Gibson SG neck re-set

This one came in last week, its a 1973 Gibson SG. I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with SGs. I love the sound of them, that mid-range definition, fat but with bite. I love the access to the high frets, there's just nothing in your way. I love the look of them, so simple, not over flash and with a hint of Batman (ha ha). But I'm not so keen on the way they ballance - just too neck heavy and the neck/body joint is just so weak.This one has had a problem with the neck joint that's been re-glued by someone before. The neck angle is such that the bridge is adjusted so its right down on the body and the action is still too high. The neck needs to come off and put back at the correct angle with of course no visible evidence of any work.SG necks are glued in using a heat reversable glue so normally it could be heated and removed. But this one has been re-glued by someone else and I'm not sure what glue they've used.So the first thing to do is remove the end of the fretboard to expose the joint. I remove the fret directly over the joint, saw through the board, heat it up and remove it (See the posting on the Fernandes 'V').

Here's the neck joint exposed. Its just a simple tenon joint. Incidentally its the same in a Les Paul. The hole in the middle of it is the truss rod anchor. The joint isn't the most snug fit I've ever seen but its not the worst either. The white pieces of paper either side of it are to protect the finish from the heat I'm about to apply to it to remove the neck. I can see from bits of glue residue left from the last repair that PVA (white glue) was used. This is why the neck has crept forward under string tension. PVA is ok for general woodworking but this is a guitar. PVA is still elastic when its set so its not suitable for stressed joints. It is heat reversable though so I'll be able to get the neck off ok. I warm the neck joint up very carefully using a heat gun to soften the glue and with a lot of patience it starts to move and eventually comes off cleanly.

You can see a load of glue still stuck to the neck pocket in these shots.The next job is to clean the joint up and get it ready for re-gluing.

I've decided to use animal glue for this job. Its strong, is heat reversable (someone might need to take it appart in years to come) and has great tonal qualities.

The glue beads need to be mixed with water and warmed up to mix and soften. I use a rice maker for this on its heatsetting (not boil). It takes a while for the glue to be ready so I spend that time dry running the clamping. Animal glue doesn't give you much time. It gels really quickly so the joint is goint to have to be clamped up quickly. I'm using a couple of guitar strings to pull the joint in and a clamp to hold it together. The strings can also tell me if I've got the angle correct. I've fitted the bridge and adjusted it to the height I want itso I check the neck angle by measuring the action at 12th fret. I'm aiming at 2mm.When the glue's ready I warm up all the surfaces of the joint just to delay the gel time a little when it all goes together.

Any glue that squeezes out can be removed with a damp cloth. I've put tape over the end of both horns to protect them from any knocks. This photo was taken after the glue was dry and I'd taken the clamp off. So all that remained was to replace the end of the board, put the fret back in and give it a fret stone to make sure everything was level. Then put the neck pickup back and set it up. The guitar turned out great and sounded better too. That rubbery PVA was doing the tone no good at all and of course its a lotmore playable now.

Jobs like this are very satisfying, I love the major structural stuff that changes a guitar thats a bit duff back into what it should be. This SG sounds great, its got a lovely feeling 'old style' fat neck and plays like a dream - I wish it was mine ha ha.

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I am no longer repairing guitars - since covid 19 I now work full time making pickups

www.mrglynspickups.com

Neck Re-Set

A neck re-set is the usually the biggest thing to happen in the life of an acoustic guitar.
Over the years the string tension can cause the neck to change its angle to the top and make it impossible to get a lower action. The solution is to take the neck out, re-cut the angle and put it back in.
In a previous blog I wrote about an alternative technique for re-setting a neck so this time I'm going to show you the traditional method. Most of my re-sets are done this way.
 Guitars are put together with heat reversible glue, if they weren't then I couldn't do my job. The first step in the removal of a neck is to release the glue on the end of the fretboard - the part that overhangs the body
Acoustic guitar necks are usually glued in using a dovetail joint to give stability.

I gently warm the board until the glue is soft enough to slide an old butter knife under it.

