer as I did this:
The moral I took from this story was almost literally "don't bite off more than you can chew" - or more appropriately don't take a hammer to a prized momento. Now the guitar sits in its case awaiting its ultimate fate while I work carefully try to complete a scratch guitar build and collect materials to build another rosewood dreanought. Like Freeman, I've decided that building a replacement from scratch might be easier. I intend to strip the old Tak for parts and will use its case to house its successor that now resides in my basement in the form of planks:
BTW, I did the Bridge Doctor thing several years ago. I wish I'd learned a little more about woodworking first and was more appreciative of the immense stress that the bridge is under though. I used one of the drill-in types and my major mistake was tightening down that screw too quickly as it split the bridge along the grain. It did solve the problem otherwise and I dare say that it did mellow out the guitar's tone somewhat - but on a dread that I was advised not to use medium gauge strings on that's not necessarily a good thing. It increased the mass of the guitar which IME reduces its resonance, which on a laminated guitar glued together with crazy glue is not necessarily all that good to begin with. If I had to describe the tone, I'd say it was along the lines of an older Breedlove Atlas AD25SR but quieter. It was an interesting experiment though and I chalked it up as a learning experience.
Originally Posted by amadylan
http://www.frets.com/FretsPages/Luth...ichreset1.h
http://liutaiomottola.com/construction/Bolton.htm
There is a regular forumite Yamahaneck who does this fairly often. I'll find one of his threads and post it
As far as the Bridge doc, I am another person who tried one with less than satisfactory results. I had an old martin 12 string with a bit of a belly (and needing a reset) - I tried the doc and it slightly lessed the belly but it made the guitar almost unplayable (and it sounded terrible). Took it back out, reset the neck (which largely removed the belly because of the reduced angle of the strings on the bridge) and the guitar plays wonderfully. If you do try the doc, get the one that you drill thru the bridge (not the kind with the little brass pins with holes in the heads). I used the latter and the break angle is so low it hardly plays at all.
You rang?
Check out this Framus Camping guitar, that I reset a few years ago:
I agree, when you install a JLD, you have to commit to the drill-through type, which I've had great results with. If you're torquing the c**p out of it, to de-belly a guitar, it's going to sound terrible, until the top finally unwarps. When I install them, I use a strobetuner, to get the top in equilibrium, a methodology not dissimilar to setting a whammy bar so that it will come back to tune.
Check out this Framus Camping guitar, that I reset a few years ago:
I agree, when you install a JLD, you have to commit to the drill-through type, which I've had great results with. If you're torquing the c**p out of it, to de-belly a guitar, it's going to sound terrible, until the top finally unwarps. When I install them, I use a strobetuner, to get the top in equilibrium, a methodology not dissimilar to setting a whammy bar so that it will come back to tune.
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