Love the heat lamp much better than using a iron ,and seems to work a little faster plus no scorching,more controlled and consistant heat makes alot of sense!
Thanks Guys ..\m/ ! Glad you liked it. BTW: That's an old ironing board cover. Asbestos soaked in arsenic and mercury .... LOL !!! But seriously .... it is two sandwiched layers of asbestos ... so you'll you want to wear a mask when you cut it on the band saw ! I sealed the exposed edges with aluminum duct tape. You could use a piece of 1/4" plywood. Also : I slip tongue depressors under the pad ( when necessary ) to cover up any exposed soundboard surface between the edges of the pad and the portion I am heating.
FYI: When I flip it up vertically like this ... I tighten the hex head bolt on the under side of the big sliding u-channel ... with the screw protruding beyond the surface of the floor of the ( 10" female ) aluminum extrusion .... it acts as a positive stop for the male aluminum extrusion ( on the underside of the sliding neck assembly ). This will all make sense when your GPS TechDeck arrives. Cheers DM ;^ ) ! MMcC
I'm wondering.... he didn't say anything about checking the soundboard for level or hairline cracks alongside the neck. Maybe that happened when the neck sunk into the sound hole? What about rehumidify and brace the inside of the soundboard underneath the fretboard?
No cracks ... no extra reinforcement needed. This was one of the very first videos from my Guitar Repair class ... many years ago. Once the neck angle was re-set ... then it was ready for all of the regular "setup" work.
Taylor's NT neck design make it simple to adjust the neck whenever necessary. All you have to do is buy the right shim size and bolt it on again to the body. Absolutely simple and brilliant. I think that's one of the main advantage of a Taylor to other brands.
+Chubby Luna McConville Guitars / Guitar Repair and Design / Guitar Repair Workstations Taylor has gone through many neck - to - body configurations over the past 25+ years. In this video you will see a ( slow-turning ) disc sander that I use. On one side is a canvas buffer that I use to heat and hone the "bull nose " probe; on the other shaft is the radiused disc sander. I use this disc sander to thin down the Taylor ( latest neck to body adjustment technique ) shims for a perfect fit . On the blog ( link above ) you will find all of the various Taylor guitar neck joints in pictorial / tutorials that I have posted over the last 10 years. Thanks for reaching out. Respectfully ... MMcC
Michael McConville Wow! I didn't know that Taylor went through many neck to body types. All the while I thought they started with the NT neck technology. I guess every guitar builder starts with the basic neck to body joints like the dovetail or the mortise & tenon types, if I'm right. Thanks for the great info. Appreciate it!
you know i love living in the city. i love fast pace life. but if you ask me, as a guitar player, this is a dream job for me. i would love to live in a small town and have a guitar shop. :)
Cool, Yeah they are just so neat and you can get the perfect position for any job. Very nice you guys. Well thought out and well employed. I cant wait to see the new revisions. I am still in luthier school but I have just started building my first guitar. A custom tele style guitar with a flame maple top and two walnut strip grafts running down her back. I got something neat in mind for the neck too. Need to get a permanent home for Salvation Guitars, and then a techdeck work station. Love it guys keep up the good work!!!!
Question so I’m clear on neck angle. Should your straight edge be “kissing” the top of the bridge or the top of the saddle? Thanks, another great video by a master Luthier
Good question. The straight edge ( ultimately ) should just graze the top of the bridge. This would allow the saddle to be adjusted for ANY action height. Best ... MMcC
7 minutes ( no more ! ) at a time ... 3" above the surface of the bridge. When removing a vintage bridge ( hide glue ) ... I will roll up a small wet cloth into a sausage shape .. and lay this across the bridge pin holes. This will serve to steam off the hide glue ;^) ... nice and clean.
