Weird issue with my Skyhawk: the neck might be tilted?

Hi all,

I just wonder if anybody have experienced such a weird problem.
I got my first G&L guitar, a nice 1985 Skyhawk yesterday and even I enjoyed to play several hours I realized that when I just push down the treble E string on the higher notes it tends to slip of the neck because it's very close to the edge of the neck.
There's no problem at the nut side.

I show a photo where it's clearly visible that the strings looks like they are off-center to the neck. I have never seen such kind of problem before.
Is it possible that the neck became tilted to the rigtht slightly? Or is it a problem with the bridge and saddles?

Just take a look on the picture and let me know your opinion. Thank you.

Last edited by muzx66 on Fri Nov 04, 2011 6:21 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Easily remedied, see String alignment issues and a simple cure.

Hope this helps.

Thank you, Craig!

I planned to do something like that, it's good to know that the official solution is so simple.

I'm a bit surprised though, I got 20 guitars shipped by UPS within half year and the Skyhawk was the first with such problem.
Anyway, this forum gives a great support!

Thank you, Craig!

I planned to do something like that, it's good to know that the official solution is so simple.

I'm a bit surprised though, I got 20 guitars shipped by UPS within half year and the Skyhawk was the first with such problem.
Anyway, this forum gives a great support!

Okay, I did the mentioned setting.
Now the string alignment is much better, let's say acceptable, however, the action became much worse, there's buzz even with open strings.

Anyway, I planed to do a full setup on it, it's time to start.

If the action got worse after adjusting the neck, before you do anything else, make sure you've got the neck fully seated in the neck pocket. With the strings at full tension, it is possible to tighten the screws without the neck fully seated in the pocket.

Hope this helps!


Brice

Well, I feel really unlucky and unhappy now.
I just realized that after followed the instruction to set the string alingment a BIG, NASTY CRACK appeared on the wall of the neck pocket.

Okay, I removed the neck to check the neck pocket.
At least the crack is only outside, it doesn't penetrate the wood.
The other side of the neck there is also a crack but it's much more superficial, just on the top of the finish.
But that one on the photo is definitely deeper.

Well, I feel really unlucky and unhappy now.
I just realized that after followed the instruction to set the string alingment a BIG, NASTY CRACK appeared on the wall of the neck pocket.

this is why i like to take it to a professional. they can tell if there is enough room to do the adjustment, or if you have to massage the neck pocket a little bit. it does look like a crack in the finish only though.

this is why i like to take it to a professional. they can tell if there is enough room to do the adjustment, or if you have to massage the neck pocket a little bit. it does look like a crack in the finish only though.

We did it together with my luthier instructor. He's a professional and he also haven't found any problem with it. Actually, it happened maybe overnight after setting the neck. It didn't appear right after.

Based on what you describe, I do not think that what you just did is the cause of the problem. This looks like a guitar that has fallen and stressed the neck pocket. There are people who claim that this is common on Fenders. It is not. It appears as a stress fracture and may have shown up when the pressure on the neck screws was released. I suspect that it may have been there when you bought the guitar but was not noticeable. I recently looked at an 89 Strat Plus that had the same condition. When I pointed it out to the original owner. he claimed that he had never noticed it. It is a bummer on such a nice guitar but is probably structurally sound.-- Darwin--

this is why i like to take it to a professional. they can tell if there is enough room to do the adjustment, or if you have to massage the neck pocket a little bit. it does look like a crack in the finish only though.

We did it together with my luthier instructor. He's a professional and he also haven't found any problem with it. Actually, it happened maybe overnight after setting the neck. It didn't appear right after.

well, those older finishes get pretty hard, crack easier. just look at it as an early start on relicing darwin is right, it may have already been there, and the change in the pressure in the neck pocket brought it out.

FWIW, most of my G&Ls have the same sort of finish crack, on a smaller scale. Since they're all around the same age as yours, I just think of it as part of the Leo-era mojo.

Ken

Thanks, guys.
Yes, you are probably right, it's a vintage guitar and some cracks are normal for them- but it was a bit shocking for me because I didn't expect such issue.
I have some older guitars, too, but none of them suffered similar damage.

Well, it seems mostly a cosmetic flaw, but you know, how disappointing if you discover something like that on your new gear, especially if you feel gulity thinking that you did it....
It wasn't there when I bought it, or at least it was just a hairline.
Of course, it's not a major problem... and I already fixed some really nasty broken guitar necks.
I just want to prevent the extension of the crack.
At least I know the manufacturing date of the neck now...

So, it's just getting more relic?

Yes, that' would be the right approach.
By the way, I was surprised to see that the body is mahagony. I thought it's quite rare, but I found some other black Skyhawks in the registry with mahagony body.

I'm gonne start the setup from the beginning. Cleaning, fret sanding, crowning, fret dressing, fretboard conditioning. It seems the nut is also worn out, the string slots became too deep, so I would build a new nut from ivory.

Would be nice combination: ebony and ivory...

So, it's just getting more relic?

Yes, that' would be the right approach.
By the way, I was surprised to see that the body is mahagony. I thought it's quite rare, but I found some other black Skyhawks in the registry with mahagony body.

I'm gonne start the setup from the beginning. Cleaning, fret sanding, crowning, fret dressing, fretboard conditioning. It seems the nut is also worn out, the string slots became too deep, so I would build a new nut from ivory.

Would be nice combination: ebony and ivory...

where would you get ivory? you can fill the nutslots with crazy glue/baking soda mixture, it will be like new.

where would you get ivory? you can fill the nutslots with crazy glue/baking soda mixture, it will be like new.

Thanks for the advice, sounds interesting.
But since I'm on the luthier course to build a new nut is a good homework for me.

You can get Pre-ban ivory from here:

http://www.ivoryseller.com/?nav=products&cat=1&sub=4

muzx66,

Would it be possible to restore the image that was used in your initial post of this thread? For the sake of continuity if anyone pulls up this thread it would be helpful to see the condition of the guitar referred to in your question. It seems to have been moved, renamed or removed from your flickr account.

The good news out of all this is that people here recognized the crack as a finish crack and it is probably not deep in the wood. Additionally you did this with supervision so you did not damage it. The vulnerability to cracking already existed. Maybe just that cutout plane can be refinished with clear?

muzx66,

Would it be possible to restore the image that was used in your initial post of this thread? For the sake of continuity if anyone pulls up this thread it would be helpful to see the condition of the guitar referred to in your question. It seems to have been moved, renamed or removed from your flickr account.

The good news out of all this is that people here recognized the crack as a finish crack and it is probably not deep in the wood. Additionally you did this with supervision so you did not damage it. The vulnerability to cracking already existed. Maybe just that cutout plane can be refinished with clear?

Hmm, sounds weird. I still could see the image...

I created an another version of the photo and edited the first post, I hope it will be okay.

Hmm, sounds weird. I still could see the image...

Maybe it was just a temporary server glitch. For at least a couple of hours during which I had logged on and off and on again it was just a large white box with a message from flickr saying the image was no longer available but it is there now. Even when I just returned and read your response it still showed the white box. I logged on so I could post and it loaded.

By the way: I think I will not touch the crack. After the setup I'm going to align the neck (maybe we will apply a very tiny shim on one side with my instructor) and let it rest and then play it and check regularly. If there will be no further extension on the crack, I will keep it like that.

I got the taste to see it as a relic feature.