I remove 14th and 15th frets (which are located above the dovetail joint)

I drill four 2mm holes deep into the joint through the fret slots.

 Into these holes I inject steam. I use a steam cleaner with an armoured hose attached and a long hollow needle attachment to blast the steam into the holes. This steam softens the glue and with a bit of effort the neck will come out.

This is a Gibson J45 with the neck half out, it belongs to a player from Christchurch.

This is the neck joint. You can just see one of my holes down the side of the dovetail. As soon as the neck is out I clean any glue off while its still soft.

Here's the body. The warmth from the steam usually softens the lacquer enough for it not to crack.

 This is a Martin HD35 I repaired for a player while on tour from Switzerland. Notice martin have sprayed the finish on the body before the neck is attached.

This is the HD35 neck.

This is a 1969 Gibson SJ which interestingly has a different dovetail shape from the 2005 model J45 I've shown above.

This one's a Guild - it didn't come out as cleanly as some of them.

This is a 1963 Gretsch archtop - note the packing in the side of the neck pocket.

And finally an Ovation - I had to remove the fingerboard first to get at the neck joint with this one.

As you can see I do a fair few neck re-sets and get to dismantle some lovely old instruments.

For me it has to be one of the most satisfying jobs - making old guitars live again

Glyn

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I am no longer repairing guitars - since covid 19 I now work full time making pickups

www.mrglynspickups.com

Yamaha FG-260 12-string

This is a lovely old guitar that came to me with an unplayable action. 12 string guitars often suffer from problems related to string tension and this one had really suffered. The top was bellying and needed the bridge plate replacing - I'll go into that one at a later date. Even with the top stable and the belly reduced the action was still too high. The bridge saddle was right down low so it wasn't going to be an easy one.The neck had to be re-set. Over years the neck had moved with string tension and was now leaning forward a little. This was giving the guitar too high an action. There are a few ways to re-angle a neck; the traditional way is to completely remove the neck from its socket and re-cut the dovetail joint to the correctangle. The main problem with this is damage to the finish around the heel. I chose a different way - its called 'slipping the block'. With this method the neck stays in the body and the back of the guitar is removed (peeled away) between the guitar's shoulders. Once the back is seperated from the block the neck becomes 'wobbly'. The back can then be clamped in place with the neck at the correct angle. Ok, so here's how its done. First the binding had to be removed so the back could come off cleanly. I scrape the finish away from the binding with a blade - if I left it on it'd crack and make a mess when the binding came off. Then the binding can be peeled away carefully using the blade.

I don't take it right off, just as far as the shoulders. Guitars are always put together using heat reversable glue which means if you warm them up they come apart. To seperate the back I use heat lamps which gently warm the glue from the back. If it gets too hot the finish can get damaged so its a gentle slow process. When I feel its warm enough I start pushing a spatula into the joint to ease it apart. Push too hard and the wood can split - too soft and nothing happens. In this pic the green tape is holding the binding out of the way. A butter knife is just great for this job.

When the back's off its time to get the action right. I put two E-strings on the guitar and a bridge saddle of the ideal height. Then I clamp the guitar from bum to heel. As the clamp tightens the action lowers.

Once its right its simply a case of regluing the back. .

The back will now be overhanging the sides a little so it needs trimming before the binding goes back.

There's no easy way to re-angle a neck but for me this is the easiest.

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I am no longer repairing guitars - since covid 19 I now work full time making pickups

www.mrglynspickups.com

Gibson Southern Jumbo 1955 - Re-build

The Gibson Southern Jumbo is a great guitar, I wish I saw them more often.
This lovely old instrument had the misfortune of spending a huge part of its life in a damp garage. As far as her new owner knows she sat there since 1976.

You'll notice there's no serial number on the back of the head. Gibson often omitted individual serial numbers on their less expensive models. On the neck block the 'W' denotes 1955. It's called a Factory Order Number (F.O.N)

 My first job is to assess it - there could be a lot wrong in here.

