Here I am! Yeah, I've not been around much. Buying the jewelry store, and running it, has soaked up my time and attention...
Okay... Karosa... After two years of use, my luck has run out on one of my guitars. I'll be launching a new post about it in the near future, complete with pictures... On the Goncalo Alves neck/Marblewood fingerboard neck, the truss rod failed. Big time. This rendered my beloved thinline unplayable. The action has become way too high. But the truss adjustment nut is nearly impossible to get to, and it won't move.
So... Since I paid all of $45 for this neck, after shipping, I figure I got two years use out of it. Order another Karosa? No thank you. However, this neck does have a nice shape to it. It sounds great. And it looks amazing. Mind you, it took a LOT of work before it was ever playable.
So I removed the neck, took a knife and a hammer and indelicately removed the Marblewood fretboard. It came off a lot easier than I expected. Then I pulled out the truss rod.
Holy Poop... This thing looks home made. I'm surprised it ever made any adjustment at all. So I'll be ordering a Warmoth Double expanding truss rod soon and see if I can put this neck back together.
Things to watch for... Wonky spacing on his unusual choice in nuts. Wonky spacing on tuner holes. Frets needing some leveling. Fret ends poking out. Hard to reach Truss Rod adjustment. And a truss rod that isn't well designed (IMHO).
That said, on my Frankensteined '69 Thinline reissue, it looks amazing. The shape of this one is great, nothing like the other one on my Warmoth. It sounds great. And the feel of the Goncalo Alves is great. But its taken a lot of work. And it might not survive the truss rod replacement.