Cut Into Truss Channel Need Help!

[tjiscooler]

I was finishing up the carve on a neck I made and I accidentally went a bit too far and rasped right into the truss channel! It was only one stroke, but it was a rough rasp. The guitar is a neckthrough so a new neck is out of the question...

I Don't know what to do and I was hoping you guys could help me out.

Heres the damage.

Everything in the circle is very thin and immediately around the crevice is nearly parer thin...

I wasnt even trying to make it super thin I was trying to flatten it evenly and took too much off.

And advice will be greatly appreciated. This is my first build and I really want to save it!

[Prostheta]

I did that once on an LP neck and chose to ditch the project rather than expend time and money on a potentially fatal error. Whether that was the right decision isn't known to me, although I laboured over it in my mind for a long time. I figured that since additional material is removed whilst finish sanding the neck, it would further will exacerbate that breakthrough. Any structural cracks like that will only worsen with time, and may leave bits of neck in the player's thumb. I tried to stabilise mine with CA, but it didn't work out. I would also be concerned about the visible glueline in your scarf indicating potential structure issues there.

Unless anyone who has recovered a build from this point can chime in with positive news, I would prepare for bad news for which I seem to be the bringer-of. Sorry. That said, you should be able to recover the body and the fingerboard so a set neck shouldn't be out of the question. For your first build, I'd say you went a good distance and I am sure that what you'll have learnt will do you well for your second and subsequent builds or hopefully your first build "reloaded".

That Ebony board should a high concern. I whanged an expensive Ebony on my first build and messed up the neck angle. That stuff doesn't grow on trees you know!

[DC Ross]

+1. Sometimes it's better to salvage what you can (remove the fretboard, save the truss rod, cut off the wings to reuse, etc...).

[pauliemc]

It is salvagable. But its a lot of work to do it. I have fixed this problen for a fellow luthier twice before (same guy, hasent screwed up like this since).

First repair option is my preferance here. The scarf joint appears to be going into the volute on your guitar. id change that while repairing the burn thru. remove the fret board, redo the scarf much further along the neck absorbing the screw up into the new neck portion.

Other option is to pinstripe the back of the neck. Again, take off the board. remove the truss rod. route a slot into the back of the neck from the volute to about the 21st fret. put a 1.5mm veneer onto the top of the neck (under the fret board) recut the truss slot. re-attach the board then take about 2mm off of the top of it to thin the neck out a little.

both options are a lot of work, but its a neck thru so your kinda fooked here unless you want to make it a bolt on.

[jessejames]

If it were me and it were a guitar for myself, and not a customer, I would continue sanding and get all my finish sanding done through out the guitar, then I would patch that area with some body filler, and sand it smooth, then just hit it with sealer, then paint, then clear.

If it's for a customer. Start over.

[tjiscooler]

The guitar is for me, no customers yet haha.

So what if I flatten the back of the neck and glue a thin piece of wood the length of it and recarve it? Leaving an elliptical kind of stripe. The fretboard wont come off so well, I epoxied the hell out of it and there are fiber optic cables running all through it and whatnot...

Thanks for the help guys. I feel like routing into the neck and adding a fillet wouldn't fix the thickness problem as well as just putting more wood on. I know its lame but this is my baby and I absolutely have to finish it even it it sucks.

[Prostheta]

If you're confident enough to attempt recovering it, then cool; especially when you've done all the groundwork with the fibre optics and whatnot. Don't kick yourself too much - you'll always come out of this with something....preferably a guitar, although experience is far better. I would add that wood is far superior than most fillers, as there brittleness will not allow them to move with the neck during use. Epoxy is mechanically a lot more "grabby" but you risk seizing your truss rod with that option, same as I did when using CA. Laying a piece of wood onto the back of the neck is an option, but your mileage may vary as with anything. The glue may cause issues with the truss rod if it gets into the slot, but hey; any repair attempt is better than none, especially as you have so much invested in it already! Overall you have nothing to lose by attempting a repair as long as you bear in mind potential repair gains vs. salvage (inc. losses from, and materials spent on repair).

Keep us in the loop and I'm sure you'll get the best support so this works out somehow.

This is the neck I screwed up. It was a three-ply construction of Zebrano and a tapered central lamination of Wenge. The coarseness of the Wenge didn't do me any favours and I got too enthusiastic in the same area you did. I soon learnt to measure my rod slot depth twice and check it again to make sure! The CA was eaten up by the coarse pore structure and it seized the rod. I was mortified.

[WezV]

i did it on a neck through back when i was starting.

i chopped the neck off and made it a set-neck body. the damaged neck is still in the workshop as a reminder, i have not done it since

[tjiscooler]

Wow, I really appreciate all the positive support. I plan on using good old titebond and maybe some fancy wood I have lying around to make it look intentional Im heading to the garage now ill let you know how it goes!