warped neck

NoQuarter

hey all,

my friend dropped his geetar and smashed the tuner which i told him id fix and while doing so noticed that the headstock is warped!

the fretboard itself is not so bad but the low E buzzes like crazy, i tried hiring the bridge but by the time the buzz stops the strings are miles off the board!

so...any suggestions??

should i try use the truss rod to bend the neck slightly or maybe try pop something under the nut to lift it just enough!??

Dord

king-stew wrote: »

hey all,

my friend dropped his geetar and smashed the tuner which i told him id fix and while doing so noticed that the headstock is warped!

the fretboard itself is not so bad but the low E buzzes like crazy, i tried hiring the bridge but by the time the buzz stops the strings are miles off the board!

so...any suggestions??

should i try use the truss rod to bend the neck slightly or maybe try pop something under the nut to lift it just enough!??

The truss rod alone won't be able to correct the warp. It may be possible to correct it by other methods.... specifically by using heat and clamps. I don't really have much info on this method though.

Is the guitar a bolt-on? It might be better to buy a replacement neck if it is.

Johnny Storm

A photo might help get more specific advice

68 lost souls

Doesnt sound to good Im afraid. Stick up a picture so I can see how bad it is. What type of guitar is it? It may be salvageable and depending on the guitar it may noth be worth getting a new neck.

NoQuarter

its a vintage les paul so cant just buy another neck unfortunatly!

ive attached some pics, the one of the whole neck is hard to make out the warp though as i said, its very slight on the neck, but the headstock is badly twisted! not very apparent throught the pictures neither...

The best way to see it is that the nut is higher on the right as we look at it under the thicker strings!








PS. the guitar still plays fine so the warp itself isn't really the problem and my mate is a beginner, he wouldnt even notice to be honest but its the buzz thats the annoying thing!

68 lost souls

Hmmm... This is a tough one. I certainly isnt a job for the feint hearted. In my opinion I would take it to some one like Derek Nelson and see if he can do anything. It may be a case of steaming off the fretboard and rebuilding a portion of the neck which is a big job. Dont take my word as gospel though as I'm not a pro and its hard to tell without it being in my hands.

Hope you can sort something. I'll have a route around and see if I can come up with anything.

EDIT: I found an article that may help you. http://www.fretnotguitarrepair.com/neckrepair2.htm

It talks about planeing the fretboard to fix the twist.

Dord

68 lost souls wrote: »

Hmmm... This is a tough one. I certainly isnt a job for the feint hearted. In my opinion I would take it to some one like Derek Nelson and see if he can do anything. It may be a case of steaming off the fretboard and rebuilding a portion of the neck which is a big job. Dont take my word as gospel though as I'm not a pro and its hard to tell without it being in my hands.

Hope you can sort something. I'll have a route around and see if I can come up with anything.

EDIT: I found an article that may help you. http://www.fretnotguitarrepair.com/neckrepair2.htm

It talks about planeing the fretboard to fix the twist.

It's a Vintage so I doubt it would be worth it to bring the guitar to Derrick. It does look pretty bad though.

king-stew, are there any breaks?

68 lost souls

Sorry, when he said vintage i thought like 1960s Les Paul or something like that as in mucho dollars. Maybe the fretnot guide will help any way. Plane down the fretboard.

Should have known by the headstock and decal. oops.

Doctor J

Without fretting at all, are all the strings clearing the first fret? Does it only buzz when played open and not while fretted? The low E string looks like it's cut very deep in that pic. If you're only having this issue with one string then it doesn't sound like a warp to me.

A drop isn't going to warp a piece of wood. It might break it, yes, but warping is something that happens over time, it's not an impact injury. If this problem has only occurred since the drop then it's possibly something else, nut damage, a raised or gouged fret, etc.

Either way, it would probably cost more to bring to a good luthier to fix that it would be to buy an entirely new guitar.