 I took the truss rod cover off first and ... no truss rod!
 It had snapped off - maybe this is why it ended up in that garage.
 A closer look showed me the cavity the nut should sit in has been gouged out, I'm guessing to accommodate a socket set to adjust a stiff truss rod nut.
Now that would do a good job of snapping it.
Maybe I should have been an archaeologist, I love this stuff.

So I know at the very least I'm going to be taking the fretboard off to fit a new rod and do something about all the wood taken out of the headstock.

  The finish is scruffy but original and there are a few big splits in the top.

 The tuners are in need of a clean and a lube but work really well.

The back is ok except for lacquer cracks.

 But most of the back is coming away from the sides and the binding is missing.

The heel is coming away and the neck/body joint is loose.

 Looking inside with a mirror the bridge plate is worn and there's evidence of damp.

 

This back brace is coming away.

 

This one too.

 

 

The wood of the bridge has been shaved down at some point to try and lower the action. It clearly needed a neck re-set, this is a common bodge I see to avoid doing it properly.

 It's a shame, the bridge is Brazilian Rosewood. 

 The dot inlays (hiding bolts) almost vanished when the bridge was shaved.

 

The bridge saddle is sitting in some yucky goo.

 On the bright side - the headstock hasn't been snapped off. Hmmm


 Just about everything else is wrong though.
 My main concern is the evidence of damp inside the body. But there is so much wrong with this one.

This guitar is in a sorry state.

 It's sad it got to this point but the new owner is determined to have this as his main guitar. 

 This one is going to take a bit of figuring out.

 Sam's keen for me to use it as his new throwing stick.

 Ok, here's the plan:
Fretboard off
Replace truss rod
Fill the gouge in the headstock with mahogany
Take the neck off so I can re-set the angle
Take the back off (it's coming off anyway)
Take all the braces out, clean them up, put them back
Replace the maple bridge plate (make a new one)
Take the bridge off, heighten it with a piece of rosewood
Fix the splits in the top
Put it all back together
Bind the back

I put a quote together and the owner says 'yes'.

Ok, let the fun begin.

Sorry Mate, maybe next time.

First the endpin comes out - amazing how it has become discoloured - I think that's fossilized selotape.

The tuners look a bit scruffy but work fantastically.

Before taking the neck out I'm going to take the fretboard off. This will give me easier access to the neck/body join.
I'll need heat to remove the board. But first I need to take the inlays out. They're plastic and could melt with the heat.

I careful remove them with a blade.

And lay them out on some masking tape ready to go back in when I need them.

I protect the body from heat using foil covered lino.

I protect the binding with two layers of masking tape.

I use a purpose made neck heater  - fancy eh. It even has a temperature control.

After a bit of heating and some encouragement from the butter knife the board comes off cleanly, binding and all.

Gibson had cut grooves on the underside of the board to help adhesion. Rosewood can be a bit resistant to gluing sometimes - it's rather oily wood.

And here is the neck/body joint exposed. The thin maple strip down the middle of the neck is the fillet strip under which is that snapped truss rod.

 There's no easy way to remove it undamaged - I just dig it out. I can make a replacement one from maple later.

Here's the rusty old truss rod.

 At the butt end it bends down to an unusual anchor. I'm not going to be able to get it out before the neck is out of the body.

I remove the neck using steam in the usual manner. Here's some more info on that process:

http://mrglyn.blogspot.co.nz/2009/11/neck-re-set.html

Here's the neck join after the neck is removed. You can see the top is coming away too.
And the back.

Ok, back to the neck. I need to sort out the cavity where the truss rod adjuster lives before I can put a new rod in.
The neck is made of mahogany so, of course that's what I'm using to fill the hole. There's the piece I'm going to use sitting on the headstock.

I carve it until it fits nicely and glue it in using alaphatic resin. The little piece of clear plastic it to stop any glue getting into the truss rod channel.

Once the glue is dry I carve the top flush to the headstock. This is all going to be covered by the plastic cover plate but I want it to look neat anyway.

