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Post by alexkirtley on Feb 27, 2015 19:40:02 GMT
I have always been fussy with guitars, trying to get it as close to ideal as possible, my main guitar is perfect for me except for the neck, it has bugged me in one way or another for a while now, for regular play (I'm sometimes out for up to 4 nights a week at folk clubs/singarounds, 3 hours each night then I play a lot at home) the neck is not that comfortable, it is quite chunky and clubby, when combined with 12 gauge strings and regular play it does tend to become quite uncomfortable, so, to get it being more comfortable I was thinking about having the neck thinned on it, anyone done this before?, I was playing a few guitars with thinner, better molded necks (Including a few of Stefan Sobells guitars) and they play beautifully with the same string gauge and action, I'd like to get mine quite near to that.
(I know that usually this would destroy value/originality but it had already had the whole neck replaced before I bought it so that's no worry)
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Post by andyhowell on Feb 28, 2015 8:18:57 GMT
I read recently that Ralph Mctell has been having some trouble with his hands - arthritis I guess. He has had the necks on his favourite guitars reprofiled/shaved.
Personally, I'd be more interested in playability than resale value!
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ocarolan
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Post by ocarolan on Feb 28, 2015 9:49:43 GMT
It's a risk - you may be no happier once it's done - you won't know until it's done.
How much wood do you think you'd like removed? Provided that the truss rod still has enough wood covering it once the job is accomplished, then it could work for you.
Which guitar is it Alex? Would another complete new neck be a safer solution? Who is going to do it?
Keith
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Post by vikingblues on Feb 28, 2015 9:59:59 GMT
When I saw the thread title my immediate thought was that it was a beard thread! I'm afraid I've no experience of this scenario, but I agree with the sense of your logic. If a guitar gets to be uncomfortable then it's not going to be played much, so there's not much point in keeping it as is. But it is so difficult to know how successful a shaving operation would be - that's the tricky part! To some extent it depends on the costs of the various possible solutions as to which makes most sense. Mark
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Post by earwighoney on Feb 28, 2015 13:41:09 GMT
I have always been fussy with guitars, trying to get it as close to ideal as possible, my main guitar is perfect for me except for the neck, it has bugged me in one way or another for a while now, for regular play (I'm sometimes out for up to 4 nights a week at folk clubs/singarounds, 3 hours each night then I play a lot at home) the neck is not that comfortable, it is quite chunky and clubby, when combined with 12 gauge strings and regular play it does tend to become quite uncomfortable, so, to get it being more comfortable I was thinking about having the neck thinned on it, anyone done this before?, I was playing a few guitars with thinner, better molded necks (Including a few of Stefan Sobells guitars) and they play beautifully with the same string gauge and action, I'd like to get mine quite near to that. (I know that usually this would destroy value/originality but it had already had the whole neck replaced before I bought it so that's no worry) I presume it is the Terry Doherty guitar with the non adjustable truss? I'm not entirely sure but would it's heavy neck be partly down to it's non adjustable truss rod in order to keep it straight and rigid? If it is that one as well, if my memory serves me right it had problems with it's action as well. I'm sure the neck could shaved down and refinished, I think it could potentially be an expensive repair unless you did it yourself. Personally, I'd sell it and get a guitar with a neck profile you are comfortable playing. Neck profile is a really important thing, aside from being too big and causing discomfort, it can still happen with the neck being too thin.
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Post by alexkirtley on Feb 28, 2015 13:58:51 GMT
I have always been fussy with guitars, trying to get it as close to ideal as possible, my main guitar is perfect for me except for the neck, it has bugged me in one way or another for a while now, for regular play (I'm sometimes out for up to 4 nights a week at folk clubs/singarounds, 3 hours each night then I play a lot at home) the neck is not that comfortable, it is quite chunky and clubby, when combined with 12 gauge strings and regular play it does tend to become quite uncomfortable, so, to get it being more comfortable I was thinking about having the neck thinned on it, anyone done this before?, I was playing a few guitars with thinner, better molded necks (Including a few of Stefan Sobells guitars) and they play beautifully with the same string gauge and action, I'd like to get mine quite near to that. (I know that usually this would destroy value/originality but it had already had the whole neck replaced before I bought it so that's no worry) I presume it is the Terry Doherty guitar with the non adjustable truss? I'm not entirely sure but would it's heavy neck be partly down to it's non adjustable truss rod in order to keep it straight and rigid? If it is that one as well, if my memory serves me right it had problems with it's action as well. I'm sure the neck could shaved down and refinished, I think it could potentially be an expensive repair unless you did it yourself. Personally, I'd sell it and get a guitar with a neck profile you are comfortable playing. Neck profile is a really important thing, aside from being too big and causing discomfort, it can still happen with the neck being too thin. It is the same one, the action problem has been all solved now however the guitar does have an adjustable truss rod, it is just a single action one I could possibly shave it myself, I have made a whole guitar neck before but I don't dare do it on this, I can refinish it myself but not shave it I'm not going to sell it, I really like this guitar, I've taken it out to dozens of singarounds I've written many songs on it, and I've already changed several things about it to get it how I like it, once the neck is right it will be perfect
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davewhite
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Post by davewhite on Feb 28, 2015 14:38:16 GMT
Alex,
Why don't you discuss it with Terry and get him to do it for you?
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Post by alexkirtley on Feb 28, 2015 17:44:56 GMT
Alex, Why don't you discuss it with Terry and get him to do it for you? He retired, sold all his machinery and tools and has pretty much just stopped working, he kept his wood but that's about it, there are several other lutheirs around here who are still operating
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leoroberts
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My main instrument is: probably needing new strings
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Post by leoroberts on Feb 28, 2015 18:47:15 GMT
Doesn't seem a great deal of point in selling the tools but keeping the wood... the other way around I could understand!
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Post by nkforster on Feb 28, 2015 21:44:25 GMT
Alex, Why don't you discuss it with Terry and get him to do it for you? He retired, sold all his machinery and tools and has pretty much just stopped working, he kept his wood but that's about it, there are several other lutheirs around here who are still operating I've got Terry's machines! There's no room for me now in the workshop. It's like trying to make a ship in a bottle. n
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Post by alexkirtley on Mar 1, 2015 1:06:58 GMT
He retired, sold all his machinery and tools and has pretty much just stopped working, he kept his wood but that's about it, there are several other lutheirs around here who are still operating I've got Terry's machines! There's no room for me now in the workshop. It's like trying to make a ship in a bottle. n You manage it well though Nigel
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Post by alexkirtley on Mar 1, 2015 15:15:29 GMT
I have been thinking about doing the neck myself now, I have made two guitar necks before in projects that was never completed but I calved the neck profile from scratch so I am capable of doing it slowly by hand with medium/light grit sandpaper then just Tru-Oil the neck afterwards, not much needs to be removed from the neck, so it should be easy and an interesting project
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Post by gavdav on Mar 2, 2015 11:13:35 GMT
I've had necks reprofiled on both a fylde Falstaff and an 1897 model Washburn parlor - great improvements to both, both done by experienced builders.
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