If you want to check if it's warped, hold the low E string down on the first fret and the last fret. Is there a gap between the bottom of the string and frets 7 to 9? If not, at what point does the string hit the frets before you push it completely down to the last fret?

Now do the same for the high E string. Are the results about the same? If not, what is different?

My own preference is to have a business-cards width of a gap between the bottom of the strings and the middle frets with the string depressed on the first and last frets. Adjust the truss rod to try to achieve that gind of gap on whichever side is bent back the most.

NoQuarter

Dord wrote: »

king-stew, are there any breaks?

No, no breaks or cracks at all.

68 lost souls wrote: »

Sorry, when he said vintage i thought like 1960s Les Paul or something like that as in mucho dollars.

Doctor J wrote: »

Without fretting at all, are all the strings clearing the first fret? Does it only buzz when played open and not while fretted? The low E string looks like it's cut very deep in that pic. If you're only having this issue with one string then it doesn't sound like a warp to me.

A drop isn't going to warp a piece of wood. It might break it, yes, but warping is something that happens over time, it's not an impact injury. If this problem has only occurred since the drop then it's possibly something else, nut damage, a raised or gouged fret, etc.

Doc its not clearing the 1st fret on the thickest string only, thats where the buzz is coming from, when he let it drop(the strap came loose while playing so guitar swung at the ground) it smashed the top tuner so it had a good bang.

The headstock is VERY twisted and this may be deceiving when it comes to look at the fretboard which might not be warped at all.

doc i think the low E is cutting too deep too, i think if its raised slightly the prob will be solved....so any ideas how to do it??

heres a pic of her: the soapbars are lovely...straty sound on a les paul yum yum

Doctor J

OK, cheap solution, just put a small bit of superglue into low E slot, making sure you go right to the fretboard edge of the nut so the intonation doesn't get screwed. Allow to dry. Repeat until the low E string clears the first fret without buzzing. But in a small amount at a time and allow to dry, if you put in a big blob it might harden on the outside and stay soft on the inside and, with the pressure of a string on it, might make even more of a **** sandwich of yer man's guitar.

Not as cheap solution, replace the nut.

Expensive solution, bring it to a luthier to have the nut replaced.

Once that's done, then let me know about the first fret-last fret thing.

Rustar

Doctor J wrote:

OK, cheap solution, just put a small bit of superglue into low E slot, making sure you go right to the fretboard edge of the nut so the intonation doesn't get screwed. Allow to dry. Repeat until the low E string clears the first fret without buzzing.

Not cheap solution, replace the nut.

Expensive solution, bring it to a luthier to have the nut replaced.

Once that's done, then let me know about the first fret-last fret thing.

I agree with the first part, if the OP is trying to get by on the cheap. Remembering back to the late 70's when I was a wee tad and a mini-luthier at Guild, we used to keep extra bone and plastic nuts around for this type of emergency.
If a nut was cut too low, instead of replacing it, we'd first grind up some powder from the appropriate type of nut and use epoxy/superglue mixed with the powder to build the nut channel back up, then re-file the nut.
Worked like a charm!

Won't fix your neck problem, but re-contouring the nut to the new shape of your neck might at least get rid of the buzz.

NoQuarter

well ive just done an even lazier and cheaper solution!!

i cut a tiny part off the end of the low E string and just stuck it in the gap of the nut and let the low E lie on it, i thought it would slip out but it hasnt and its working haha!

thanks all.

68 lost souls

Why do I always think of the complicated ways? I still have a bit learn so.

NoQuarter

68 lost souls wrote: »

Why do I always think of the complicated ways? I still have a bit learn so.

good thing i dont have a plane in the house! because im fairly impulsive like that! :pac:

Johnny Storm

Nice looking guitar.
If you do decide to use superglue, make sure you cover everywhere you do not want the glue to go with masking tape. Some people put baking soda in the nut slot then add a little super glue. Supposedly it sets much faster.