|
Post by Mike Floorstand on Nov 7, 2013 23:19:40 GMT
Just wondered if anyone had ever had a go at straightening an instrument neck themselves?
I have a tenor banjo which is playable (after some tweaking and shimming) but would really benefit from a little straightening. The instrument is not worth defretting, planing and refretting.
I was thinking something like, getting two bits of straight wood, clamping the neck between them with three clamps, and applying heat treatment by leaving on top of the radiator, gradually tightening the middle clamp every so often...I imagine this could go horribly wrong, but is any such solution even remotely practical?
|
|
|
Post by bellyshere on Nov 7, 2013 23:53:02 GMT
I barely trust myself to change strings let alone attempt straightening necks. Take it to a man.
|
|
davewhite
Luthier / Guitar Maker
Luthier
Aemulor et ambitiosior
Posts: 3,548
|
Post by davewhite on Nov 8, 2013 11:30:09 GMT
Joe,
I'm not sure that will work very well. Part of the heat treatment I think involves it releasing the fretboard glue and then it re-glueing with the neck straight - a bit like slipping the back neck joint on s Spanish neck joint. You need to direct the heat and control it - probably with something like a silicone heating blanket between metal slats on a solid flat surface with the neck clamped onto this.
|
|
|
Post by Mike Floorstand on Nov 8, 2013 23:16:25 GMT
OK I may bow out then. [edit: I only just saw what I did there]
I think I had in mind that heating the neck somehow made it more pliable, so could be bent back into its original straightness ...
But it sounds like you're just softening the glue, straightening the neck with brute force, then letting the glue reset hard and hopefully keep the newly straightened neck straight.
It's beginning to sound like a dodgy idea, even if I had the tools to achieve it!
|
|
davewhite
Luthier / Guitar Maker
Luthier
Aemulor et ambitiosior
Posts: 3,548
|
Post by davewhite on Nov 9, 2013 8:15:39 GMT
Joe,
Long term wood exhibits "cold creep" and has a sort of "muscle memory" of the new shape it has become. You can change the shape with heat but need something to keep it in its new shape - the fingerboard re-glued on it for example or a truss rod (metal or wooden) inserted.
|
|