Members dhoenisch Posted October 30, 2007 Members Posted October 30, 2007 I am working on an el-cheapo guitar. Well, this weekend, I was attempting to steam the neck of by drilling a hole in the 15th fret slot. Anyhow, I had the steam needle in there for a few minutes, and nothing happened at all. Nothing but the fretboard got hot. I know you said that Yamahas are hard to reset. Why was that again? Also, if I drill a diagonal hole in the heel for the steam needle, would that help, or should I just use this guitar as firewood? The neck was already separating due to excessive heat, but now I can't steam the rest off. Any suggestions? Dan
Members Freeman Keller Posted October 30, 2007 Members Posted October 30, 2007 What I have heard is that 70's Yamahas used a glue that does not soften with heat/moisture (possibly a type of epoxy). The trick I've heard to reset them is to saw the mortise (or dovetail) off straight across at the heel block using a very fine saw (maybe an Axato razor saw). Remove the fingerboard extension. Sand the cut off neck to the correct angle (maybe you could work sand paper into the saw kerf if you left the fretboard attached). Get the angle right and drill a couple of holes thru the old mortise into the neck. Put a couple of anchor inserts in the neck and bolt it together with a bit of glue. That is the theory, I've never done it. My old Yamie is starting to need it, but so far I haven't screwed up the courage to try.
Members jd-drafter Posted October 30, 2007 Members Posted October 30, 2007 What I have heard is that 70's Yamahas used a glue that does not soften with heat/moisture (possibly a type of epoxy). The trick I've heard to reset them is to saw the mortise (or dovetail) off straight across at the heel block using a very fine saw (maybe an Axato razor saw). Remove the fingerboard extension. Sand the cut off neck to the correct angle (maybe you could work sand paper into the saw kerf if you left the fretboard attached). Get the angle right and drill a couple of holes thru the old mortise into the neck. Put a couple of anchor inserts in the neck and bolt it together with a bit of glue.That is the theory, I've never done it. My old Yamie is starting to need it, but so far I haven't screwed up the courage to try. my dad has used that method many times- that's actually how he did the neck on his prototype aluminum guitar and i am doing my new aluminum parlor (if i ever get time to get out there and finish it!) it may not be the "preferred" method but i have seen it work very well- basically just turning it into a bolt on neck at the heal-
Members guitarist21 Posted October 30, 2007 Members Posted October 30, 2007 The trick I've heard to reset them is to saw the mortise (or dovetail) off straight across at the heel block using a very fine saw (maybe an Axato razor saw). Remove the fingerboard extension. Sand the cut off neck to the correct angle (maybe you could work sand paper into the saw kerf if you left the fretboard attached). Get the angle right and drill a couple of holes thru the old mortise into the neck. Put a couple of anchor inserts in the neck and bolt it together with a bit of glue. This is the scariest thing I've ever heard. I've been known to be a bit reckless when doing mods but I would be way too scared to do this. Actually sawing into a guitar! Ellen
Members jd-drafter Posted October 30, 2007 Members Posted October 30, 2007 it's called living on the edge 8^) there's nothing like the sweet smell of sawdust, it smells like... victory! as long as it's the right guitar there should be no problem... 8^) not an everyday thing of course...
Members babablowfish Posted October 30, 2007 Members Posted October 30, 2007 it's called living on the edge 8^)there's nothing like the sweet smell of sawdust, it smells like... victory!as long as it's the right guitar there should be no problem... 8^)not an everyday thing of course... Sorry for going OT for a sec - I really love the looks of that Aluminum git. Had to say it. Now back to our regularly scheduled broadcast.
Members bjorn-fjord Posted October 31, 2007 Members Posted October 31, 2007 What I have heard is that 70's Yamahas used a glue that does not soften with heat/moisture (possibly a type of epoxy). The trick I've heard to reset them is to saw the mortise (or dovetail) off straight across at the heel block using a very fine saw (maybe an Axato razor saw). Remove the fingerboard extension. Sand the cut off neck to the correct angle (maybe you could work sand paper into the saw kerf if you left the fretboard attached). Get the angle right and drill a couple of holes thru the old mortise into the neck. Put a couple of anchor inserts in the neck and bolt it together with a bit of glue.That is the theory, I've never done it. My old Yamie is starting to need it, but so far I haven't screwed up the courage to try. Damn. I've never had to do that! I did not know this about Yamahas. I've never had the pleasure of trying to perform a reset on one of those. Question: Doesn't the truss-rod extend past the 15th fret? If so, wouldn't you also need to remove the fretboard and trussrod before attempting to cut through the dovetail? I can't imagine how you could make that cut without either messing up the body and/or shortening the neck to the point that the intonation would be shot.
Members dhoenisch Posted October 31, 2007 Author Members Posted October 31, 2007 Thanks all. I spoke to my sister's husband (the owner of the guitar), and explained the issue I am having with the neck. I also explained to him that the guitar isn't even worth the new $6 bridge I installed on it. He gave me the go-ahead to be creative with it, and if I kill it, no big loss. This guitar is riddled with problems. It had been ruined by leaving it in a hot parked car for a few days. When the guitar came to me, it had a belly bulge, the neck was lifting by the back of the heel, the pickguard floated, and to add insult to injury, the owner's brother tried to "fix" the string buzzing issue by flattening the frets. I originally started working on the guitar for the fun and the experience, but I'm no longer having fun, and am spending more time and money on the guitar than it's worth. Oh, and it's a Magnum. Never heard of them. the guitar looks as cheap as they come to, with extremely thick finish, even on the fretboard, which appeared to have covered the frets before they were filed rather flat. Dan
Members Freeman Keller Posted October 31, 2007 Members Posted October 31, 2007 Question: Doesn't the truss-rod extend past the 15th fret? If so, wouldn't you also need to remove the fretboard and trussrod before attempting to cut through the dovetail? I can't imagine how you could make that cut without either messing up the body and/or shortening the neck to the point that the intonation would be shot. Good point that I hadn't thought of. As I recall the description of doing this they didn't actually saw it all the way off - just opened a saw kerf that allow the bottom of the heel to be sanded slight to lower the angle (but I also remember them saying that they put a couple of 1/2-20 inserts in the heel for the bolts). Is it possible that Yamie truss rods anchor at the heel (the adjuster is at the headstock). The t/r on my mandolin is simply a rod with the end turned down into a hole at the heel - maybe it is something like that. Believe me, if and when I ever do mine I'll do a whole lot more research first.
Members guitarist21 Posted October 31, 2007 Members Posted October 31, 2007 He gave me the go-ahead to be creative with it, and if I kill it, no big loss. To me, that would be like the green light for experimentation awesomeness. Maybe put another neck on there, or cut a soundport into the sides, or paint it green, or cover it in tin foil, or maybe make the neck out of metal. Someday I'm just going to buy a cheapo acoustic and do all sorts of weird stuff to it... add that to the list of projects that I have to do this summer, right up there with build an upright bass and build a car one piece at a time like Johnny Cash. Ellen
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