Andyjr1515 Posted April 17 Share Posted April 17 Owen has a problem with his neck! Or more correctly, Owen has a problem with one of his necks. Or to be utterly precise, Owen has a problem with a G&L 5-er neck that has a snapped off truss-rod end. Getting fretboards off in one piece always carried a risk - but I haven't lost one recently and so it is worth stacking up the odds a little further and giving it a go. It's a very nice neck - but those edges are mighty thin, with the fret slots almost fully through to the maple: And so there is the possibility of ending up with 22 rectangles of fretboard rather than one whole one. BUT, it's a case of taking that risk or scrapping it. Most fretboards (but not all) are glued with heat-softening wood glues - and so you basically heat the fretboard up with an iron or similar (I use a travel-iron) and then ease a blade, and eventually a thin steel sheet slowly, slowly, slowly along until it's off: And it's still in one piece! You can see that the truss rod was fully tensioned when the adjuster-end snapped off. Interesting, though, that only one half of the strip is bowed. Sort of defies physics - I've never seen that before but maybe this is why it wasn't doing the business: Should be a pretty straightforward replacement as long as I can get a rod that fits properly. 17 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Owen Posted April 17 Share Posted April 17 Like 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Owen Posted April 17 Share Posted April 17 Of course, the problem now is that I am going to have to collect all the bits I need to house this into it's next instrument. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3below Posted April 17 Share Posted April 17 A lucky 'break' with this one. My G&L 5er suffered wood compression at the nut end rather than the truss rod stripping. Result was a cracked fingerboard lifting from the neck around frets 1-3. Game over other than a very good repair by Jon Shuker - new fretboard, dual action truss rod and stainless frets. Better than new. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Owen Posted April 17 Share Posted April 17 To be fair to G&L, there is a 10 year guarantee on their instruments. They sent me a brand new neck from the US at their expense without even flinching. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3below Posted April 17 Share Posted April 17 (edited) Mine was NOS, 2006 bass bought new in 2018 or so. Not quite sure how a warranty claim would have played out. Have owned my 1989 G&L SB-1 since about 1991, faultless. Edited April 17 by 3below Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy Jack Posted April 17 Share Posted April 17 I told you not to tighten the trussrod with molegrips ... 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyjr1515 Posted April 21 Author Share Posted April 21 Trussrod on order and should be with me mid next week Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snorkie635 Posted April 21 Share Posted April 21 Good luck with the next stages. Impressive so far. 👍 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Owen Posted April 21 Share Posted April 21 On 17/04/2024 at 23:05, Happy Jack said: I told you not to tighten the trussrod with molegrips ... I would have used the drill but the battery was flat. Molegrips were all I had. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
police squad Posted April 22 Share Posted April 22 @Andyjr1515 how do you know the fingerboard will go back the exact correct place please (I have a cheap Vintage Geoff Whitehorn signature guitar that the truss rod socket is knacked and I would like to change the truss rod myself, without breaking the bank. It's a biflex rod btw) cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyjr1515 Posted April 22 Author Share Posted April 22 31 minutes ago, police squad said: @Andyjr1515 how do you know the fingerboard will go back the exact correct place please (I have a cheap Vintage Geoff Whitehorn signature guitar that the truss rod socket is knacked and I would like to change the truss rod myself, without breaking the bank. It's a biflex rod btw) cheers I'll do a photo run-through when the rod arrives. There are a number of ways folks do it. Owen's has a particular challenge that will be interesting - the side-dots had been inserted right on the join and it would be useful if I can line up the two halves of the drill holes exactly all the way up so I can use the same size markers when it's re-glued My camera's battery is just re-charging - I'll take a couple of shots when it's got some battery life back to show you what I mean. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snorkie635 Posted April 22 Share Posted April 22 18 hours ago, Owen said: I would have used the drill but the battery was flat. Molegrips were all I had. Using the drill set to 'hammer action' usually results in a secure finish. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard R Posted April 22 Share Posted April 22 Oooh! Is that what they mean my "hammer on" in the "Technique" section?? 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyjr1515 Posted April 22 Author Share Posted April 22 7 minutes ago, Richard R said: Oooh! Is that what they mean my "hammer on" in the "Technique" section?? Yes - I use the same technique when I'm mending folks' guitars and basses. As I said to Owen when he contacted me about the trussrod, 'There's always a risk with these kinds of jobs...' 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyjr1515 Posted April 22 Author Share Posted April 22 Camera battery is recharged Here are the side dot holes: I have a cunning plan... 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
police squad Posted April 22 Share Posted April 22 2 hours ago, Andyjr1515 said: Camera battery is recharged Here are the side dot holes: I have a cunning plan... ah I see. The holes are in the f/board and the neck, (in the words of Dave Lamb) CLEVER I've heard of people drilling tiny holes through the fingerboard to the neck and using those as locating holes (under the dot markers I think) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyjr1515 Posted April 22 Author Share Posted April 22 9 minutes ago, police squad said: ah I see. The holes are in the f/board and the neck, (in the words of Dave Lamb) CLEVER I've heard of people drilling tiny holes through the fingerboard to the neck and using those as locating holes (under the dot markers I think) Yes - I'll be doing that as well, I will pop a couple of panel pin holes in the nut slot. I'll take a photo when I get to that bit. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
police squad Posted April 22 Share Posted April 22 3 hours ago, Andyjr1515 said: Yes - I'll be doing that as well, I will pop a couple of panel pin holes in the nut slot. I'll take a photo when I get to that bit. Cool. Ill follow this i think 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tauzero Posted April 23 Share Posted April 23 So if you have something the exact diameter of the holes, you could cut to length and put the dots in place in the holes on the neck before putting the fretboard on and thus exactly position it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyjr1515 Posted April 23 Author Share Posted April 23 58 minutes ago, tauzero said: So if you have something the exact diameter of the holes, you could cut to length and put the dots in place in the holes on the neck before putting the fretboard on and thus exactly position it? It's a thought. Trouble is, that's a lot of bits floating around. But I was thinking that maybe two or three spread over the length of the fretboard... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyjr1515 Posted April 23 Author Share Posted April 23 Trussrod is here and side dot material is in transit. This afternoon, I'll fettle the slot to get the new rod to fit snugly. All being well, the fretboard will be refitted before the end of the week. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Owen Posted April 23 Share Posted April 23 I am still enjoying this thread. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyjr1515 Posted April 23 Author Share Posted April 23 Fettling done and a trial fit of the trussrod also done. Less fettling than I expected so a lucky guess with which trussrod supplier to use: And the all important bit that was missing on the old one there and accessible (the adjuster nut!) Note, by the way, that the G&L necks clearly have a couple of carbon rods fitted... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard R Posted April 23 Share Posted April 23 34 minutes ago, Andyjr1515 said: Note, by the way, that the G&L necks clearly have a couple of carbon rods fitted... It's the bass equivalent of making sure there's lead in your pencil... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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