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Post by hotblooze on Sept 6, 2020 21:35:15 GMT -5
This is one of their 3 x 3 pitched headstock necks. I noticed there are a stack of washers behind the lug and it will not turn anymore to the rignt. Any way I can salvage this ?
I tried the center compression method with a piece of narrow board clamped down with tiny wood blocks placed at each end of the fretboard. Didn't seem to budge.
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Post by Peegoo 🏁 on Sept 7, 2020 5:18:44 GMT -5
Does it feel like the adjusting nut is at the end of its travel (it has run out of threads)?
What kind of adjuster does it have? Heel, or headstock?
Does adjusting the neck under string tension have any effect at all? Meaning: if you loosen it, does relief increase?
Apologies for all the questions, but the answers will help diagnose the issue.
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Post by hotblooze on Sept 7, 2020 9:33:42 GMT -5
Gino, glad you came in on this.
1. Yes, it feels the adjusting nut has ran out of its travel. A few washers are placed there by the manufacturer (Warmoth) to perhaps increase the number of threads to allow some right rotation. I have reached the limit.
2. Headstock adjuster lug nut type.
3. I unbolted the neck from the body and checked with a straight edge and there is still a relief with the trussrod adjusted to the maximum.
I hope that gives you a better picture of the neck. Any advice will be appreciated.
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Post by Peegoo 🏁 on Sept 7, 2020 11:07:49 GMT -5
Put a straightedge atop the frets and look closely at any gaps (a bright light staring you in the face on the other side of the neck helps to see this).
Next, loosen the rod completely and check again. Any change?
I ask this question to confirm the 'dead' end of the rod (where it's attached to its anchor block inside the heel) is still attached and the rod is doing something to straighten the neck. If the rod is working, you'll see some change.
If the rod is not working there will be no change.
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Post by funkykikuchiyo on Sept 7, 2020 20:25:00 GMT -5
Did you grease up the nut? They do that from the factory (unlike some manufacturers) so it shouldn't be too bad, but it never hurts. If you don't have a good dry lube handy, chap stick works surprisingly well. Don't use anything runny. It would be good to visually inspect the rod threads too, see if there is anything bizarre going on.
If it is new, that should be under warranty. They sand them out with an intentional forward bow, but if they over do it and/or it is an abnormally stiff neck, it can be too much. What wood/neck profile is it?
Heat pressing is an option, and effective, but ill advised in a DIY situation, and would also void a warranty.
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Post by hotblooze on Sept 8, 2020 18:59:55 GMT -5
Did you grease up the nut? They do that from the factory (unlike some manufacturers) so it shouldn't be too bad, but it never hurts. If you don't have a good dry lube handy, chap stick works surprisingly well. Don't use anything runny. It would be good to visually inspect the rod threads too, see if there is anything bizarre going on. If it is new, that should be under warranty. They sand them out with an intentional forward bow, but if they over do it and/or it is an abnormally stiff neck, it can be too much. What wood/neck profile is it? Heat pressing is an option, and effective, but ill advised in a DIY situation, and would also void a warranty. |
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Post by hotblooze on Sept 8, 2020 19:03:00 GMT -5
Did you grease up the nut? They do that from the factory (unlike some manufacturers) so it shouldn't be too bad, but it never hurts. If you don't have a good dry lube handy, chap stick works surprisingly well. Don't use anything runny. It would be good to visually inspect the rod threads too, see if there is anything bizarre going on. If it is new, that should be under warranty. They sand them out with an intentional forward bow, but if they over do it and/or it is an abnormally stiff neck, it can be too much. What wood/neck profile is it? Heat pressing is an option, and effective, but ill advised in a DIY situation, and would also void a warranty. Funky, heat treatment may be a good idea. Any pointers how to do this without a dedicated neck heating bar ? |
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Post by Peegoo 🏁 on Sept 9, 2020 8:26:18 GMT -5
Like FunkyK says, contact Warmoth before you do anything with the neck. They do stand behind their products.
A halogen lamp will do it (aimed at the fingerboard) but you have to monitor the temperature of the wood with an IR thermometer. You also have to protect any finished surface from the heat because the lamp can blister the finish.
I completely relax the truss rod and get the neck to 125F-130F for about 15 minutes. Then I clamp it up to hold it in a straight or slightly back-bowed condition until cool. This is what works for me, and there are lots of other methods.
More info here:
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Post by funkykikuchiyo on Sept 9, 2020 10:37:09 GMT -5
I own an Aria Neck Straightener, but at a time when I didn't have that available, I had an alder body blank cut off that was the perfect length. I use shims on either end of a reasonably soft wood (balsa is great, but many things will work). If you can clamp it up, it is just a matter of figuring out how to get it toasty. In the winter, I'd put it nice and close to the wood stove, and in the summer I'd leave it in the back of my car in the sun. Headed into fall and not knowing where you live, those may not be options.
The video is really good, and I'm glad he made an important point: you aren't heat bending the wood, you're softening and resetting the glue joint, the opposite of "cold creep". There are scores of techs out there that think heat pressing is useless and the necks just bounce back, but that is only true when you need to bend the wood itself, because it isn't nearly enough heat; think what it takes to bend sides or to bend rocking chair bottoms. This is why they aren't good for twists or other issues of bad grain in the neck. The wood grain is the stronger, more assertive force. In your case, it is most likely that the guitar was just built with too much forward bow.
Consider this a last ditch effort. Doing heat pressing is effective, and sometimes too effective. If you don't lay it out correctly you can end up with a weird S curve or something. You do need a good eye, and sometimes you need a fret dress afterward.
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