1972 Yamaha FG-150 - Neck Reset++

DAY 1 (11/17/23) – Put 3 layers of masking tape around the heel corners and cut thru the lacquer radius with a new scalpel blade. The blade quickly plunged into the cracks at the lower part of the heel. Put the heat shield on the top and heated the fretboard extension with the halogen light, moving the guitar every 5 minutes (30 minutes total), and used the spatula’s to separate the fretboard extension from the top. They went in fairly easily at first, then got harder.

Wet the 15th fret area (to lessen the chance of chipping the fretboard while removing the fret) and removed the 15th fret with the Stew Mac fret puller. Drilled the 2 steam holes, definitely hitting the neck pocket.

Setup the steam generator, put the guitar in the neck jig, and turned on the steam. When the spitting turned to full steam, I put the tip in the first hole, alternating every minute, trying a little wiggling after 4 minutes, with no movement. LOTS of steam coming out of the heel!! After 6 minutes of steam, I turned the steam off, removed the guitar from the neck jig, cut deeper into the heel corners (definitely going in full depth), put the guitar back in the neck jig, and turned the steam back on (after the steam being off for 11 minutes). 6 more minutes of steam with the same result, maybe a little movement. Most of the steam is coming out of the bottom and not staying in the joint to soften the glue. Let it sit for 10 minutes and tried again. With the same result. Giving up for now!

I haven’t had this happen often, the neck joints are usually tight at the bottom and don’t leak much. There is zero pressure in the joint, which is required to force the steam into the tight dovetail joint.


Taped & cut into the heel corners.


Cut into the heel purfling, to be sure it releases.




Cut around the fretboard extension.






Heat the fretboard extension.


Got the spatula under the fretboard extension.


Wet the 15th fret.


Removed the15th fret.


Marked the location of the steam holes.


Drilled the steam holes.


The steam setup and the guitar in the neck jig.


DID NOT GET THE NECK OFF!!!  Try again tomorrow, after thinking about it overnight.

DAY 3 (11/19/23) – I removed the sponge from the top of the bridge. The crack isn’t completely closed, but it doesn’t look any different than it did last night. I’ll let it dry some before gluing it tomorrow.

Then I put the guitar back in the neck jig and turned on the steam. Tried wiggling the neck at 4 minutes and had some movement, then and added some end pressure with some wiggling. The bass side felt fully loose, but the treble side wasn’t ready yet. Left the steam on for 2 more minutes, with more wiggling. The treble side is looser, but still not ready. Turned off the steam, took the guitar out of the neck jig, and checked the looseness of the treble side heel with the scalpel, which felt good. The dovetail just isn’t ready to let go. Let it sit for 10 minutes. So far, there is no cracking at the heel lamination, even with the amount of steam and wiggling. Put the guitar back in the neck jig and tried again. After 3 minutes, and some end pressure & wiggling, the neck popped. There was one large piece of treble side of the top stuck to the bottom of the fretboard extension. I quickly scraped that off with the spatula while the glue was still hot & wet. Scrapped most of the glue off the neck dovetail and pocket with the chisel.

Overall, (ignoring day 1 with all the steam blowing out of the bottom) this was one of the easier vintage FG neck removals.

Turned the steam back on and used it to remove most of the finish blushing on the back & sides. Steam put it there, steam will take it away. It was almost like spray painting, as the steam passed over the blushing, most of it disappeared.

Glued & clamped the piece of the top back in place, using a piece of wax paper, a thin piece of foam, a wood block, and a squeeze clamp. After 15 minutes I removed the clamp & wax paper, cleaned up any glue squeeze out, and reclamped with a new piece of wax paper.

Next, I found a 3D printed block I had made to fit on the end of the neck dovetail, and used it with a piece of cork, a 2x4, and a screw type clamp, to forward bow the neck to slightly open the crack in the back of the neck. I then thinned some fish glue with a little water, injected it into the crack with a fine tip syringe, wiped glue into the crack with my finger (from many angles, many times), removed the clamp & 2x4 (noting the glue squeeze out), and clamped the crack with a piece of wax paper, piece of cork, and a screw type clamp.

Removed the sponge from the top of the bridge.



The neck is off!!!  Other than the strip of top stuck to the bottom of the fretboard (very common), it came off pretty clean.


The silicone caulk worked great!!  It didn't blow out, but it was soft and easy to remove afterward.




The piece of top stuck to the bottom of the fretboard.


As usual, there's no sign of glue on the dovetail surfaces because the joint is so tight.  Many time,s it's the face of the heel that is glued to the side of the guitar that's keeping the neck from coming off.


And here's what was keeping this neck from coming off.  The light colored area of the face of the heel (in the middle) is dry.  That's where it was stuck.


The blushing in the end of the heel (very visible after day 1) took care of itself.


Ugly glue!!


