Well Sir, I Gone Done It!

[low end fuzz]

profiling my neck today, for my first left handed order; very basic; 2pc. walnut body w/b.e & hard culy maple neck; jazz bass;

also for the first time using the hot rod trusses i got a while back;

everything was well ; good fast neck (approx 21mm)

i wanted to de whisker it many times with really dilluted amber analine dye, like 180 -320 grit;

well after i soaked her down and waited a few hours i went back and started sanding with my 180 and soaked it again, when i went back to i held it and was twisting my hand around the profile and whatnot, and soo very strange, i thought the water raised the grain in a straight line down the center of my neck;

so i stood there w/ my mouth wide open , cause i finally realized it was my my truss rod pushing up through the wet wood; when it was dry i sanded it lightly and the raised area was gone, and i couldnt feel any weakness spots in the wood, but am very dissapointed, im gonna have to make another one which sucks because this lefty was suprisingly hard for no real reason;and the curls look amazing; i'll prolly end up puting it on a new sign or something; my sign right now is just made of hard maple/no figure

it came down to 2 factors i figure, my fingerboard was thicker than usual, and the hot rods are an extra mm or so than my old single way rods, and when i used my cliper i didnt factor in either

[Setch]

If you haven't actually broken through, you can pull the fretboard, fill the trussrod channel with a new piece of maple, and then re-route for a slightly smaller rod - martin style u-channels are pretty shallow, as are traditional gibson style compression rods.

On a plain neck it probably wouldn't be worth the effort, but if you've got some nice curl going on it's worth saving.

[low end fuzz]

i was thinking of something like that; or possibly epoxy the whole thing and give it a film finish, but i think the neck will need more flexibility than that (i always oil necks)

setch, you have a good idea, exept in my case, after i take off the finger board the maple's not gonna be a clean piece, which means id have to re-joint it, which means my headplate is gonna have to come off, which also means i'll have to glue a new fb to a radiused neck which means ...its a buetiful curly/b.e. neck, and i fuct it.

thanx anywho

[Setch]

What makes you say that? Heat the fretboard, and you should be able to pop it off pretty cleanly with a spatula and some patience. You won't need to run the neck over the jointer afterwards - a quick work over with a sharp scraper will have it ready for reglueing in a couple of minutes.

I've pulled fretboards and reglued them several times - it's harder than glueing up an unshaped neck and fretboard, but it certainly isn't impossible. Repair guys pull fretboards all the time, and they certainly can't run the necks over the jointer afterwards!

BTW, what exactly do you mean by 'the neck will need more flexibiltiy than that'? Whether you use an oil or film finish won't make an ounce of difference to the flexibility of a neck, just how it feels and looks.

[low end fuzz]

i would assume the epoxy would stiffin the neck in a 'cacoon' and would nt flex with the strings/wood;

i have no reason to beleive it, just speculation from what ive seen when wood moves inside a finish;

i might try heating the board though; when i remove fb, i use chisels, and i only do it to get my truss rod back;

thanx

[Setch]

There's a good tutorial on fretobard removal on the main PG site - that's more or less how I learned to do it on the MIMF and by trial and error. It works well, and leaves very little to clean up.

A film finish will make wood a little more resistant to dings and the like, but not much, and only in the case of very soft woods like basswood or cedro. It will make precisely zero difference to it's strength or flexibility.

[fryovanni]

i would assume the epoxy would stiffin the neck in a 'cacoon' and would nt flex with the strings/wood;

i have no reason to beleive it, just speculation from what ive seen when wood moves inside a finish;

i might try heating the board though; when i remove fb, i use chisels, and i only do it to get my truss rod back;

thanx

As Setch mentioned. Epoxy finish is not going to do much to help. It will flex same as most any other film finish you would use(laquer, shellac,tung oil, etc....). If your finish was extreamly stiff and brittle it would crack over time.

Seems to me you could listen to what Setch is suggesting and save a nice figured Maple neck. Sounds like-"i might try heating the board though; when i remove fb, i use chisels, and i only do it to get my truss rod back;" you are not interested in trying though.

I would take it easy on this-"well after i soaked her down and waited a few hours i went back and started sanding with my 180 and soaked it again". I hope you are not intentionally saturating the neck like that sounds.

Peace,Rich

[low end fuzz]

iam;

on my figured maple necks i dye them 3-4 times with really dilluted amber analine dye to dewhisker and bring out the curl ; its more or less dyeing a minor amount at a time with removing the raised grain each time; tried it once and will continue;

its not that im not interested in heating the board as much as 'never done it' i should prolly try, and if its gonna be scrap (technically) anyways , its a good time to learn;

can i use an iron?

[fryovanni]

iam;

on my figured maple necks i dye them 3-4 times with really dilluted amber analine dye to dewhisker and bring out the curl ; its more or less dyeing a minor amount at a time with removing the raised grain each time; tried it once and will continue;

its not that im not interested in heating the board as much as 'never done it' i should prolly try, and if its gonna be scrap (technically) anyways , its a good time to learn;

can i use an iron?

I understand what you are doing, but my concern is that you said you are "soaking" the neck. If it works for you cool.

Peace,Rich

[Setch]

An iron works fine. I use mine on the hottest setting, but you need to be careful not to melt the binding or scortch the neck.

[low end fuzz]

ohoh, one more thing;

should i rip the frets out first, to make contact with the board, or is the steam surrounding it enuff?

should i pout a wet cloth over the wood too?

thanx again

oh and if your concerned about the soaking, i dont go crazy on the neck because i dont want it getting into my truss cavity, but my bodies get 1 or 2 dripping wet soaks; i find wetter is better, as long as their bone dry when you sand'em

Edited November 7, 2006 by low end fuzz

[Setch]

ohoh, one more thing;

should i rip the frets out first, to make contact with the board, or is the steam surrounding it enuff?

should i pout a wet cloth over the wood too?

thanx again

oh and if your concerned about the soaking, i dont go crazy on the neck because i dont want it getting into my truss cavity, but my bodies get 1 or 2 dripping wet soaks; i find wetter is better, as long as their bone dry when you sand'em

Leave 'em in - the frets protect the board from direct contact with the iron, and transfer the heat down close to the glueline much better than the fretboard wood would.