HELP! Neck Reset on a Vintage Guild D44

[kostask]

Here is a Youtube video of how things are done by a qualified luthier:



He doesn't use steam, he uses his heat probe method of removing a neck. He is the first person that I saw do this, and my own luthier friends are now considering going this way for neck resets, due to the lower possibility damage due to steam used with a more traditional method. Note that the Hummingbird is similar to Guilds in that the finish was sprayed over the neck body join after the neck and body were mated. He shows how to work around this. There is nothing really much more difficult with this neck reset than any neck reset without the finish applied prior to the neck and body being mated, its just one added step, and not a major one.

 

[wileypickett]

Cool!

I take heart from the fact that the luthier sees the advantage of installing a Bridge Doctor on the LG1 to counteract its "folding up" in front of the bridge around the soundhole.

On my very distressed Guild JV72 (now Rich Cohen's), I installed a BD to reduce the bellying behind the bridge. It solved the bellying problem, as it's designed to do, but I noticed that it also leveled the top around the soundhole where it dipped. (When I got the guitar, the soundhole, at an angle, looked like a Pringle. A few months after installing the BD the soundhole was round again.)

It used to be that luthiers attempted to fix the bellying top / collapsing top problem by replacing the bridge plate.

But as my luthier explained to me, when you consider that the bridge plate is about the same size as the bridge, only much thinner, it's unreasonable to expect that replacing a skinny 2" X 6" piece of wood is going to flatten an area that, in some cases, may be as large as 11" X 18".

Thanks for posting.

 

[bobouz]

One thing to note regarding the LG-1’s plastic bridge in the video above - it is a completely different animal compared to the adjustable saddle & plastic bridge as seen on the X-braced Gibson B-25 & Epiphone FT-45 Cortez (per my post #37 photo) from the same era. I completely agree & advocate replacing the non-adjustable plastic bridge on the LG-1, as string transfer must pass to the top directly through the plastic.

However on the adjustable version, the top is completely coupled to the metal framework of the adjustable saddle, while the plastic bridge is essentially left to simply hold the bridge pins in place. This results in the unique metallic overtones I referred to earlier, so if a player is drawn to that tone and the bridge/adj saddle is structurally stable (as on my example after 56 years!), it can be well worth retaining in order to preserve the instrument’s tonal characteristics.

 

[kostask]

he did briefly talk about the adjustable saddle/ceramic bridge in the video. He didn't mention the bridge material, but did say some things about the metal parts rattling/buzzing. I don't want to rehash the whole adjustable bridge issue argument here, as I think I have made my opinion on that abundantly clear over many, many postings.

The point of my posting the video was to specifically for the neck reset on the Hummingbird, and its similarity to the Guild in that they both had finish applied after the neck was joined to the body, and how it applied to the earlier posting regarding how some who would present themselves as luthiers were turning down Guild neck resets because of the aforementioned finish. The video shows that the process is exactly the same as the one that would be used in a Martin neck reset, just with the scoring of the finish at the neck/body joint with a very sharp knife. He actually points this out in the video.

He does deviate from the most common method in that he uses a hot wire heat (i.e. dry) method vs. the more common steam (i.e. wet), but otherwise, this is a very standard neck reset.

 

[CarvedTop]

If you think that video was hard to watch, check out his latest "repair" video. I watched the whole thing, only out of morbid curiosity.

 

[Br1ck]

Proper neck angle is the relationship of the strings at the nut and the top of a saddle. There are severe bellying issues that if resolved could correct this, but that would entail a bridge and bridge plate removal and possibly a brace or two reglued. This is maybe more involved than a neck reset.

Jerry Rosa has a reluctance to reset necks and explanations of other approaches. Search Rosa String Works. If you can flatten a top, you can make a new taller saddle. But if bellying is minor, you won't gain much.

 

[davenumber2]

If you think that video was hard to watch, check out his latest "repair" video. I watched the whole thing, only out of morbid curiosity.

I wonder if he okays it with the customer before he cuts half the neck off to reglue a headstock.

 

[Br1ck]

If you think that video was hard to watch, check out his latest "repair" video. I watched the whole thing, only out of morbid curiosity.

You like to trash Jerry every chance you get. I get it. He fixed a crap guitar well and permanently. His customer is happy. He did the same to a Larrivee mandolin for the Acoustic Shoppe. They are happy. That one was deemed unfixable by three other repair guys. You would not do it that way, but what is it to you? Can you make a video and post it so we can see how you would do it? And what does a headstock repair have to do with the subject of resetting a neck?

A business exists only if customers support it. Jerry has had more work than he could possibly accommodate, and has now semi retired due to poor health. He has provided countless videos enabling folks to understand the ins and outs of instrument building and repair. At no time does he ever say his methods are the best or only way. He hates hide glue. He states why and has provided testing to back up his opinion, all the while stating that is only his opinion. So please start a guitar repair YouTube channel, I love watching them. I'll listen to your reasoning on why you are doing what you are doing.