The finish blushing on the back, from Day 1 of the steam.


And a little blushing on the sides.  The black binding is a little ripped from Day 1 of the steam.


After "painting" the blushing with steam.  Later I'll hit it with the hair dryer or more steam to try to get the rest out.


Gluing the piece of top back to the top.


The glue I removed the neck dovetail and pocket.  Not a lot.


This is the water my steam trap removed from the 2 steam sessions.




Forward bowed the neck to slightly open the crack in the back of the neck.  I loosened the truss rod first.  This was actually my clamping test run, before gluing.  ALWAYS be sure you can clamp everything BEFORE applying the glue!


The glue and syringes.  The tiny syringe couldn't suck up the glue.  I had to suck it up with the larger syringe, then inject it into the back of the tiny syringe.


After wiping glue into the crack.  You can see some squeeze out in the lower part of the crack.


The squeeze out after releasing the forward bowing clamp.


Clamped!!

DAY 5 (11/21/23) – Sanded the heel area on the side of the guitar, and the fretboard extension area on the top. Sanded the neck & neck block dovetails and got the joint back together.

Removed the nut, first putting a piece of tape behind the nut, scored the seam around the nut, cut under the corners of the nut, and popped it off with a spatula.

Sprayed water on the fretboard and let it sit for a minute (to soften the wood, to not pull as many chips when pulling the frets). This didn’t work as well as it normally does, the water beaded up and ran off! Wiped the water off of the fretboard, pulled all the frets with the Stew Mac fret pullers, blotted any water left on the fretboard, and inspected for chips, finding 14. Used water thin super glue and a toothpick to glue the chips down. Marked the whole fretboard with a pencil (to be able to see the areas that haven’t been sanded).

Checked the fretboard level again with the notched straight edge (24.9” scale length). Started sanding with the 8” long x 16” radius block, with 120 grit sandpaper & tape on one end (so it only sands on one end but locates on the other), in the 12th thru 14th fret area. I didn’t use the 20” long x 16” radius sanding beam, I was able to flatten the whole fretboard with the 8” block by concentrating on the few high spots, then passing over the whole fretboard, checking the progress many times with the straight edge. Then sanded the whole fretboard with 220, 320 & 600 grit sandpapers.

Cleaned out the slots with the 0.4mm (.016”) fret slot cleaning saw. Opened the slots with the 0.5mm (.020”) fret slot saw. They were initially tight, I pulled and wiggled the 0.5mm saw up and down until it went thru freely. Checked the slot depths with a piece of bent fret wire with the bumps filed off. Broke the corners of the fret slots with the 3 corner file. Blew out the remainder of the dust & debris.

Cut the frets and banged them in with the plastic dead blow hammer. For the frets in the fretboard extension, the fretboard is supported by a block of steel on top of a piece of 2x4.  Clipped off the fret ends.

Tomorrow some of the frets will need to be pressed in, and a few will need to be glued. I check the frets by tapping on the bass and treble ends of the fret with the 6” scale, wanting a sharp tap, not a dull thud. Sharp is tight, thud is loose. The loose frets will be glued.


Got the neck joint back together.


That gap will disappear during the pull sanding of the heel.


Cut under the nut.


And it's out!




Sprayed water on the fretboard.  And most of it ran off.  I wiped it back and forth to force it under the frets.


The frets have been removed!


A few chips.  Not bad.






Marked the whole fretboard.


Sanded the fretboard level, but not enough to remove the deep divots.


A deep one!






Sanded with 220 grit.


Sanded with 600 grit.


Sanded the divots to smooth them.






The fret slot saws.


After opening all the slots with the 0.5mm saw.


Supporting the fretboard extension.


All the frets are in!


And the fret ends have been cut.

DAY 6 (11/22/23) – Checked the frets (to be sure they are set well) with the 6” scale, tapping on the ends of the frets, listening for a sharp hit (good), not a dull thud (bad). Checking the first 10, finding 5 had some dullness, so I figured why not just glue them all.

Waxed the fretboard with Renaissance Wax (so glue cleans up is easier, no scraping the excess glue). Glued the first 10 frets with water thin super glue, first clamping with the Stew Mac fret jaws, wiping up the excess glue with a paper towel, and leaving them for a minute for the glue to set, then unclamp and move to the next one, wiping any wet glue from the top of the fret or the face of the jaw with a paper towel. It's kind of a pain because even with a thin "whip tip" on the glue, the glue is wicking up to the fret press insert too. I waxed it, but the glue still sticks to the brass insert, requiring some occasional scraping. Finished clamping and gluing the frets with the sanding beam fret press (frets 11 thru 16) and the screw type fret press (17 thru 20). I always press the frets in to be sure they are set, although 3 or 4 wouldn’t stay down without glue. The glue is just additional reassurance that they won’t accidentally loosen. It’s always a risk when refretting into previously fretted slots.

