Repairing a high humidity affected guitar
Posted: Wed Jun 22, 2022 12:29 am
I made this guitar for a grandson in 2016. It has lived in India ever since. 6 years in a very high humidity with hot temperatures caused extreme warpage to the neck.
The body is ambrosia maple. Top is sinker redwood.
I received the guitar this weekend when my daughter and grandkids came to the USA for a summer visit.
Surprisingly the top does not appear to have damage or deformation other than the bridge is sitting higher because the top dome has increased slightly.....but the bridge is not rotated forward. A good surprise.
Also the top under the fretboard extension has not caved in....another surprise.
So I started the repairs today. The plan was to remove the neck and evaluate. It's a bolt on M & T neck and the fretboard extension is not glued down. So easy removal.
The tenon bolts are rusted but came out okay. Guess I should be using stainless bolts and barrel nuts for India guitars.
The neck is crazy warped. I put a Gotoh double action truss rod in this neck and it would not affect the warp.
So, the fretboard had to come off. That took awhile, clothes iron heat and thin putty knife. It finally came off with very little damage to the neck.
Okay so I had to clean off and flatted the bottom of the fretboard. The neck surface was not flat....low in the center (warped?). I removed the truss rod which also had some rust. I scraped and sanded until I had this surface flat again.
Now I checked the mating surfaces for the neck heel and the fretboard extension and the were not flat so I remedied those areas and they are now flat. I checked my neck angle and it's at 88 degrees which is where I place mine.
So I installed a new truss rod. A one way same style as the Gotoh. Shorter and lighter weight. Should be an improvement.
I've glued the fretboard back onto the neck and it is now flat. I had to floss the heel a bit to bring it back into the correct angle but that is done.
I will redress the frets after the neck is reattached for the final time. My bridge is too tall by about an 1/8" so I'll shave that down. Not to worry I make my bridges 7/16" high so I can afford to take some off and my saddle slot will still be plenty deep.
I did a French polish on this one and I'll need to do touch ups on the body, top and neck after reshaping the neck where the fretboard is reattached.
Nice that I'm not dealing with lacquer on this one so the "refinishing" will be easy.
It had plenty of dings and scratches, especially on the top that I will just leave. This guitar will be put to use again...heavy use by a 17 year old who plays alot and is probably not super careful. 😀
I plan to return it to him in a couple of weeks.
I'll post again with more pics as this progresses.
Kevin
The body is ambrosia maple. Top is sinker redwood.
I received the guitar this weekend when my daughter and grandkids came to the USA for a summer visit.
Surprisingly the top does not appear to have damage or deformation other than the bridge is sitting higher because the top dome has increased slightly.....but the bridge is not rotated forward. A good surprise.
Also the top under the fretboard extension has not caved in....another surprise.
So I started the repairs today. The plan was to remove the neck and evaluate. It's a bolt on M & T neck and the fretboard extension is not glued down. So easy removal.
The tenon bolts are rusted but came out okay. Guess I should be using stainless bolts and barrel nuts for India guitars.
The neck is crazy warped. I put a Gotoh double action truss rod in this neck and it would not affect the warp.
So, the fretboard had to come off. That took awhile, clothes iron heat and thin putty knife. It finally came off with very little damage to the neck.
Okay so I had to clean off and flatted the bottom of the fretboard. The neck surface was not flat....low in the center (warped?). I removed the truss rod which also had some rust. I scraped and sanded until I had this surface flat again.
Now I checked the mating surfaces for the neck heel and the fretboard extension and the were not flat so I remedied those areas and they are now flat. I checked my neck angle and it's at 88 degrees which is where I place mine.
So I installed a new truss rod. A one way same style as the Gotoh. Shorter and lighter weight. Should be an improvement.
I've glued the fretboard back onto the neck and it is now flat. I had to floss the heel a bit to bring it back into the correct angle but that is done.
I will redress the frets after the neck is reattached for the final time. My bridge is too tall by about an 1/8" so I'll shave that down. Not to worry I make my bridges 7/16" high so I can afford to take some off and my saddle slot will still be plenty deep.
I did a French polish on this one and I'll need to do touch ups on the body, top and neck after reshaping the neck where the fretboard is reattached.
Nice that I'm not dealing with lacquer on this one so the "refinishing" will be easy.
It had plenty of dings and scratches, especially on the top that I will just leave. This guitar will be put to use again...heavy use by a 17 year old who plays alot and is probably not super careful. 😀
I plan to return it to him in a couple of weeks.
I'll post again with more pics as this progresses.
Kevin