 Now I need to carve the new space for the truss rod, its nut and with just enough space for a Gibson spanner.
 You can see the new truss rod (with the blue sleeve) and the Japanese saw I'm going to use.

I'm using the existing truss rod channel to guide me and a wee piece of wood to keep the saw straight. Japanese saws cut on the pull stroke and are way more accurate than western saws.

I clean up the slot with a small chisel.

 Now its carving the space for the adjusting spanner.
I use a gouge for this. I have a few fantastic, old gouges that were very kindly given to me by one of my customers. They had belonged to his grandfather and he was just keen for them to get used again. There's a lovely connection people feel towards old tools, even if they don't use them themselves.

 Here it is, that's all I need to do - someone had removed a lot more than they needed to.

 I'm happy with how the new truss rod sits in there. The blue plastic sleeve over the rod is to prevent it getting glued in which would prevent it from working.

At the butt end I've copied Gibson's method of anchoring the truss rod.

 I make a new fillet strip, glue it in, shave it smooth with my cute little thumb plane and that's the truss rod fixed. Still a long way to go until the guitar's finished.

I removed the old bridge saddle, filled the hole with rosewood and re-routed the slot to the proper size. I remove the bridge from the body so I can re-glue it properly.
I seem to have forgotten to take pics of all of it - must have been concentrating.

Now for the body. I take the back off using the butter knife - it doesn't even need any heat - that's what the damp has done.
 It doesn't look good in here.

The neck block is surprisingly rather wonky - bit dodgy that Gibson.

I clean it up and clamp a piece of mahogany to it so I can make it square.

I

There are a quite a few rather sloppy joints in here. This bridge plate should be butted up to the 'X' brace. The smaller brace should either be butted up or cut into the bigger one.
I find lots of examples of shoddy workmanship.

There are lots of places where the moisture has caused obvious damage.

The bridge plate has a lot of wear at the string anchor points as well as not fitting very well. It's such an important part of the guitar I'm going to replace it. I'm keen to keep everything as original as possible but this just has to go.

The back shows the same water stains as the underside of the top.

 This is when the real fun starts. Time to take all the braces out.

Under this back brace I find a pencil line put there in 1955 to mark where the brace goes.

I clean the old glue off with a cabinet scraper.

The centre strip is coming away a little to I pack it with glue and clamp it down using the 'go bar deck'. I've used a damp rag to wipe away the excess glue.

All the top braces come off using only the butter knife.

There's a fair bit of work in cleaning up the mess before it can all go back together.

The meeting point of the 'X' braces is one of the most important areas for structural strength. It's a common place to see splits.

There were some big gaps in this joint - (I'm really not impressed) so I added a couple of small wedges and glued a cap over the join to keep it strong.

I made a replica bridge plate - just a wee bit bigger so it will butt up to the "X" brace for a stronger join.

And now she can go back together. Firstly where the top was coming away at the neck dovetail.

Then once the braces are cleaned up they all go back in using the 'go bar deck'. The base of the deck is dished to a 28" radius - flat top guitars are not flat. This slight curve gives the top a lot more strength.

You can see I've repaired a couple of splits in the top using cleats for extra strength. It's stuff I've talked about before so I won't go on.

Then I pop the back on.

I re-route the binding channel and bind it.

Just a case of popping the neck back on, fret stoning and setting up. It's all stuff I've covered before (and I forgot to take photos of that bit anyway).


I strung her up with D'Addario 12's tuned to concert pitch.
I was very interesting hearing her for the first time. In the first 10 minutes from being strung up the sound changed hugely. It continued to change but less so for a few days. This is exactly what happens to new guitars, it's amazing to hear how they 'bed in'. That first 10 minutes is an exciting time.

 I was very pleased with the result - she just sounds fantastic.
You never know what the end result will be with this sort of job. I just do the best work I can and hope the beautiful old, seasoned tonewoods do the rest.

   Cheers
       Glyn

I am no longer repairing guitars - since covid 19 I now work full time making pickups

www.mrglynspickups.com