Taped the fretboard.  Used the Music Nomad B-File to file and & beveled the fret ends.


The Stew Mac Fret Press Jaws.


The first 10 frets, with 5 frets marked to be glued.  I might as well glue them all.


The wax and glue.


The first 10 glued.


Gluing the 11th fret with the sanding beam fret press.  It's a 3D printed part that slips into the 16" radius x 8" long sanding beam.




I have to flip it around to do the 15th & 16th frets.




The Stew Mac screw type fret press.  For anyone who's seen this tool before, the knob is not the small wimpy one that Stew Mac supplies.  I designed and 3D printed a much larger one that makes the tool much easier to use.


They're all done.  I'll scrub off the glue film with 0000 steel wool.










Scrubbed the fretboard with 0000 steel wool to remove the glue residue.



Taped the fretboard.  Mostly with Stew Mac binding tape.  It's thicker than masking tape and holds up a bit better when sanding.



The Music Nomad B-File fret end beveling file.  It is much better than all the others out there.  


It bevels at a 3 degree and 23 degrees, vs. others that file at 0 and 35 degrees.


The only thing I don't like about it is the fret ends chew up the bottom.


Attempting to show the bevel angle.  They will be rounded over a bit much later, before polishing.

DAY 8 (11/24/23) – Ramped & slotted the pin holes.

Put tape on the side of the guitar near the heel area, scraped the lacquer radius.

Checked with precision gage blocks, the saddle slot width tapers from .116” on the bass side, to .118” on the treble side x .08”/.17”/.07” (bass to treble) deep. Made the saddle. It sticks out .19”/.17”, a good place to start.

Made the rough nut. Undercut the heel with the Dremel and a 1/8” diameter ball burr. Put the neck on the body and checked the neck projection. It projects about .06” below the top of the bridge, but it was difficult to hold the neck fully seated due to the fretboard extension being tipped down slightly. That will correct itself as the neck angle is fixed and the neck tips back. Put center marks at the 1st & 12th frets, and on the bridge. Checked the neck centering with the straight edge. It is slightly off center (need to take off the treble side), but it’s hard to tell until the heel has been sanded and the neck is sitting flush. Filed a little off the whole treble side of the heel, to center the neck. It now looks to be centered. Set the tape on the heel at .05”, filed & sanded to the tape. The neck looks to be centered, and projects about .06” above the top of the bridge, but I can’t hold it flush to the top.

Lubed the tuners wit Tri-Flow. Put the guitar in the neck jig. Put the old strings on and tuned to “D”. The neck is very close to being centered. The nut action is high, as expected. The neck relief is good. Capoed a .013” feeler at the 1st fret for approximate nut action. The action is a little over 1/8” low D and 1/8” high D.

The tools.


The ball ends against the bridge plate.  So I thought...


Attempting to show the slotting on the low E hole.  This is so the string winding doesn't get pinched with the slot in the bridge pin.


And slotted the A hole.


Ramped all the holes, to increase the string break angle, and so the strings aren't bent over a sharp edge of the holes.



Scraped the lacquer radius flush.





Undercut the heel with the Dremel and 1/8" ball burr.  that makes pull sanding much easier.




Put the tape on the heel.


Filed to the tape.


Pull sanding the heel.



First stringing.

DAY 10 (11/27/23) – The action is (tuned to “D”) is a little over 5/64” low D and 5/64” high D. Set the tape on the heel at .010”, filed and sanded to the tape. The action is (tuned to “D”) a little under 5/64” low D and a little over 1/16” high D. the neck is centered.

Made (2) shims for the dovetail from .02” thick maple veneer. This is to take up the space after the heel has been sanded to correct the neck angle. Glued them to the lower part of the dovetail with super glue. Let them cure for a couple of minutes. Placed a strip of carbon paper on the body dovetail, inserted the neck, removed the neck, checked the dark patterns on the neck dovetail, and sanded the dark patches. Repeated this 5 times until the fretboard sat flush with the top.

Removed the tape near the body neck pocket. Used the hair dryer, for about 10 minutes, to remove 98% of the finish blushing on the back. Polished the area near the neck pocket and fretboard extension area with the Dremel and a small buffing wheel. Filed any bare wood with mahogany marker. Did the same to the neck.

Applied fish glue to the neck & body dovetail & fretboard area, inserted the neck, installed the 4 outer strings and put some tension on them (to pull the neck into the body), clamped the fretboard to the body at the 15th fret, clamped the end of the fretboard, and loosened the strings. Leave it clamped until tomorrow.

Put fish glue on the neck and body.


It's clamped!!

DAY 12 (11/29/23) – Tuned to almost “E” (G & high E ½ step down, but the others a little high). The action is a little under 5/64” low E & 1/16” high Eb. It'll hang until next weekend. Then I will finish the frets and install new strings.