Thank you for your enquiry Michael. The finger board extension, will "flex" and lay flat against the soundboard after the neck reset. The frets at the neck to body junction will need to be dressed OR if necessary, the fingerboard ( in some cases ) will need to be re-fretted. In the case of refretting the fingerboard; the lay of the fingerboard will be corrected for the trajectory of the string path, before the new frets are installed. Cheers ! MMcC
Yep. OK you are definitely "on to it" Michael. If you have the opportunity ... " in the case of a refret " scenario; to correct the fingerboard BEFORE you drop the new frets in ... this is the very best solution; if not ... the you will be losing some "real estate" on those fret crowns, at the neck junction. Both solutions will work. If you go with correcting the lay of the fingerboard before installing the new frets; it is best to "back up the fingerboard extension " while driving those frets in. THEN reattach the neck ... and finish installing the rest of the frets after the neck has been re-installed. That's how we do this job in my Level 2 classes. Good luck ! Hope that helps. Lastly : ( as I'm sure you already know ) After all of the new frets are installed ... you will need to do the final level / crown and polish ... and edge dress! This will bring you back to "square one" ... a perfect neck to body angle without the proverbial "ski- jump " ( lol ! ) ... or "neck hump" as you mentioned. \m/ !! Best Regards ;^ )
Hi Michael... just a quick "heads up" the latest Martin Neck reset video that I just posted a couple of days ago .... addresses ALL of your concerns in detail;^ ) ... Cheers.. MMcC
when you use the straight edge along the fingerboard and just lightly "kiss" the bridge, is that desired when the strings are off and there is no tension? Thanks
Short answer : Yes. BUT: You have to be sure that the neck is not in a back bow ( convex ) . It may be necessary to loosen the truss rod ( without string tension ) until the "lay of the neck" is straight. In a perfect world; 2 two 3rds of the bridge saddle should be inside the milled bridge slot , and the other 3rd of the saddle should be projecting above the surface of the3 bridge. This means you will always have enough " real estate " on the bridge saddle ; to adjust the string height to where-ever you'd like it. Another consideration: The distance from the surface of the soundboard, to the" underside diameter" of the low E string, should be somewhere between 1/2" and 5/8" ( when tuned ). Lastly: The stability of the neck-to-body joint and the stiffness of the guitar ( along the length of the body ) will have an affect on how much the guitar flexes under "string load". If there is too much flexing; this can affect the final outcome of the action height too ! Sorry for the long-winded treatise .... but that pretty well covers it ;^ ) MMcC
My favorite guitar is a Takamine 12 string from the 60's that I play as a six string.The sound is both loud and rings very brightly across the spectrum of string frequencies and the extra width of the neck accomodates my fat finger ends.. I'm on my second of these guitars. The first one warped to the point of unusability and the solution was this neck reset which I couldn't imagine doing. But you demonsstrate that it is doable. Thanks! Is the dimension of the 'real estate' revealed by the masking tape equal to the measure of where the straight edge across the frets sits below the saddle? Is this the guideline? Thanks!
Removing the neck on a Takamine Guitar will require a LOT more work. In many cases the cheaper or mid-priced acoustic guitars necks joints, are glued with epoxy. There is a much higher risk of destroying the guitar while attempting to remove these necks for re-set. The only choice you have, to buy back the neck angle, is to remove the frets and change the trajectory of the neck angle buy altering the fingerboard taper from nut-to-body. The neck in this video, is held on with two fasteners. This type of neck to body joint has become quite common. Taylor / Collings and Godin acoustics are all examples of manufacturers that use this type of neck joint. The Martin / Gibson guitars ... in most cases .... use the old dovetail neck joint; that will require steaming to remove for re-setting the neck. Hope that helps to clarify. MMcC
Don't be completely discouraged. You may have enough thickness in the fingerboard to correct the action. The combination of a fingerboard correction and a higher profile fret crown can make quite a difference. An additional option is to "skim " off the bridge to buy back a bit more "Real Estate " in the action and playability. Planing down the bridge is the most common alternative on mid-priced and cheaper guitars. Cheers ... MMcC Good luck ... don't give up yet ....
