Practice guitar dismantling help needed

[Franko]

Hello everyone,
I have an old late 90's Takamine G Series guitar I've been working on as practice. I've done quite a bit with it. I now want to remove the neck and do a reset. Does anyone know what kind of neck joint this might have and whether or not I should approach removing it the same way you would a Gibson or Martin? Also, if I was thinking of replacing the top and/or back, any suggestions there? Thank you in advance.

Franko

[Diane Kauffmds]

Is it a steel string, or classical G Series? I don't know what kind of neck joint Takamine used for their steel string, but if it's a bolt on neck, you should be able to put your hand through the soundhole and feel the bolt. If there's no bolt, then it's a dovetail joint. John Hall has a good video on removing a dovetail neck.

As far as the back/top is concerned, I've replaced more than my share of guitar tops. I use an old clothes iron to soften the adhesive around the edge of the top. I've also used a canister steam machine, but it has a tendency to loosen everything, so I went back to the clothes iron. Assuming there is binding involved (some old Harmony's didn't have binding), the binding has to be taken off first. If the binding is plastic, it will have to be replaced with new, because it will melt. If the bindings are wood and if you're careful about removing them in one piece, they can be reused, but all the glue has removed first.

I used a putty knife that I further thinned down, to work around the edge, as the glue softened. The object is to loosen the wood as it softens, but keep it separate from the sides, otherwise it'll re-glue.

[Franko]

Hi and thank you for the response! I apologize, I left out that information. It's a steel string. The binding IS plastic so I guess I will need to replace it. More learning! As far as a clothes iron is concerned, with or without the steam setting and at what temp? I have cotton, polyester and denim...no laminated ovangkol. hee hee...Thanks again!

Franko

[tippie53]

you need to check out the video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RurSR88jc8s

[Diane Kauffmds]

John's video will show you how to pull the neck.

I used the iron on cotton/steam, with an old cotton towel between it and the edge of the top. Using steam will most assuredly mess up the finish on the sides, as you unglue the top/ back. It didn't matter in my case, because the entire guitar needed to be refinished anyway, but if you want to preserve the finish on the sides, then you need to protect them against heat and use the iron in dry cotton. If you elect to use the iron, make sure that you use 100% cotton (no polyester, nylon, rayon, or acetate, or it will also melt onto the iron) between the iron and whatever you're taking apart. Otherwise the plastic binding and finish will melt on to the iron. Also, the terry cloth holds the heat/moisture to help loosen the glue.

To take off the fretboard, I used the iron on cotton, but it wasn't necessary to add the steam. I laid the iron directly onto the frets, which heated everything nicely; you can start at which ever end is easiest for you, using the putty knife to gently lift it as the glue melts. I used 2 putty knives, one to loosen the fretboard and the other to wedge it up so that it wouldn't reglue; same with the tops.

Please be very careful when you use an iron (or any method) and protect your hands. It slips around very easily and you will get burnt if not protected.

I also have a small canister steamer, with a grout tool for cleaning tiled walls, that I used to take the top off of a classical guitar in short order and very easily. I stuffed the guitar with cotton clothes to catch the water as the steam cooled down, so that the back/sides/braces would remain unharmed.

The steamer worked the fastest, but not everyone has a steamer. It's also what I use to bend my wood.

[Diane Kauffmds]

BTW, my project guitar was a $9 special from Goodwill. I learned a lot from working on it. I repaired a couple of back cracks, reglued the existing back, made a new top, made a new fretboard, including abalone inlay, replaced the tuners, routed for and installed binding, and refinished the entire guitar. I sold it last summer to a very happy lady that lives up the street.

[Franko]

Great info! Thank you so much. Yeah this Takamine is one I've had a long time. I've turned it into my project guitar. All laminate and sounds very cheap. I have a couple of others I bought and fixed like regluing a bridge, repairing cracks and making nuts and saddles then gave them to a couple of friends and I have even set up a few for people, but this Takamine is the learning box. I want to do it all to this guitar! I have a few others I might "work on" depending on how good I get. I appreciate all the information. I'll keep you updated on how I'm doing. Great video!