1962 Martin Neck reset

[Rich Rice]

Well, I finally got started today. First thing I did was to heat the 13th fret with a soldering gun to loosen the fret, then eased it out of the slot.

It came out nice and clean. No visible damage yet... ;)

Then I heated up the fingerboard where it was glued to the body. I used my favorite heating tool, a hair dryer that I bought (used) for $10.00. In order to save the finish on the body, I would apply the heat in short bursts and let it rest, then repeat a few minutes later. This way the heat continues to build in the fingerboard area, but dissipates on the thinner body wood. It's a little dicey to do it this way, but fairly safe if one pays close attention as one goes along. Here's a pic of the flexible knife I use to get in between the body and the fingerboard. I cut it way narrower than it was, rounded the corners, and sharpened the lead edge to a razor edge. This was worked into the joint very slowly and carefully, heating the fingerboard as I continued to work the blade into the joint.


The key here is to get the fingerboard hot enough that the glue will give up, without bubbling the surrounding finish, scorching the fingerboard, cracking the top or the fretboard. Trying to rush this part is suicide. The glue has held for almost 50 years, so gotta go slowly and carefully. The last thing I want to see is damage under the board. Get it hot, wiggle and push the knife, repeat. Patience is of the essence... Go slow, and eventually you will separate the board from the body...

[otterhound]

I didn't know that the fretboard was glued to the soundboard .

[winny pooh]

great thread already

[lostpick]

i have to do this on my sons cheapie with sentimental value...

keep the cameras rollin...

thanks...

[rangercaster]

i love this stuff ... there should be a disclaimer ... "all stunts were performed by a highly qualified luthier ... do not try this at home ..."

[Rich Rice]

Thanks for the nice replies. I'll try to get a little done each day, and post as I can. Lots of people coming to the house today (Happy Memorial Day!) so I don't know if I can get to it today.. My wife needs some help for the moment.. ;)

[bradpdx]

You are a far braver man that I, sir! Me, I just pony up hundreds of dollars to get this done.

Best of luck with your reset - Martins from that era usually sound fabulous once that neck angle is properly restored.

From the photos it appears to be a 0-16NY model. True?

[Rich Rice]

Originally Posted by bradpdx

You are a far braver man that I, sir! Me, I just pony up hundreds of dollars to get this done.

Best of luck with your reset - Martins from that era usually sound fabulous once that neck angle is properly restored.

From the photos it appears to be a 0-16NY model. True?

Braver? nahh- dumber, maybe.. I've reset other necks, though, so I do have that experience going for me..

You are correct, it's a early 1962 0-16NY. It was a wreck when I bought it, but I've been restoring it to as original as possible. It sounds terrific, but the action was almost .50" at the 12th fret, the saddle had been notched at every string (down to the top of the bridge), the entire instrument had been varnished (including the fingerboard, frets, bridge), the bridge had been epoxied down and two brass machine screws, nuts and bolts had been drilled to hold the bridge on. Little by little, I have been removing the varnish and saving the original finish, I removed, stripped, and reset the bridge properly, stripped the varnish off the fretboard, it still needs a level and crown, but I figure I'll save that for after the neck reset. I'm loving this guitar, with its small body and wide (1.75") nut. It is difficult to take the repairs slowly, as I just want to play it- but a guitar like this deserves the time to do things properly, and then enjoy it for many years.

[Rich Rice]

So here I was able to sneak in a little more work- I (very carefully) drilled a 1/16" hole through the 13th fret slot, all the way into the void inside the dovetail joint...


Here's what it looks like- it will be completely covered by the new fret, once the reset if done...


Then I used a cutoff from an old string to verify that I had indeed hit the void- looks just right!


This hole will allow me to get my steam needle into the heart of the dovetail joint, and steam the glue joint loose from within... but probably not today.

[Rich Rice]

Got a little farther on this thing this morning-

I put my steam needle setup together, basically an espresso maker from Goodwill ($15), some fairly hefty fish tank tubing (stolen from my son), and a hypo needle from my friend, a podiatrist.. High dollar setup, but quite effective. I need to get a better seal between the needle and the tubing, but for now I used some heavy duty duct tape (works for everything)...

First, I applied a little upward pressure on the fingerboard by inserting a pair of round-nosed kitchen knives between the body and the fingerboard..



Then inserted the steam needle into the small access hole, and opened the steam valve on the espresso machine... Here's the amount of flex I achieved, didn't want to go too hard with the knives, and accidentally crack the board.


Steam was shooting out all over the place, while I kept sopping up the moisture off the finish- Pretty nervewracking, but it worked pretty well. I need a better seal, as the steam was blasting out all over the place, I wiped up constantly. I still managed to burn my fingers quite often..




You can see the water pouring out across the treble side of the top in the above photo, but keeping up with the water saved what is left of the original finish.

[Rich Rice]

After quite some time, I wiggled and flexed the neck joint by hand, watching the steam and moisture escape between the body and the neck heel. Once the glue started to release, I went more slowly and carefully, as I wanted to allow the heat and moisture to do the job, rather than forcing it apart and chancing a break. Patience paid off-

Here's where it got cool--






All that work, but the interior stayed bone dry.


...Perfect!

[Nodremark]

Your a better man than I am Gunga Din! Bravo!!

[Rich Rice]

I did some clean-up of both the body and the neck, marked a line 1/16" back from the heel edge, and started carving some relief inside the cheeks of the heel. This is common practice, and it allows easier fitting of the neck (as illustrated below).






I tapered the shortened heel down to nothing where the neck/fingerboard/body coincide. This set my new angle.

Once that angle has been established, it's a simple matter of running strips of sandpaper inside each side of the joint until the surfaces mate. Trick is to keep everything straight, even, and steady pressure to maintain good alignment... I usually try to do two strokes on one side, then two strokes on the other side.


I keep an eye on forward-backward angle, as well as side-to-side. It would really suck to glue the neck in crooked...

[ac15]

Interesting. I just bought a 1968 0-16ny a couple weeks ago. What a great guitar. I don't think mine needs a neck reset yet though.

[ThermionicScott]

Any progress?

[garymaddox]

Great thread! I hope it picks back up.

[Rich Rice]

I had to kick it to the curb for a little while, too many other builds to mess with my own stuff... I made a little progress on it, but nothing exciting. I'll pick it up again soon, though.. I'm itching to play it!

[rangercaster]

I put my steam needle setup together, basically an espresso maker from Goodwill ($15), some fairly hefty fish tank tubing (stolen from my son), and a hypo needle from my friend, a podiatrist.

how can you top that ??? we are talking about some ultra hi-tech tools ... what type of alloy are those knives ???

[birddog01]

I love these threads, looking forward it picking up again.

Curious on the steamer, was the water on the top coming from the needle end or from the duct tape seal ?

[tcarp]

Great job, but it sure looks scary. I know that I'd never attempt it....brain surgery looks less nerve wracking. I never realized what's involved in a neck reset and now I understand why luthiers charge so much for the repair.

Tom