It works pretty slick. No more than 7 minutes at a time though. The probe is also heated with the buffer ... so hot wood / hot probe .. nice and easy does it. You'll see the rosewood "sweat" bit ... then you know you've heated clan through to the glue line \m/ !
If you look on the mcconvilleguitarsblogspot there are several examples of Gibson / Martin / Guild .. dovetail neck-joint resets. What exactly do you have ? MMcC
Yep A+ L . Because there are SO many acoustic guitars now, with the bolt on type neck; I thought this would make a good general tutorial on this very common procedure. Hope you enjoyed it. \m/ !
Love the heat lamp much better than using a iron ,and seems to work a little faster plus no scorching,more controlled and consistant heat makes alot of sense!
Thanks Joe ! Merry Christmas ! MMcC
Thanks Guys ..\m/ ! Glad you liked it.
BTW: That's an old ironing board cover. Asbestos soaked in arsenic and mercury .... LOL !!! But seriously .... it is two sandwiched layers of asbestos ... so you'll you want to wear a mask when you cut it on the band saw ! I sealed the exposed edges with aluminum duct tape. You could use a piece of 1/4" plywood.
Also : I slip tongue depressors under the pad ( when necessary ) to cover up any exposed soundboard surface between the edges of the pad and the portion I am heating.
That’s pretty badass how you flip the neck support vertical, and support the neck for adjustment.
FYI: When I flip it up vertically like this ... I tighten the hex head bolt on the under side of the big sliding u-channel ... with the screw protruding beyond the surface of the floor of the ( 10" female ) aluminum extrusion .... it acts as a positive stop for the male aluminum extrusion ( on the underside of the sliding neck assembly ). This will all make sense when your GPS TechDeck arrives. Cheers DM ;^ ) ! MMcC
Pretty sweet jig
Mike, you make it look so damn easy.
I need to do this to an old Morris guitar I acquired about 25 years ago - My baby!
Hmmm ? A Morris .... you'll have to email some pictures and some more detail .. so I can help walk you through it. MMcC
I'm wondering.... he didn't say anything about checking the soundboard for level or hairline cracks alongside the neck. Maybe that happened when the neck sunk into the sound hole? What about rehumidify and brace the inside of the soundboard underneath the fretboard?
No cracks ... no extra reinforcement needed. This was one of the very first videos from my Guitar Repair class ... many years ago. Once the neck angle was re-set ... then it was ready for all of the regular "setup" work.
Taylor's NT neck design make it simple to adjust the neck whenever necessary. All you have to do is buy the right shim size and bolt it on again to the body. Absolutely simple and brilliant. I think that's one of the main advantage of a Taylor to other brands.
+Chubby Luna McConville Guitars / Guitar Repair and Design / Guitar Repair Workstations Taylor has gone through many neck - to - body configurations over the past 25+ years. In this video you will see a ( slow-turning ) disc sander that I use. On one side is a canvas buffer that I use to heat and hone the "bull nose " probe; on the other shaft is the radiused disc sander. I use this disc sander to thin down the Taylor ( latest neck to body adjustment technique ) shims for a perfect fit . On the blog ( link above ) you will find all of the various Taylor guitar neck joints in pictorial / tutorials that I have posted over the last 10 years. Thanks for reaching out. Respectfully ... MMcC
Michael McConville Wow! I didn't know that Taylor went through many neck to body types. All the while I thought they started with the NT neck technology. I guess every guitar builder starts with the basic neck to body joints like the dovetail or the mortise & tenon types, if I'm right. Thanks for the great info. Appreciate it!
you know i love living in the city. i love fast pace life. but if you ask me, as a guitar player, this is a dream job for me. i would love to live in a small town and have a guitar shop. :)
Guys I love the TechDeck. Killer job on it. Cant wait to get one for my shop!!
