Official Luthiers Forum!

I've got a nice little Fender American Tele in the shop for a full setup. 2011 is stamped on the end of the all maple neck. Came to me with the neck bowed up and truss rod full tight - at that point relief was 0.030". The owner plays jazz so the guitar as it is just isn't much use to him. It has the Biflex truss rod so I heated up the walnut plug, pulled it out, cleaned it and added washers, some lube and a new truss rod nut. Truss rod is good now but the neck still has a pretty significant bow.

I've clamped it into a back bow for several days and can tighten the truss rod then let the clamp loose and neck will barely stay straight. Clamping has helped some but still not good enough. The neck feels pretty stiff to me when I grab the headstock and try to move it around.

Wasn't expecting this one to turn into a booger but it did. Customer is happy so far and even said he'd be happy to have a new neck put on it but I don't want to do that unless there is no other way.

I would appreciate some advice from my more experienced brethren before I do anything more drastic

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

New Neck.... Seriously - it sounds has if you have done much of what could be tried short of heat treating which some of us are not all the keen on anyway. Why? Because IME it does not always work.... and/or last even if it does work for a while....

You might want to call Dave and ask him about his proprietary method for using compression.... and that's all I am going to say on the forum until you talk with him.... to straighten necks. It's pretty clever but I am not sure if Dave intends this method to be released yet since it's under development so I don't wan't to let the cat out of the bag. You may have to refinish the board though being one of those awful maple finished ones.... Leo was great at the manufacturability part of guitar design but not always that well versed with the serviceability part of guitar design or even the physics of how a guitar works. Nonetheless Leo's accomplishments are legendary and I am digressing and regressing here, sorry.

Call Dave today Steve and ask him about what Hesh is describing as his double secret compression neck straightening method.

You know too after some time rebuilding the truss rod system, trying different things, etc. your billable hours are making that new neck when new necks can be had for chump change these days more and more attractive.

I've had a couple of successful outcomes on doing a heat set. I would not guarantee the results, but it is a good "last ditch effort" type of repair that might save the old neck.

(encryption on) Hesh, is the secret putting the neck into a back bow and seeping CA under the frets? (encryption off)

Hesh, I'll call later today or in the morning.

Barry, have you done a heat set on an all maple neck? I was under the impression that the idea behind a heat set was to realign the joint between the neck and the fretboard, unfortunately this neck doesn't have a fretboard (or this fretboard doesn't have a neck?).

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

I have done heat resets on Fender and Gibsons.... sometimes it works well. When it doesn't you are left with little recourse. The LP's owners I advise to sell immediately out of state while the repair holds, and the Fender guys opt for a new factory neck or a high quality Warmoth.

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"Act your age, not your shoe size" - Prince

Darn..... the cats loose.....

Hope all is well with ya too Barry!

(encryption on) (encryption off)

Hey, can you guys see me laughing when I do that ?

You guys could see that? Darn!

We should have used the cone of silence.....

That's it - I need one of those

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

That's it - I need one of those

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

I had a chance to talk to Hesh and David up at Ann Arbor guitars about this one (thanks guys!). I considered that options that we discussed but the back bow on this neck is too much for correction. I could have probably made the guitar play ok and the owner could have sold it but to the owners credit he said that sell it or keep it he wanted it fixed right. This one will be getting a new neck.

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

So I just got off the phone with Fender and it looks like there is an 8 to 12 week lead on replacement necks. Sheesh.

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

No surprise there. I have a client that's been waiting at least 2 months for a new Tele neck. Seems there is no hurry in California.

_________________
"Act your age, not your shoe size" - Prince

I spoke with my client and he said he would wait so I called Fender to put a neck on order. They would not take the order unless I was a dealer. Non-dealers can only purchase in-stock items. I wasn't real impressed with that. Fortunately I found a music store in Chicago that had a new Fender neck for sale so I bought that - it's on the way. Hope it's what it's supposed to be; guess I'll find out in a few days.

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

Don't forget.... there is always eBay, and believe me - lots of bargains to be found on new or used guitars and parts if you're savvy.

_________________
"Act your age, not your shoe size" - Prince

Thanks all for the comments. A new never-opened Fender neck arrived in the box from Chicago. It's straight so getting it installed and setup should be pretty routine now.

_________________
Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

Rock on!

_________________
"Act your age, not your shoe size" - Prince

So this one is done and out the door. I was disappointed that the frets on the new neck were not level but I took care of that and then finished the setup. First fret dress on a finished maple fretboard but it wasn't as bad as I expected it to be.

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

A fret doesn't know what wood its put in.

_________________
"Act your age, not your shoe size" - Prince

So true. Wasn't the frets I was worried about though but more about how difficult it would be to polish the frets and not mess up the shiny finish on the maple. Turned out to only be a little extra work.

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

That's why we have tape... Glad you got it licked.

_________________
"Act your age, not your shoe size" - Prince