Post by CTGull on Jun 10, 2020 8:09:35 GMT -5
I bought this guitar over a year and a half ago, driving over 5 hours each way, to just outside Rochester NY. He bought it new in 1967 with money he made working a part time job at Sears. As usual, time is not kind to acoustic guitars, and the action is very high. So I added it to the pile to get to it eventually.
While I have (3) customer neck resets to do, I’m always looking to improve my process. I thought adding a steam trap to my neck removal setup would add consistency to the steam quality, so I built one, functionally tested it, altered it, and finally decided I needed to test it on one of my guitars, and not a customer guitar. I was confident it would work so I picked this 1967 FG-110.
I did the usual stuff to prep for neck removal, including remove the nut. I scored around the sides and back, gave it a slight tap from the front, and scored the back deeper until it came out. It was the cleanest nut removal every! Completely clean, no wood stuck to the bottom!!
Then I taped around the heel joint and used a new scalpel blade to score thru the finish. And taped around the sound hole and bridge to protect them.
After my recent experiment with the KEENOVO fretboard extension heat blanket, I realized heat alone does not soften hide glue, it needs moisture. So heating the fretboard extension before forcing the spatula’s under the separate it from the top is a waste of time. So I started working the spatula under the fretboard a little at a time in different areas of the end. It was hard, as usual. I have to be careful to not push the spatula into the fretboard and split it. After getting the spatula in 3/8” – 1/2” there was a pop and it suddenly went in to the full depth to the dovetail!! That has never happened! I pushed the spatula in a little all around to be sure it was fully separated.
Then I removed the 15th fret and the pickguard, there was just a small patch holding it in place. When drilling the steam holes at the 15th fret I did not feel them hit the neck pocket. Very odd!! I tried a couple of angles and they still seemed to miss. This is another first!!
I put the guitar in the neck removal jig and turned on the steam. As it should, as the water heated up the majority of the liquid was caught in the steam trap. After 4 minutes of steaming both holes, no steam came out of the other hole. Steam and water came out around the fretboard though. I turned the steam off, took the guitar out of the jig, drilled the holes a little differently, cut around the heel more, put the guitar back in the jig, and turned on the steam. After 4 minutes I turned the steam off again! No change! The top and bottom of the heel looked a little loose, but with lots of pressure from the neck jig the neck will not pop!! This time I did something I’ve never done before, I forced the spatula in the heel joint all around. It went in OK on the treble side, but the bass side was solid. I did the whole process with another 3-4 minutes of steaming with no change. Then pushed the spatula into the bass side again, it doesn’t seem to be getting any moisture. I also drilled the steam holes on another angle and definitely hit the pocket! Same thing, steamed again, no change. Water has definitely gotten to the bottom of the heel and dovetail, there is some hide glue coming out. But the joint will not release!! The next steam session was cut short when steam stopped coming out of the tip. Somehow hide glue had plugged it up! I used a guitar string scrap to push it out. That proves there isn’t a lot of steam pressure. 2 more steam sessions with forcing the spatula in around the heel and it STILL will not release!! At this point the heel lamination has cracked (just the finish), and there’s some distortion in the finish in that area. After over an hour, (7) steam sessions, and refilling the reservoir (3) times, I gave up!! The neck is still firmly attached!!
This is by far the worst neck removal I’ve ever done, since I couldn’t get it off! More than likely I got too much water in the joint, it’s locked up solid. I’ll let it sit for a couple of days and try again.
While I have (3) customer neck resets to do, I’m always looking to improve my process. I thought adding a steam trap to my neck removal setup would add consistency to the steam quality, so I built one, functionally tested it, altered it, and finally decided I needed to test it on one of my guitars, and not a customer guitar. I was confident it would work so I picked this 1967 FG-110.
I did the usual stuff to prep for neck removal, including remove the nut. I scored around the sides and back, gave it a slight tap from the front, and scored the back deeper until it came out. It was the cleanest nut removal every! Completely clean, no wood stuck to the bottom!!
Then I taped around the heel joint and used a new scalpel blade to score thru the finish. And taped around the sound hole and bridge to protect them.
After my recent experiment with the KEENOVO fretboard extension heat blanket, I realized heat alone does not soften hide glue, it needs moisture. So heating the fretboard extension before forcing the spatula’s under the separate it from the top is a waste of time. So I started working the spatula under the fretboard a little at a time in different areas of the end. It was hard, as usual. I have to be careful to not push the spatula into the fretboard and split it. After getting the spatula in 3/8” – 1/2” there was a pop and it suddenly went in to the full depth to the dovetail!! That has never happened! I pushed the spatula in a little all around to be sure it was fully separated.
Then I removed the 15th fret and the pickguard, there was just a small patch holding it in place. When drilling the steam holes at the 15th fret I did not feel them hit the neck pocket. Very odd!! I tried a couple of angles and they still seemed to miss. This is another first!!
I put the guitar in the neck removal jig and turned on the steam. As it should, as the water heated up the majority of the liquid was caught in the steam trap. After 4 minutes of steaming both holes, no steam came out of the other hole. Steam and water came out around the fretboard though. I turned the steam off, took the guitar out of the jig, drilled the holes a little differently, cut around the heel more, put the guitar back in the jig, and turned on the steam. After 4 minutes I turned the steam off again! No change! The top and bottom of the heel looked a little loose, but with lots of pressure from the neck jig the neck will not pop!! This time I did something I’ve never done before, I forced the spatula in the heel joint all around. It went in OK on the treble side, but the bass side was solid. I did the whole process with another 3-4 minutes of steaming with no change. Then pushed the spatula into the bass side again, it doesn’t seem to be getting any moisture. I also drilled the steam holes on another angle and definitely hit the pocket! Same thing, steamed again, no change. Water has definitely gotten to the bottom of the heel and dovetail, there is some hide glue coming out. But the joint will not release!! The next steam session was cut short when steam stopped coming out of the tip. Somehow hide glue had plugged it up! I used a guitar string scrap to push it out. That proves there isn’t a lot of steam pressure. 2 more steam sessions with forcing the spatula in around the heel and it STILL will not release!! At this point the heel lamination has cracked (just the finish), and there’s some distortion in the finish in that area. After over an hour, (7) steam sessions, and refilling the reservoir (3) times, I gave up!! The neck is still firmly attached!!
This is by far the worst neck removal I’ve ever done, since I couldn’t get it off! More than likely I got too much water in the joint, it’s locked up solid. I’ll let it sit for a couple of days and try again.