Neck warp... - ...looks like it's slightly, but don't know..

7 Dying Trees · #1 08-13-2001, 10:01 AM

Years ago, I stumbled across my favorite guitar shop selling some ibanez necks which they'd got of the ex-UK ibanez dealer. one of these was one of those maple desert yellow RG necks, which I bought and mounted onto an RG body they were also selling. When I finally got the guitar up and running, I sort of noticed that the neck seemed a bit weird, and last night while trying to restring it (threads on floyd rose are now officially dead...&*^****&%&*%, different story) I remembered this.

It seems like the neck twists so that when the strings are on the guitar the high E side gradually becomes higher in relation to th low E as you travel from the nut towards the bridge.

So, the questions:
1)Does this mean it's warped?
2)If it is, is it fixable?

Hope someone can help, because despite this guitar being very very very mutilated, i still like it, and I will eventually get round to fixing it properly...

James

Project Guitar · #2 08-28-2001, 08:55 PM

Two things I would like you to do before determining if it is warped or in need of some real repair.

First is to look at the very end of the fret board and see if the high end of the radius of the board itself is located off to the high side or located in the middle of the neck.

Second is get a nice long steel straight edge and place it on top of the frets on both the low E side, then the high E side and see if there is any noticable gaps showing where you think the warp may be on the board itself.

Let me know what you observe, I'm currently rebuilding both an RG and a JEM neck. Oh and just to let you know if it turns out that the neck itself is warped (twisted) Yes it can be repaired. Other than that I almost would like to know if a neck shim only on the high side and back by the corner next to the neck pickup would correct this or if it is beyond the quick fix (simple shim).

welshpete · #3 08-29-2001, 09:35 AM

On the same subject, once you KNOW the neck is bent (no panic, its on an old bass i picked up for next to nothing) how do you go about straightening the bugger out?

Project Guitar · #4 08-31-2001, 06:11 PM

While the process is relatively simple it is very time consuming. First you take off the fret board and remove all of the hardware. Then strip the finish off of the back to make it easier to do. Then it is just a matter of steaming and clamping, using shim's to keep the neck bent in the opposite direction it is warped in. Finally once it has been properly straightened, you simply put it all back together again and refinish the back.

7 Dying Trees · #5 09-03-2001, 08:37 AM

eek, haven't had time to look at it properly yet, but I do know that if all the HW is taken off (no strings etc) that the low E side is lower at the nut than at the end of the neck. The high E side remains straight. This can be seen just by looking down the neck (it is pretty obvious).

I'll try the straight measurement thing at some point, but as everything's a bit hectic at the moment t6hat may take a while...

Project Guitar · #6 09-03-2001, 01:40 PM

Just a note it is necessary to have a bit of bow in the intire neck in order for the truss rod to be able to adjust it like a fine tuner so to speak. If the neck is straight and true without strings I really would start to worry about how the truss would be able to correct it if the truss rod itself wasn't a double action rod.

Also on a bass neck since the low end side actually pulls with more tension it's suppose to be just a touch lower when unstrung on that side. Same with a guitar neck, just a lot less noticable especially since a base neck is so much longer and dealing with heavier guage strings to begin with.

As simple as necks are they can get complicated and become a pain when trying to balance everything out.

7 Dying Trees · #7 09-04-2001, 07:01 AM

I think it's more of a case of comparing it to the other guitars I own. The bass side is lower at the nut by quite a lot, it's very noticable and this is waht makes me think soemthing is very wrong (along with the neck keeping this starnge relief when strug up). Unlike the other guutars, this neck does look slightly "twisted", but I'll have to measure it to be sure. Wish I had a digital camera so I could take pictures, as I am not doing a very good job at explaining...