1975 Yamaha FG-75-1 (Taiwan) (2) Neck Reset ++

THE GOOD.



The top isn't too bad, a few dings.


Dusty, but in good shape.




Only a few small dings on the back of the neck.


The frets look nearly mint, although the fretboard is heavily divoted.  I assume it had nylon strings on it for it's whole life.

THE UGLY. 

WOW!!!




MORE WOW!!!








OUCH!!








Yea, words can't describe the condition of the back and sides.  Especially since the rest of the guitar isn't anywhere near that bad.  I'm hoping I didn't bite off more than I can chew.

A LOT to update!!  2 days ago I used denatured alcohol to remove MANY of the white wall dings, which left a dull finish.  And colored many of the open dings with a mahogany marker, which looks little too obvious because they color doesn't match well.   When thinking of options vs. stripping, I remembered Howard Restor-A-Finish, went to Lowe's and bought the mahogany color. I experimented on a scrap FG back, which was nowhere near as bad as this guitar. I applied it with 0000 steel wool, as suggested. It got into some of the defects, but not all. It leaves an oily film, even after wiping off.  Not liking that, the film hides some defects, but I have a feeling it's going to not look as good after the oil evaporates.

Yesterday (and today) are vacation days, so I should be a able to get lots done will not many interruptions.  First, I found the steel wool left scratches in the scrap back (What a surprise!!). I taped the FG-75-1 upper binding and dovetail area, and applied Restor-A-Finish with a rag & wiped it off. Even though I wiped it 3 times in an hour, there's still an oily finish, so I wiped it off with naptha. And found all the dull areas from before. It definitely looks better from the beginning, but there are still MANY dings that are still very obvious. Still thinking about stripping, but I'd end up having to sand thru the stain below, then having to do the same to the neck, too much work. I used denatured alcohol to completely clean the guitar, it was the stuff it loosened but not fully removed that caused the dullness. It looks better, but not completely shiny. With nothing to lose, I polished the guitar body with Meguiar's Fine Cut Cleaner 2, which left it very shiny, with many dings. Then I removed the tape and polished the top, and the heel area of the neck. Then I sanded the dovetail surfaces to get the neck to fit in the pocket. And tapped the 15th fret back in, but it was sticking up on the ends, as was the 14th fret on the bass side, so I glued them with thin superglue and clamped. Checking the fret level, I found a few high frets (not the same for all strings), so I taped the whole fretboard & leveled the frets. The neck is slightly off center, pointing towards the treble side. The neck projection is about 1/16" below the top of the bridge. I undercut the heel with the Dremel and 1/8" ball burr bit. Then set the tape on the heel at .04", and filed & sanded to the tape. The neck is still slightly off center. The neck projects .04" above the bridge. The saddle slot is .123"/.124", it's normally .114/.117". The depth is .14"/.13". I made saddle to fit, it sticks out .28"/.26", sanded ..03" off the bottom of the saddle, it now sticks out .25"/.23". And made a rough nut, .205" thick x 1.74" x 1.44" CSG.

Today I put the guitar in the neck clamping jig and installed strings.  The neck is centered.  The neck relief is good.  The nut action is slightly high.  Tuned to "D", the neck projects .06" below the bridge, and the action is a little over 5/32" low E & 5/32" high E.  I reset the tape on the heel at .05".

The pictures will be in multiple posts.

Then I applied and wiped off Howard mahogany Restor-A-Finish, with mixed results.  And an oily finish left even after wiping a few times.


















Then I used a mahogany marker to try to color in some bare spots, with less than awesome results.

After cleaning with naptha (to remove the oily residue), and denatured alcohol (to remove to mahogany marker and the dullness & smoke residue).

All the haze is gone!!  I still need to polish out the blushing from the steam.

Also yesterday I started the neck reset.  First I put tape on the side of the guitar and scraped the lacquer radius flush.  This needs to be done so pull sanding the heel results in a flat surface on the heel.


Then I made a mark on the dovetail at 7/16", knowing that sanding the heel will eventually cause the dovetail to hit the back of the neck pocket.






After sanding the back of the dovetail.


And made a saddle.



And today!!  First stringing!!  Yea, the action is still high, about 5/32".




I set the tape on the heel at .05", filed & sanded to the tape.  The action (with a .013" feeler capoed at the 1st fret) is a little over 3/32" low E & 3/32" high E.  Almost!!  Set the tape at .015", filed & sanded to the tape.  The action is now a little over 5/64" low E & 5/64" close enough, there's plenty of saddle.

Final stringing!!  The .013" feeler capoed at the first fret simulates the proper string height of a finished nut.





After buffing around the heel area and touching up any tiny bits of exposed wood, I glued the neck on with fish glue.


Maybe I'll clean up my table when this guitar is done.  Probably not, I'll just start another guitar!!


A few months ago I made a block that straddles the brace under the fretboard that allows me to easily clamp the fretboard down. Before I'd have to clamp directly on the brace and hope the clamp didn't fall off.