Another production run is in progress as we speak .... with a few new surprises ;^ ) !
Cool, Yeah they are just so neat and you can get the perfect position for any job. Very nice you guys. Well thought out and well employed. I cant wait to see the new revisions. I am still in luthier school but I have just started building my first guitar. A custom tele style guitar with a flame maple top and two walnut strip grafts running down her back. I got something neat in mind for the neck too. Need to get a permanent home for Salvation Guitars, and then a techdeck work station. Love it guys keep up the good work!!!!
That Tele sounds nice project ... !
Yeah unfortunately I am building it on an old Ironing board. I Got it anchored so it don't tip but it sure makes me dream of one of those babies. LOL
I like the tripod set up. That's a swell idea.
Question so I’m clear on neck angle. Should your straight edge be “kissing” the top of the bridge or the top of the saddle? Thanks, another great video by a master Luthier
Good question. The straight edge ( ultimately ) should just graze the top of the bridge. This would allow the saddle to be adjusted for ANY action height. Best ... MMcC
+StringTech Workstations thanks so much for the reply and all you do to inform and teach!
I find your methods clean and effective.
Heat lamp ,what a brilliant idea ,,,I was working out how to make a steam system ,this solves it
7 minutes ( no more ! ) at a time ... 3" above the surface of the bridge. When removing a vintage bridge ( hide glue ) ... I will roll up a small wet cloth into a sausage shape .. and lay this across the bridge pin holes. This will serve to steam off the hide glue ;^) ... nice and clean.
How did you know how much to sand off of the heel? Was it based on a measurement taken off screen?
Typically, 1.6 mm off of the tip will do it. MMcC
How do you deal with the increased fingerboard gap to the top since it is no longer laying flush to the top?
Thank you for your enquiry Michael. The finger board extension, will "flex" and lay flat against the soundboard after the neck reset. The frets at the neck to body junction will need to be dressed OR if necessary, the fingerboard ( in some cases ) will need to be re-fretted. In the case of refretting the fingerboard; the lay of the fingerboard will be corrected for the trajectory of the string path, before the new frets are installed. Cheers ! MMcC
Thank you Michael for your quick response. Were you describing the dreaded 14th fret hump in the case of the fingerboard correction?
Yep. OK you are definitely "on to it" Michael. If you have the opportunity ... " in the case of a refret " scenario; to correct the fingerboard BEFORE you drop the new frets in ... this is the very best solution; if not ... the you will be losing some "real estate" on those fret crowns, at the neck junction. Both solutions will work. If you go with correcting the lay of the fingerboard before installing the new frets; it is best to "back up the fingerboard extension " while driving those frets in. THEN reattach the neck ... and finish installing the rest of the frets after the neck has been re-installed. That's how we do this job in my Level 2 classes. Good luck ! Hope that helps. Lastly : ( as I'm sure you already know ) After all of the new frets are installed ... you will need to do the final level / crown and polish ... and edge dress! This will bring you back to "square one" ... a perfect neck to body angle without the proverbial "ski- jump " ( lol ! ) ... or "neck hump" as you mentioned. \m/ !! Best Regards ;^ )
Hi Michael... just a quick "heads up" the latest Martin Neck reset video that I just posted a couple of days ago .... addresses ALL of your concerns in detail;^ ) ... Cheers.. MMcC
when you use the straight edge along the fingerboard and just lightly "kiss" the bridge, is
that desired when the strings are off and there is no tension? Thanks
Short answer : Yes. BUT: You have to be sure that the neck is not in a back bow ( convex ) . It may be necessary to loosen the truss rod ( without string tension ) until the "lay of the neck" is straight. In a perfect world; 2 two 3rds of the bridge saddle should be inside the milled bridge slot , and the other 3rd of the saddle should be projecting above the surface of the3 bridge. This means you will always have enough " real estate " on the bridge saddle ; to adjust the string height to where-ever you'd like it. Another consideration: The distance from the surface of the soundboard, to the" underside diameter" of the low E string, should be somewhere between 1/2" and 5/8" ( when tuned ). Lastly: The stability of the neck-to-body joint and the stiffness of the guitar
( along the length of the body ) will have an affect on how much the guitar flexes under "string load". If there is too much flexing; this can affect the final outcome of the action height too ! Sorry for the long-winded treatise .... but that pretty well covers it ;^ ) MMcC
great video Mike. I'm curious how you came up with or how you measured the angle needed to shave off the neck?
