Fretboard On A Twisted Neck?

[Xaromir]

Long time since i've been here, i got some new tools,

and getting ready to continue working on my guitar next month.

First a little reminder / status update:

You may remember... i got this guitar which i'm trying to fix:

By now i got the fretboard off the neck:

Now it's much clearer to see and feel, the neck is twisted slightly to the right,

a bit like a helix-shape.

I could sand it flat now, but i have 2 problems with that:

The neck would get quite thin, and i would have to compensate for this when putting on the new fretboard,

so i thought about fitting a fretboard on the neck without touching the neck.

I would put some self-adhesive sanding paper on the neck, and then sand the new fretboard with very small movements

onto the shape of the neck.

Any alternatives - thought - or recommendations?

It would be most appreciated.

Edited April 16, 2010 by Xaromir

[Crusader]

My immediate thoughts are that the neck may continue to twist over time

But apart from that I think its a good idea

[Xaromir]

Good to hear that my thoughts are not completely wrong.

Hopefully the wood will not move much anymore after almost 100 years,

but i have no experience if it comes to that.

I thought about fitting pieces of wood on the side of the fretboard,

that's going to get glued to the neck, but with the endgrain pointing to the outside of the fretboard,

i'm not sure if that would keep it from twisting or not though.

[Woodenspoke]

I would have left the fret board on and sanded that flat rather than the neck. Now it will be hard to put on a fretboard with a twisted neck.

[Xaromir]

I've actually tried that, but the fretboard shrunk,

it got a little valley down the middle, i would have had to do a whole lot of sanding anyway,

and i would have had to put on a new one anyway since it would have been to shallow after that,

so i figured it wouldn't matter if i would put on a new one.

[Woodenspoke]

I've actually tried that, but the fretboard shrunk,

it got a little valley down the middle, i would have had to do a whole lot of sanding anyway,

and i would have had to put on a new one anyway since it would have been to shallow after that,

so i figured it wouldn't matter if i would put on a new one.

See if you can get a thick FB to seat on the neck and go back to leveling the FB. Since I am not there to see the actual condition of the neck twist its my best guess. Considering the age I would not worry abut future neck movement in the twist direction. However some kind of supporting rod for a bow is suggested, like carbon fiber. If its really that bad make a new neck.

[Xaromir]

I thought about reinforcing the neck, but more in therms of "trussrod" the carbon thing is new to me.

Is there maybe a good tutorial or something like that?

Thanks for the input - it's most appreciated!

[Prostheta]

I agree 100% about the stability of the wood. It's not going anywhere new, and I doubt the fingerboard was holding it back ;-)

Definitely flatten the glueing face out so you don't have to compensate on both sides of a twisted fingerboard on a twisted surface. Glueing a complimentary veneer onto the twisted surface, then sanding that back to create a flatter surface may be a solution. 2mm of Rosewood veneer shouldn't be too much of a bind. You can then sand your fingerboard glueing surface flat before reglueing. No idea if this is a good solution, but one I would consider. Never attempted this before myself - hope you find a solution with a nice instrument at the end of it!

[Xaromir]

Thanks a lot you two! Mighty interesting read btw looks like a complicated topic, but i try to get it done, thanks for the help.

The veneer idea also is a very good one actually, i have to think about that.

I will post when i'm any further with it, i guess i will first re-finish it,

so expect something better looking for the start of next month.

[Xaromir]

I thought i re-use this topic, since i have 2 or 3 already, and i don't want to spam.

Thing is:

I would like to take my bridge off, so i can make a new one / duplicate from ebony.

Does anyone know how to do that?

I was able to pull the fretboard like this with little modifications:

http://projectguitar.com/tut/removal.htm

I've also tried that with the bridge, which worked very fine on the wings,

but the thicker part of the bridge just doesn't get hot enough, to make the glue soft at all

How would you suggest i go about that without destroying the bridge or the guitar?

I would like to keep the bridge for reverence even though i'm making a new one.

I thought about removing it with a flush cut saw, or even just a thin saw-blade,

but i sort of fear that i would damage the top.

Razorblades sadly will not do, i always cut myself with the double-sided ones,

and the other ones are just to thick. at the back without a edge.

Any ideas?

[Xaromir]

Finally got around to taking new detailed pictures.

Here are the tuners - i should replace that gears some day.

http://i394.photobucket.com/albums/pp26/Xaromir/d2.jpg

I've totally forgotten about a picture i took in january, gives a good idea of the rosette and the bindings.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/45756818@N03/...170660/sizes/o/

The inlays are actually black/white or black/yellow.

You people know the bridge already i guess.

Sorry for the push, i wasn't able to edit anymore.

[Prostheta]

frets.com has a bunchload of tutorials on how to repair and maintain acoustics....hope there is something there to help!