A new neck

[Cagey]

What do you mean by "warp"? Is it twisted? If so, you may as well give it to the dog as a chew toy. Or, you could wait until winter and if you have a wood stove or a fireplace, use it to generate some heat. Hardwoods burn hot and slow. In any event, there's no sense wasting storage space for it. It needs to go bye-bye.

If it's just warped along its length so that it has too much back-bow or relief for the truss rod to eliminate, that's surprisingly easy to cure. You need a very firm and straight piece of square steel tube stock, and you clamp that along the fretboard with some shims in strategic places to bend it the way you want it to end up, and stuff it in an oven at 175°F for an hour. Let it cool for a couple/few hours after you remove it and It'll follow the curve your shims describe for ever and ever, amen.

Be sure to pull the tuners off before you do it, and maybe knock off the nut if it's plastic, but don't worry about the finish. Even lacquer will survive that temperature. Just be sure to pad the clamps so they don't leave dents, as the finish will soften while it's hot.

 

[rgand]

Yeah, Cagey. Twisted slightly. Firewood time. Well, it looks like I'll have to dig up something else to put on it. The thing doesn't warrant a fine Warmoth neck, though. But then I could replace the body, pickguard, hardware and use the old pickguard screws.

 

[Cagey]

I don't know if I'd say it doesn't warrant a fine Warmoth neck. To me, 80%-90% of an electric guitar is the neck. Get the neck right, and you can forgive a wide variety of sins. After all, the neck is what you play and the pickups are a very large part of the sound. It's not an acoustic instrument. The body is more of a string anchor and electronics mounting convenience than anything else. You can make the body as pretty (or ugly) as you'd like out of a variety of materials, but the playability and sound are largely dependent on the neck and pickups.

 

[rgand]

Right now, the expense of a fine neck would suit my desires better on something else. Don't get me wrong, it's a beautiful body with great tone but not one I want to sink a lot of money into at this time. The original neck has a weird resonance to it causes terminal sympathetic droning. Problem with the truss rod, maybe? That's why I was getting this other one ready to go on. I will probably bolt the original back on and put it away for now. One of these days, I'll round up a neck for it. Meanwhile it can live in the case out of the way.

 

[Surf n Music n Ski n Bike]

Well I got her and also my collection of tools is growing.

She is a fatback. I was wondering what they felt like. Pretty thick. I decided to go at her with some 60 grit for a while and thin her down. She started out with a beauty mark and that has kinda disappeared.

I spent a couple hours sanding her down. I know there is more efficient ways to sand then by hand but I had plenty of time so why not.

Nothing to fancy, just a good piece of maple and rosewood.

 

[Cagey]

Lovely! I'm surprised that beauty mark sanded off. I would have expected that to run a little deeper.

I see from your tool collection you got a set of nut slotting files. Good for you! Expensive little rascals, but they really make a huge difference in playability. I use those in combination with a nut slotting gauge and set the slot height so the strings have roughly .012" clearance off the first fret. Makes the thing play like butter. Won't buzz, but barely requires any pressure to fret. Even babies and little girls can play the thing. Also an expensive tool, but the results are fantastic and well worth the investment.

The only problem with such a thing, and the reason I started on the subject is I want to warn you about going slow. Not necessarily moving slow, but only taking a bit off at a time. Spend the time to make small changes and measure repeatedly, or you'll blow the nut and have to invent all sorts of new cuss words. Once the slot is too deep, yer fukt. You gotta knock the nut off and start over.

Of course, there's always the old super-glue/baking soda trick where you fill a deep slot and re-cut it to suit, but that's a very temporary fix used to buy time to get to the hospital before you die of embarrassment. Just be patient and do it right the first time.

 

[stratamania]

Another useful tool is the Safe Slot nut guard. I have one and it works a treat.

http://www.stewmac.com/Luthier_Tools/Tools_by_Job/Nuts_and_Saddles/Safe_Slot_Nut_Guard.html

 

[Surf n Music n Ski n Bike]

Thanks Cagey and Stratamania. Both those tools looks supper helpful. That Nut slot gauge is bad ass. I'm tosses em both back and forth. Ya those slot files were expensive but worth it. I used em on my tele. So much nicer having the right tool. I think I could go lower but I get a bit nervous. Both those tools look like they will help with the confidence.

I was surprised that beauty mark disappeared also. I was prepared for it to get a little worse. It was a good surprise. It is a nice piece of quartersawn wood. 

 

[Cagey]

If you have nut files (and I know you do), you really owe it to yourself and your guitar-playing friends to get that nut slotting gauge. Forget the $60, the results are great. The first time you use it you'll be so happy that money won't be a part of the conversation.

 

[rgand]

If you have nut files (and I know you do), you really owe it to yourself and your guitar-playing friends to get that nut slotting gauge. Forget the $60, the results are great. The first time you use it you'll be so happy that money won't be a part of the conversation.

You can never go wrong with good tools. Your job is much easier to get right and it takes less time to do so. In the long run, it costs you less anyway.

 

[Cagey]

Perzactly. As one of my mentors used to say: "It only costs a little more to go first class, and you're rarely sorry." The advice applies to a lot of things, but it's paid off for me most often with tools. Don't screw around. Forget the money. Get the right thing. If you can't afford or justify it, hire out the work to someone who can.

 

[Surf n Music n Ski n Bike]

If you have nut files (and I know you do), you really owe it to yourself and your guitar-playing friends to get that nut slotting gauge. Forget the $60, the results are great. The first time you use it you'll be so happy that money won't be a part of the conversation.

You can never go wrong with good tools. Your job is much easier to get right and it takes less time to do so. In the long run, it costs you less anyway.

Good point. I want to get to where my setups are on par with a pro. Just want to be solid with it. I'm getting it.

 

[Surf n Music n Ski n Bike]

set the slot height so the strings have roughly .012" clearance off the first fret. Makes the thing play like butter. Won't buzz, but barely requires any pressure to fret. Even babies and little girls can play the thing.

That's what I'm going for. I'm getting one 

 

[Cagey]

Trust me, you won't be sorry. As overpriced as it is, It's a fantastic tool to have.

 

[stratamania]

Great, the right tool for the job is always worth it if you can.  Said he who yesterday was wishing he'd bought a reamer along with the last tool order 

 

[Cagey]

If you do get the urge again to buy a reamer, be sure to get one of the long ones. They have less of a taper to them so they tend to make more cylindrical holes. The short ones make holes that have too much taper to them so the hole ends up too conical and things don't really fit as well as they should. You'll spend more money, but you'll be happier with the results.

 

[stratamania]

Hi Cagey, yes that is the type I would want. I could have done with it yesterday when fitting some vintage tuners. I managed to improvise, but the reamer would have been much faster  etc.

 

[Cagey]

I've managed to live without one for quite a while now. I had one of the long ones from StewMac some years back, but I don't know where it is now. Pisses me off, as it cost me dearly. Hell of it is, I know if I throw another $120 at a new one, the original will show up like magic 4 days later  :laughing7:

 

[stratamania]

I know what you mean, I am sure there is a black hole where things hide until you get another. Its happened to me before now.

 

[musicispeace]

Good work. If you ever get the chance to measure the thickness of what you ended up with I would be curious. Obviously it is what is comfortable for your hand. I take it the Fatback is quite round in profile. I like the boatneck I just got quite a lot but was surprised that the V shape in the first and second position area was more pronounced than I expected. Fills my hand very much to my liking and I'll adapt, just more of a v than I expected.