Pre-fret Neck Relief

[Fraser]

Hi all, been a while for me, but I need some advice/opinions.

I've been building another guitar (please forgive me for not posting progress pics (I will soon I promise!)) and have finally I glued the fingerboard to the neck using Titebond.

When I unclamped it, I checked the fingerboard for straightness - because of the way I clamped it for a few days, it now has considerable relief.

How much? about 2mm (0.07" or 1/14th') at the 9th fret.

ok, so i'm still a noob

Neck is very deep set laminated blackwood-walnut-blackwood-walnut-blackwood. Laminates glued with Titebond.

It is 25.5" scale length slotted bound fingerboard. Binding is the same timber as the fingerboard glued with Titebond.

Fingerboard not yet radiused but fingerboard and neck are tapered.

It has a LMII Double action Truss rod and two CF rods. Rods glued with epoxy.

I am installing LMII Jumbo Evo Gold Fretwire - eventually.

As it is now, I can get rid of just over half the relief by adjusting the truss rod as far as I'm willing to.

The neck has a long tang, so I can clamp the tang and headstock down so the fingerboard is flat.

When it is clamped, the fret tang feels like it will go in ok, ie: i don't think the slots are too wide or too small.

I really don't want to heat/remove the fingerboard because I believe it will delaminate the binding and the neck laminates.

I think some relief in the neck will be good for my playing style.

Am planning on using Optima Gold 10-46 strings.

I am thinking of the following course of action:

1 clamping the neck so the fingerboard is flat.

2 radiusing the fingerboard and cleaning/deepening the fret slots

3 fretting

4 unclamping and hoping that the backbow from the fret tangs evens out the relief, maybe with a little help from the truss rod.

am I kidding myself? and if so what is my other option? The fingerboard is reasonable thick so could be sanded to level, but it would look a little funny being thinner at each end.

Thank you,

Fraser.

answers receive a photo in the soon-to-be-created-build-progress-thread

[Woodenspoke]

Hi all, been a while for me, but I need some advice/opinions.

I've been building another guitar (please forgive me for not posting progress pics (I will soon I promise!)) and have finally I glued the fingerboard to the neck using Titebond.

When I unclamped it, I checked the fingerboard for straightness - because of the way I clamped it for a few days, it now has considerable relief.

How much? about 2mm (0.07" or 1/14th') at the 9th fret.

ok, so i'm still a noob

Neck is very deep set laminated blackwood-walnut-blackwood-walnut-blackwood. Laminates glued with Titebond.

It is 25.5" scale length slotted bound fingerboard. Binding is the same timber as the fingerboard glued with Titebond.

Fingerboard not yet radiused but fingerboard and neck are tapered.

It has a LMII Double action Truss rod and two CF rods. Rods glued with epoxy.

I am installing LMII Jumbo Evo Gold Fretwire - eventually.

As it is now, I can get rid of just over half the relief by adjusting the truss rod as far as I'm willing to.

The neck has a long tang, so I can clamp the tang and headstock down so the fingerboard is flat.

When it is clamped, the fret tang feels like it will go in ok, ie: i don't think the slots are too wide or too small.

I really don't want to heat/remove the fingerboard because I believe it will delaminate the binding and the neck laminates.

I think some relief in the neck will be good for my playing style.

Am planning on using Optima Gold 10-46 strings.

I am thinking of the following course of action:

1 clamping the neck so the fingerboard is flat.

2 radiusing the fingerboard and cleaning/deepening the fret slots

3 fretting

4 unclamping and hoping that the backbow from the fret tangs evens out the relief, maybe with a little help from the truss rod.

am I kidding myself? and if so what is my other option? The fingerboard is reasonable thick so could be sanded to level, but it would look a little funny being thinner at each end.

Thank you,

Fraser.

answers receive a photo in the soon-to-be-created-build-progress-thread

2mm is a huge drop. Get out a sanding beam and flatten the neck. No good will come from attempting to fret a bent neck. How will you flatten the frets after they are put in? Next time think about the weight of clamps and what effect the may have after you glue on a fretboard. I always have my necks clamped sideways so the weight cannot warp the FB. Even if you flatten the neck right before you glue (which is what you need to do) you should expect a small amount of change from moisture and clamp pressure so the neck should be straightened again. I always radius after glueup. Then flatten the board when the radius is finished.. In short flatten neck w/sanding beam, glueFB , radius FB. flatten FB with sanding beam. Fret slots are always cut first and inlay installed

[Fraser]

Thanks spoke. I thought about it overnight and decided there was no point doing it half@ssed.

Yesterday I steamed off the fingerboard while watching Oceans 11.

Will definitely be clamping it differently this time !