|
Post by JChance on Mar 30, 2007 15:48:20 GMT -7
Well, I knew something wasn't right. Here lately the notes want to fret out in the low register, and it's gotten to the point where the "D" string doesn't even give a sound... Just a "thud" against the fret. So I took it to Ed Beaver( a cool guy and a great craftsman, by the way) here in Nashville, and he suggested I let Don Dunlavey (the builder) put his hands on it. So off it goes to Dunlavey. Not that big of a deal, as I know it will be better than ever when I get it back. I'm just gonna miss that thing something fierce! For those keeping score, you can check out Ed's work at: www.edbeaver.comAnd Don is here (and a fellow Z user!): www.myspace.com/frets21
|
|
|
Post by (8^D) on Mar 30, 2007 17:13:23 GMT -7
Huh. What caused that???
Had a tech fix a back-bowed neck by placing a sandbag on it and leaving it in a steam box for a day or two.
|
|
|
Post by JChance on Mar 30, 2007 22:49:16 GMT -7
Huh. What caused that??? Had a tech fix a back-bowed neck by placing a sandbag on it and leaving it in a steam box for a day or two. Well, here's the deal. If a neck is prone to back-bow, chances are it will continue to do so even after heat treatment, adjustment, etc. Both Ed and Don told me the same thing... Basically, for someone that travels a lot and subjects the guitar to constantly changing climates, humidity levels, etc... The neck really needs to be tweaked every so often to avoid all of this. Couple this with the fact that Dunlavey builds his necks with a traditional truss rod (not a bi-flex!), and there's only so much you can do without having a real craftsman spend some time with it. So, young grasshopper, not as simple as it sounds... ;D On a serious note, I think we all know how tempermental wood can be. The neck on my Strat is several years old, and came off of one of Don Dunlavey's personal guitars. So it has settled as much as you'd want it to. However, apparently the abuse & hard travel I subject my axes to proved to be too much for the thing to handle. The guy is the best "wood guru" I've ever been around, having spent the past 35+ years as an antique furniture restorer as well as guitar builder. So I know it will be right when it's done.. And worse case scenario, he'll just take some more of that nice rare Brazillian RW he has, and make me a new one... J
|
|
|
Post by JChance on Mar 30, 2007 22:52:18 GMT -7
P.S. Of course most of you my not know who Don is, but if it helps in letting everyone know how good he is... Jimmy Herring is his latest client...
|
|
|
Post by frank4001 on Mar 31, 2007 15:43:06 GMT -7
I know him...built a great neck for me....Likes single Malt. Hands like Shaq. Buillds the bigest necks in all of creation(I had to send the 1 3/4"back as much as I tried.)...Great player and a wealth of knowledge..and his fretwork?...lights out.
|
|
|
Post by billyguitar on Mar 31, 2007 17:43:42 GMT -7
Recently I left my Lentz down in my basement studio/rehearsal zone for a few days. During this same time I realized that my dehumidifier was blowing but the compressor wasn't coming on. I believe it had been that way for some time resulting in higher than normal humidity down there. The Lentz went into backbow! I had to back it off 1/4 turn just to get maybe .001 reief. I've never had that happen before! weird, wild stuff!
|
|
|
Post by mudskipper on Apr 1, 2007 8:10:00 GMT -7
clamping and heating works well with necks that have fretboard/neck. it usually do very little with one piece neck.
|
|
|
Post by BW on Apr 2, 2007 8:07:09 GMT -7
Recently I left my Lentz down in my basement studio/rehearsal zone for a few days. During this same time I realized that my dehumidifier was blowing but the compressor wasn't coming on. I believe it had been that way for some time resulting in higher than normal humidity down there. The Lentz went into backbow! I had to back it off 1/4 turn just to get maybe .001 reief. I've never had that happen before! weird, wild stuff! Is she back to normal? Scott advised me that I might have to give mine a quarter turn or so since the fret job...hasn't needed it yet!
|
|
|
Post by billyguitar on Apr 2, 2007 8:14:40 GMT -7
It's fine. This neck adjusts well. I sure wish builders would give up and move the adjustment to the headstock. This old style retro thing is a pain! Here's a tip for adjusting a neck where the nut is at the pickup end. Put a capo between the first or second fret. Loosen the strings but keep the slack on the body side of the capo. Then loosen the neck screws and do your adjustment. Tighten the neck up and retune. This way the strings don't pop out of the tuners. Makes life much simpler. My Tom Anderson is a bear to adjust. It just doesn't want to move. Last time I had to have the dealer do it because I was afraid to put any more torque on it. He actually got a back bow in it and then straightened it out but it just wouldn't move for me.
|
|
|
Post by BW on Apr 2, 2007 10:35:42 GMT -7
I've always been terrified of adjusting a neck, dunno why. I'm OK with changing out pickups, pots, straplocks, etc, but don't wanna budge dat trussrod...
|
|
|
Post by billyguitar on Apr 2, 2007 11:26:27 GMT -7
"Paranoia strikes deep. Into your life it will creep". Be not afraid young padawan(sp?). The force will guide you. If it works easy no sweat. If it's stiff let someone else do it. My Lentz turns like butta!
|
|
|
Post by anacephalic on Apr 4, 2007 8:21:28 GMT -7
i gotta chime in with the grasshopper and mudskipper. When i went off to grad school my mom kept my moderne and figured she'd keep it warm by the register. backbow from hell was the result. a little time in the steam press and she was good to go. that was about 17 yrs ago
i used to have truss rod paranoia but i'm glad i got over it. way easier to tweak a guitar to where you want it than to hope a tech gets it right. always back it off a little to see if things are bound up...if they are then the tech should get it. 1/8 to a 1/4 tweak is sometimes the difference between nice and heaven.
|
|
|
Post by nitehawk55 on Apr 4, 2007 9:37:29 GMT -7
Been tightening the V shaped neck on my G&L Fullerton Sig model to pull it back some . I think having a V shape takes a bit more time and effort because they are more ridged. I've been tightening it some and leaving it sit for a day or 2 to give time to move .
|
|
|
Post by billyguitar on Apr 4, 2007 10:27:01 GMT -7
My Lentz has a big soft vee neck and it moves right now. It's also made from a very light piece of maple. My Anderson neck is heavier maple and doesn't like to move at all. Just different woods, I guess.
|
|
|
Post by tele1962 on Apr 4, 2007 20:53:11 GMT -7
Fender necks and Fender style necks don't intimidate me and havn't since I was 18. Here's what's daunting: The dual truss-rod system on a Rickenbacker 4001 bass. If you move the left rod out of sync with the right one ( and that's the order) you run a risk of both of them snapping and coming through the fretboard to create some of the finest kindling you've laid eyes on. Hasn't happened to me, but I've seen the results and they were'nt pretty. Very dicey to play with and sensitive to humidity. Fenders are a walk in the park, even with that spindly 3/8" rod Leo put in the early ones. I'll play with a 50's or 60's Fender anyday compared to the ones from the 70's with the 3 bolt neck combined with the bullet rod adjustment. They drifted in and out more than the tide at Coney Island. You'd swear it was laughing at the customer and knew he'd be back in the shop very soon!
|
|
|
Post by guitarboy02451 on Apr 5, 2007 5:34:05 GMT -7
Seasonal adjustments... Yeah, my strat was totally unplayable. I dropped all my guitars off 6 weeks ago to a Luthier. Now they are better than new. Had to refret my strat... The neck was bowed pretty good.
The humidity level in my house was way below 20% (probably next to nothing really). So a humidifier running round the clock and keeping the guitars in the cases should help.
|
|