Removing An Entire Fingerboard From A Guitar

[trip668]

Hi All

Would anybody have any advice or methods on how to remove an entire fingerboard from a guitar neck by avoiding as much damage as possible to the actual neck. I basically want to remove the truss rod to put in a different guitar.

Cheers

[STAHLER]

Hi have you read the tutorial on the main site.

Tutorial

[guitar_ed]

Excuse me for raining on your parade, but wouldn't it be cheaper, faster, less risky, and easier to buy a new truss rod? Unless you are going to trash the old neck? Which I don't think you are planning to do?

Guitar Ed

Old and inarticulate

[trip668]

Excuse me for raining on your parade, but wouldn't it be cheaper, faster, less risky, and easier to buy a new truss rod? Unless you are going to trash the old neck? Which I don't think you are planning to do?

Guitar Ed

Old and inarticulate

Bassically ive managed to get hold of a cheap battered up guitar where i can basically realocate the parts from it to put in a new guitar. From what i can tell the trus rod should be fine and i would also like to gain experience of removing a fretboard.

[Curtis P]

does the guitar you bought have a neck and figerboard?

if it does, why not try removing it first, if you screw up, just swap necks then you have a working neck with truss rod

Curtis

[Lex Luthier]

Hi have you read the tutorial on the main site.

Tutorial

Quite a few people have suggested using steam when using an iron to remove the fingerboard, but what I learned when working for a luthier was to use just the heat of the iron, because heat will terminate any glue joint. I personally watched my boss remove the fingerboard with an older looking clothing iron, that I don't think you could even put water it. I've also removed 2 or 3 fingerboards myself with just the heat of a clothing iron, no steam, worked fine.

[soapbarstrat]

First, I don't agree with taking a t-rod out of a neck to put in another neck. Good "experience" means doing things for the right reasons.

Truss-rods can be bought. truss-rods can be made (good experience).

For removal, use heat as suggested (I use a "travel" mini clothes iron). And start the blade prying in an area that doesn't show, if possible. under the fret-board over-hang at the body end of the neck is one of my first choices for that. Heating with an iron works best if the frets are removed first, but can be done with them left in. I've heard of guys making blocks out of magnesium or something like that, which even has relief cuts to fit over the frets. StewMac had something like that, I think.

Of course, if there's any fret-board area that's already lifting up, that's a great place to start, and actually one of the few reasons to even be taking the board off.

I once had a bass brought in, that the board was lifting at the nut end. The owner was checking out a guitar on another bench , and when he turned around I had the whole board off his bass neck. LOL. the whole thing just easily popped off all the way up with pressure from a knife blade I was running along the gap.