Customer Repair - 1973 Yamaha FG-200

DAY 1 – I removed the nut with great difficulty using a scalpel from the sides & rear, it was loose on the treble side, but stuck firmly elsewhere, tried the hair dryer, finally tapped with a block & hammer to loosen it slightly, then cut under the rest of the way. The fretboard is very flat, falling away slowly after the 11th fret. Put 3 layers of tape in the heel corners. Cut thru the end of the heel with the .010" saw. Cut thru the lacquer radius on the heel corners with a new scalpel blade. Loosened the fretboard. Removed the 15th fret. Drilled the steam holes.

There was actually no glue under the treble side of the nut.




The rest of the nut was very firmly stuck.


It came out pretty clean, except for the huge amount of glue.





Cut thru the heel with the .010" thick saw.


Cut into the heel corners with a new scalpel blade.  The tape is the protect the guitar in case I slip.




Cut around the fretboard.






Heating the fretboard with the 75W halogen light.


Getting under the fretboard.  Even with lots of heat the glue doesn't softens enough to not dig into the top.  It sounded a little crunchy but not too bad.


Wetting the fretboard to reduce the chance of chipping.


The 15th fret removed cleanly.


Drilled the steam holes into the neck pocket.


I've learned to NOT start steaming the neck at 9pm.  You never know how hard it's going to be.  The neck will come off tomorrow.

DAY 2 – I put the guitar in the neck jig. 6 minutes of steam and almost no movement, a little on the bass side. Removed the guitar from the jig, put the tape back on the heel corners, cut into the heel corners (softer on the bass side). Back in the jig, 6 more minutes of steam and it's nearly loose on the bass side and about halfway on the treble side. Removed it from jig, cut more into heel corners, back in the jig, 6 more minutes of steam. The bass side looks to be loose, but the treble side is still not moving about halfway down the heel. Removed it from the jig, cut into heel corners deeper, put it back in the jig. 8 more minutes of steam, it feels like it should pop, but it still seems to be hung up on the treble side. The heel lamination is cracked on the bass side. More heel corner cutting, back in the jig, 8 more minutes of steam and it finally popped!!! FIVE steam sessions, 34 minutes of steam!!! Probably 2 hours total work.

This was one of the HARDEST hide glue neck removals! A chunk of the dovetail on the treble side refused to let go and was still attached to the internal dovetail, AND another chunk was split and pulled away!! I used a chisel to remove the piece of dovetail stuck to the internal surface, and clamped the split area. And scraped the hide glue off of the dovetail and heel surfaces. And removed the chunk of the top stuck to the bottom of the fretboard (it was already 80% off), dried it with the hair dryer, and glued and clamped it back to the top. And put the neck in the guitar vise to hold the heel lamination closed.  At least the heel lamination didn't fully separate.  Leave everything clamped for 2 days to dry.

The setup.






The heel lamination started to separate during steam session 4.  I have to be careful with wiggling the neck to not make it any worse.  Leaving the heel in the guitar is a near disaster.


A chunk of dovetail stayed on the pocket!!  After each steam session I turned the guitar upside down to drain the hot water out before it accidentally dumps on me.  It's hard to believe after the neck joint being flooded with hot water for so long the neck still wouldn't release!!  The hot water softened the wood and the dovetail tore out.


The bass side was very clean.


A chunk of top was stuck to the bottom of the fretboard.










The piece of top falling off the bottom of the fretboard.


The loose chunk of dovetail.


This is how much water my steam separator caught!!  Without it, all that water would have ended up in the joint and running all over!


Glued and clamped the piece of top.


Clamped the loose piece of dovetail.  I'll add some epoxy  when pinning heel lamination crack.




The heel lamination clamped.  Without clamping the gap can continue to expand from all the water the parts have absorbed.  All that hot water softens the wood and loosens glue joints, and not always the one you intended!  I will have to check for the top possibly coming loose from the top of the neck block.


The heel lamination gap is closed.  I'll pin it with a 3/16" hardwood dowel in a couple of days.

DAY 4 – I cut away the excess 3/16" dowel and sanded the neck dovetail surfaces flat and smooth. Marked a tapered line on the neck dovetail 3/8" high at the end, and sanded to the line. Put tape on the body near the heel area, and scraped/sanded the surfaces flush and smooth. Sanded the internal dovetail surfaces flat and smooth.

DAY 6 – I set the tape on the heel at .03", filed & sanded to the tape. The action is 3/32" low E & 5/64" high E.  ??  I expected 5/64" & 1/16".  Set the tape on the heel at .01" filed & sanded to the tape. The action is now a little over 5/64" high E & a little over 1/16" low E. That should be good, I need to take a little off the saddle to reduce the height anyway.

Looking good. Excited to try it out!

Thanks!

DAY 9 (14 days after day 8) – Tuned to "E". The nut action is good. The neck relief is good. The action is a 3/32" low E & 5/64" high E. Looking for high frets: 11th fret high E (lowering that then caused the 12th thru 14th to be slightly high), 15th fret high & low E. Used the Fret Kisser to level the high frets, with the strings on. Removed the strings, marked the tops of the leveled frets, used the Z-File to crown the frets, 600 grit sandpaper to remove the leveling marks, and the Fret Erasers to smooth the frets. Taped around the fretboard, nut area, and bridge; scrubbed the fretboard with 0000 steel wool to remove the grunge from the fretboard; oiled the fretboard and bridge with Howard Feed N-Wax; scrubbed the fretboard again; and wiped everything clean with 2 paper towels. Smoothed the surfaces & edges of the nut. Sanded .020" off the bottom of the saddle. Cleaned the top surfaces of the guitar with Wizards Mist-n-Shine. Put 2 tiny drops of Titebond in the nut area, pressed the nut in place, installed the new strings in the bridge with the pins, wound them on the tuners, and tuned to "E". The action is 5/64" low E & 1/16" high E.

After leveling with the Fret Kisser (I forgot to take pics) I marked the leveled areas with black marker.


I used the Z File to crown the flat areas, leaving a thin black line in the middle.


Used 600 grit sandpaper to remove the leveling marks, and 200 thru 1200 Fret Erasers to smooth the frets.


The Fret Erasers.


The result, a little out of focus.


Better.




Oile the fretboard with Howard Feed n-Wax, rewetting slightly dried areas every 5 minutes.


And the bridge.


Wiped it off after 25 minutes.




After cleaning the top with Wizards Mist-n-Shine.


2 tiny drops of Titebond to hold the nut in place.


The strings are on!!




The saddle sticks out .20", plenty available for the future.  It has a snug fit in the slot.


DONE!!!