Gifted a National. No, not THAT National...

[Boreas]

My friend couldn't deal with this decent-looking, cheap, Korean Dove "copy". National® WG-61. Top seems quite flat (plywood) with just a hint of a belly. Seems to have a nice rosewood fretboard/adjustable bridge. Unfortunately, the action is about 5/8" over the 12th fret! Relief about 1/16". Minimal fretwear for obvious reasons. Truss rod nut moves, but doesn't seem to adjust anything. Sounds pretty good, but unfortunately I don't play slide. Obviously needs a neck reset vs. kerosene and a match. I have never done a neck reset and thought this could be a learning experience.

Anyone have any experience with removing the neck on one of these? Or should I get out the reciprocating saw??

 

[Boreas]

Notice the care in which the silkscreen was applied. Don't want to mess that up!

 

[JustABluesGuy]

That or an axe. That seems like a big challenge, doing a reset. Good luck with it!

 

[Boreas]

That or an axe. That seems like a big challenge, doing a reset. Good lick with it!

I have literally nothing to lose as long as I keep my fingers away from sharp tools and wear protective eyewear!

 

[Boreas]

Some kind of pine (split) neck block with some kind of tenon through block. And a nice neck crack to boot! Could that actually be a 2-piece neck heel??





IIRC, these necks have to be sawed off! If nothing else, they fit in the fireplace better!

 

[Boreas]

UPDATE - more pix and gut-shots.

In case anyone runs across one of these creatures in the wild - beware.

The truss rod/channel assembly currently can slide up and down in its rout in the neck. It emerges from the neck block flush with the top, so it is free to slide up and down almost 2"!! Perhaps it was glued in place at one time??

Tightening/loosening the TR has no effect on the relief which currently sits at about 2.5mm. The fretboard may also be nailed through the top for positioning during installation, but I think what I am seeing are pilot holes for the pickguard SCREWS!

Saddle assembly seems to be adjustable, but isn't. Just a screw to hold it in place. I am not sure why the nut warrants an aluminum channel to sit in if it doesn't adjust.

Looking at the neck geometry that seems fixed (without a major effort), I was wondering if a refret with wider-tang frets would eliminate much of the relief problem? I was considering converting it over for slide use, but don't know if the relief problem would still be an issue. Would filing the frets into a flatter plane be helpful on slide?

 

[BB]

Calling Freeman Keller! He will be able to give you a definitive answer. I've had several Lyle, Aspen etc. MIJ guitars from the late 60's, early 70's and probably 80% required a neck reset or neck hammerset. One Lyle dreadnaught, however, was one of the loudest guitars I've ever heard.....and yes, I had to play slide with it. The new owner was quite excited at the prospect of trying a neck reset. All I said was "Good luck!"

 

[Freeman Keller]

Somehow I missed this, maybe that was best.

I think you've answer most of your questions, is it worth working on it? Only if you want to get good and frustrated followed by a nice cold adult beverage. Or two.

I would start by trying to get the neck off, that will answer a lot of questions - type of joint, whether you can change its angle. As you know I believe everything starts with the geometry, if you can't get it workable you are doomed from the start. I have a little steamer that I would try, its either going to come apart or not. It probably is a dovetail, the glue is weird looking and I'm guessing that is the end of the truss rod sticking our of the neck block.

If it won't steam apart you can saw the neck off as per the other thread, put a couple of inserts in the heel and bolt the sucker back on. The heel crack worries me, it obviously is a stacked heel which should be nice and strong but the inserts run the risk of splitting it more.

I know you are starting to dabble in slide and I play a bit too, my feeling is that you don't need or necessarily want big high action unless you are going to play strictly lap style, in that case throw a nut extender on it, maybe make a new tall flat saddle insert and slide on in. A lot of very good players do play lap style on acoustic guitars - Kelly Joe Phelps, John Fahey, Jerry Douglas (mostly dobro).

The way I play slide involves mixing fretted notes with the slide notes and you just can't do that with sky high action. You may find that what you've got will work OK. The other problem with my slide guitars is they are in open D or G or something and I play a bunch of nice non-slide songs in those tunings.

You've got a couple of other options. You can pull the fretboard (heat and pallet knives assuming the glue will release. That lets you futz around with the truss rod - replace or whatever it needs. You can also level the top of the neck and improve the relief situation, refret as required.

The bridge looks like ones that appeared on some Epiphones and Yamahas during he 70's. They were adjustable, some people didn't like them, parts get lost and are hard to purchase. I've converted a couple to standard slot without the channel, I would say if you are successful with the neck it might be worth while doing it to this one.

You asked about compression fretting to get rid of some of the relief. I've never done it, its one of those mumble jumble things that some of the legendary repair techs do with old Martins. Fretwire with thicker tangs is available, Erlewine talks about it in his book on repairs. Post pictures if you try.,

So bottom line, its going to be a totally frustrating experience whatever you do with it. I'll be there is a family of house finches that would love to move in and chirp and sing and enjoy their new housee.

 

[Boreas]

Thanks! I was thinking of more a lap-style slide for this one, using a nut extender and taller saddle. Hell, I may even screw some legs on it!!

 

[Dave Hicks]

Can you find 3 more of them?