The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
  1. #1

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    Hello Forum ,

    I have an upcoming job of straightening a somewhat warped neck that has been stored, either too much humidity or not enough.

    I've searched the net for solutions and short of removing the fretboard have found these 2 videos on applying heat over extended time periods. They do address different issues .

    Any comments from experienced members would be appreciated and this one .You'll have to watch on YouTube though.


    Ray
    Last edited by RayS; 02-15-2023 at 08:09 PM.

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    The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
     
  3. #2

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    I have heard of this before, so it does exist. I've heard it referred to as "heat pressing." But I know nothing about it. I also don't know how long it lasts.

  4. #3
    I've not tried it and would worry about the long term stability. I would ask at the repair subforum at OLF before doing anything. Remember that when you bend sides or wood binding you typically take the wood to about 350F where it goes into the kind of plastic state and holds the shape as it cools.

    Can you pull the fretboard and plane the neck flat? You'll probably have to reset it anyway.

  5. #4

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    Quote Originally Posted by RayS
    Hello Forum ,

    I have an upcoming job of straightening a somewhat warped neck that has been stored, either too much humidity or not enough.

    I've searched the net for solutions and short of removing the fretboard have found these 2 videos on applying heat over extended time periods. They do address different issues .

    Any comments from experienced members would be appreciated and this one .You'll have to watch on YouTube though.


    Ray
    One of my guitars needed a refret and also had a maxed out truss rod. The luthier I took it to thought that refretting with larger fret tangs would straighten the neck and bring the truss rod back to life, but that if it didn't he would do a heat press. He told me he does it often and that it's reliable and long lasting. Refretting wound up doing the trick on this guitar, so I never put the the heat press to the test, but based on what I was told I'm pretty confident it works well.

  6. #5
    Quote Originally Posted by John A.
    One of my guitars needed a refret and also had a maxed out truss rod. The luthier I took it to thought that refretting with larger fret tangs would straighten the neck and bring the truss rod back to life, but that if it didn't he would do a heat press. He told me he does it often and that it's reliable and long lasting. Refretting wound up doing the trick on this guitar, so I never put the the heat press to the test, but based on what I was told I'm pretty confident it works well.
    I know a bit more about the issue today and it seems that the neck actually has what I've seen called an "S shape " What is an 'S-Shaped' Guitar Neck — Haze Guitars. This article has a good description of this issue.... Essentially a hump around 3-4 4th frets and a valley until the neck area where fretboard lifts up again into another kinda hump....Not sure how to proceed, although Gerry Hayes (haze guitars) has replied to my message and he has not used heat but refretted after levelling the neck. There is a pic on his linked page...That might be the way to go...I was thinking applying heat to bring the valley back up and then level the fingerboard....

    Need to ponder a bit more I think...until I get the guitar in my hands......

    R