Twisted Neck

[BrentB6]

My beloved epi 58 ebony V has a twist in the neck. What can I do besides trashing it. Any help would be appreciated.

Thank-you...... Brent

[Scott Rosenberger]

Depends how bad but trashing it shouldn't be an option. depending on the severity of the twist you could compensate for the twist by milling the frets. If the twist is more severe you can re-plane and re-radius the fretboard and if it's worse than that you'll have to remove the fingerboard and plane the twist out of the neck itself

[Devon Headen]

If you have to ask that question, then take it to a trusted luthier.

[Brian]

Hi BrentB6 welcome to the forum

Sorry your first post is about your beloved in need of repairs though

Is it an Original 58 or a reproduction?

Is this a bolt on or set neck?

[BrentB6]

Hi BrentB6 welcome to the forum

Sorry your first post is about your beloved in need of repairs though

Is it an Original 58 or a reproduction?

Is this a bolt on or set neck?

Thanks for the responses guys.

1. It's an Epi repro 58, with set neck.

2. I believe the twist is severe enough that the fret option isn't one.

3. If I knew a trusted Luthier I wouldn't have had to ask the question.

Can any one recommend a luthier I could take it too?

Thanks again guys.

[renablistic]

how did this twist happen? Do you have a digi cam to take pics? That would help a lot.

[Brian]

Hi BrentB6 , if your looking for somebody close we need a place to start Like what country or state your in

[BrentB6]

Nothing specific happened to the guitar to make it twist. I noticed it starting to twist a litttle about a year ago. I live in Sault Ste. Marie Canada.(ya I know where is that). I have posted a picture of the twist on my website. Just go to the For Sale section and I will post a pic there. (I am not selling it I'll just post it there so you can see it. http://www.freewebs.com/voxboy/

Thanks Brent

[jbkim]

Whoa! That's a nasty twist to show up that clearly in the picture! That sux. I don't have a suggestion... just commiserating with you .

[westhemann]

why does it look to me like the nut is deformed?

[jbkim]

Yeah, the nut looks taller on the 6th string side. But you can still see the twist prominently. To me, it looks like the high frets look like they're about +2 or +3 degree of the horizon, whereas the first fret looks like about -1 degree of the horizon.

[soapbarstrat]

You can't tell hardly anything from that photo. Of course the nut looks lower on the High E side, the string is smaller and closer to the fret-board. And the Low E side might be thicker than it has to be (making the low E string pretty high off the frets) . I agree that the nut looks funny, but the headstock doesn't seem to show much twist. First few frets look quite odd, and do look to be slanted downward on the treble side. From how those frets look, I suspect some twist or dip in the fret-board.

Well, the main thing is, that more pics would be needed with much better lighting. What would be good is a pic from the far body end. looking at the neck. Also what would be good, is the guitar with the body clamped to a light colored table top, with the neck close to the table top. Headstock barely above table top. I'd like to see what that headstock is up to.

Your first few frets look problematic, but from that photo, I can't tell if would take normal refret board leveling to make the problem go away, or if the neck is a "lost cause". I wish I had before photos of my Bass neck. I doubt you got a twist as bad as that sucker, and I took the twist out of the fret-board (fret board got sanded down to almost nothing in some places). Headstock stayed twisted. Plays good, though.

Most necks develop some twisting and warping. A fret-job usually rectifies the problem ,and if done right (or better than right with a 'neck-jig') the guitar will play better than when it was new.

*** I edited this post. I had written that you could have someone heat-treat it to try to take out the twist, but I doubt that heat can cure a twist.

Rob