Nice video. Thank you for share.
Looks like a Godin guitar (Canada)?
Early model by Godin.
You sir. Kick ass
Thanks Paul ! Lot's more to come ... just getting started ;^ ) ... MMcC
Great vid Mike! Thanks!
My favorite guitar is a Takamine 12 string from the 60's that I play as a six string.The sound is both loud and rings very brightly across the spectrum of string frequencies and the extra width of the neck accomodates my fat finger ends.. I'm on my second of these guitars. The first one warped to the point of unusability and the solution was this neck reset which I couldn't imagine doing. But you demonsstrate that it is doable. Thanks! Is the dimension of the 'real estate' revealed by the masking tape equal to the measure of where the straight edge across the frets sits below the saddle? Is this the guideline? Thanks!
Removing the neck on a Takamine Guitar will require a LOT more work. In many cases the cheaper or mid-priced acoustic guitars necks joints, are glued with epoxy. There is a much higher risk of destroying the guitar while attempting to remove these necks for re-set. The only choice you have, to buy back the neck angle, is to remove the frets and change the trajectory of the neck angle buy
altering the fingerboard taper from nut-to-body. The neck in this video, is held on with two fasteners. This type of neck to body joint has become quite common. Taylor / Collings and Godin acoustics are all examples of manufacturers that use this type of neck joint. The Martin / Gibson guitars ... in most cases .... use the old dovetail neck joint; that will require steaming to remove for re-setting the neck. Hope that helps to clarify. MMcC
Thanks Michael. Darn, I thought it would be a breeze. Thanks
Don't be completely discouraged. You may have enough thickness in the fingerboard to correct the action. The combination of a fingerboard correction and a higher profile fret crown can make quite a difference. An additional option is to "skim " off the bridge to buy back a bit more "Real Estate " in the action and playability. Planing down the bridge is the most common alternative on mid-priced and cheaper guitars. Cheers ... MMcC Good luck ... don't give up yet ....
Bolt on necks are far easier than the conventional dovetail...cool video and time is money .... Wish my old Gibsons were bolt on necks
StringTech Workstations @ Winter NAMM this week Booth # 1009 \m/ !
Som'bitch with the heat lamp/tripod setup...that's genius!
It works pretty slick. No more than 7 minutes at a time though. The probe is also heated with the buffer ... so hot wood / hot probe .. nice and easy does it. You'll see the rosewood "sweat" bit ... then you know you've heated clan through to the glue line \m/ !
Yeah 'I don't have a bolt on neck on my acoustic.other wise it would be a quick and painless fix. Try showing us a conventional neck reset.
If you look on the mcconvilleguitarsblogspot there are several examples of Gibson / Martin / Guild .. dovetail neck-joint resets. What exactly do you have ? MMcC
Art & Lutherie guitar
Yep A+ L . Because there are SO many acoustic guitars now, with the bolt on type neck; I thought this would make a good general tutorial on this very common procedure. Hope you enjoyed it. \m/ !
+Michael McConville I love my A&L . Same Cherry body as that one but mine is a Cedar top pre 93 with black- face headstock .
I love these guitars. I have the cedar ami parlor and the spruce burgundy dread
Part of the Godin, Seagull, La Patrie family. Great instruments and quality for affordable prices. I own two Seagulls and really like them.
Removing a bolt-on acoustic guitar neck .....