how do you add relief to a neck ??

Fumble fingers · Post by **Fumble fingers** » Wed Feb 05, 2014 7:00 pm

my Comanche needs more relief and I'm out of adjustment ..... it's buzzing bad on the first 2 frets and some buzz on the third fret .... I live in a really dry climate this time of year , the problem seems to has developed in the last couple weeks ... could it be as simple as getting a humidifier ??

thanks , Eric

darwinohm · Post by **darwinohm** » Thu Feb 06, 2014 11:32 am

Eric, if I understand your question, you have backed (counter clockwise) your truss rod nut until it is loose and you do not have enough relief. Is this the case? Let me know and I have some ideas. This is not that common.-- Darwin

bloodied_fingers · Post by **bloodied_fingers** » Thu Feb 06, 2014 1:19 pm

If its just the first 3 frets could it also be the nut slots are worn down?

How much relief do you measure right now?

Fumble fingers · Post by **Fumble fingers** » Thu Feb 06, 2014 1:51 pm

thats it Darwin !!

Bloody , it's been done this in the last 3 or so weeks maybe , I have had to adjust neck on a couple guitars , I can usually tell cause the strings will all go sharp from the neck straightening out , we are really dry climate out here this time of year ,

I was hoping it was a humidity type of problem but I'm all ears for suggestions

thanks , Eric

darwinohm · Post by **darwinohm** » Thu Feb 06, 2014 2:55 pm

Eric, That is not as easy to solve. It may be a humidity problem and may straighten out with time. One solution is to take it to a tech that can steam the neck and straighten it. What happens when this is done, the glue on the fretboard to neck joint will soften and the neck will be straightened under pressure and when it is kept that way for several hours and cooled it may be fine and stay that way. I have had it done and was charged $20. A dual action truss-rod is designed to handle this issue and I have not seen it very often, especially on a G&L. I had it done on a Fender neck that had too much bow and it made a big difference. It was also done on a G&L that I had and completely solved the issue. The assumption is that you have a neck with a glued finger board. If you have a quarter sawn maple neck/maple fingerboard that is 2 piece, that is a different animal and may be more difficult to fix. Hope this gives you some ideas. Odds are it may straighten out when the humidity goes up. If you string it with heavier strings it may be playable. If nothing else works, raise the action and learn how to play slide guitar. Of course another option is to remove the frets and have the neck planed flat, and refret, but that is expensive. -- Darwin

Fumble fingers · Post by **Fumble fingers** » Thu Feb 06, 2014 10:19 pm

Well , I raised the DF a half turn and it took the buzz out of it , so I gave it one more half turn for picking hard and all seems good .... I'm still going to get a humidifier .... I don't think I could live with out my Comanche with the WR pick up , glad to have it singing again

thanks for the suggestions

fianoman · Post by **fianoman** » Sat Feb 08, 2014 8:03 am

Glad that fixed it. Adding humidity seems the least invasive option. Pick up a hygrometer along with the humidifier so you don't go overboard. Try and get it to around 50%.

KenC · Post by **KenC** » Sat Feb 08, 2014 8:16 am

Eric,

I would also check to see if any frets in the vicinity of the buzzing have popped out of their slots due to the wood contracting. I took a gamble on an '86 SB-1 last summer, which was described by the seller as having a buzz around the 19th fret. That's a red flag for "ski jump", but the price was right. Anyway, it turned out to be that the 20th fret had popped ever so slightly. The bass came to me from the southwest, and after three days of Maryland humidity all was fine.

FWIW, the pop was so slight that I couldn't see it with the naked eye. A high resolution photo blown up made it very obvious, though.

Ken

Fumble fingers · Post by **Fumble fingers** » Wed Feb 12, 2014 11:39 am

Ken , I think your right on the lifted frets , I raised the DF and all seemed fine until I noticed the DF spring binding in the cavatity causing seriuos tuning issues , so I lowered the DF back down and raised the string saddle up 1 turn , it was great for a day or two and now it's back to buzzing worse than ever , seems to be the third fret .... I'm taking it to Mark Kieser at my local G&L dealer this weekend and let him work his magic on the frets and neck ... don't want to be with out this one for long

thanks for the help

Eric

darwinohm · Post by **darwinohm** » Wed Feb 12, 2014 11:54 am

Eric, that is the symptoms of back bow. It will be worse as you approach the middle of the neck. Good call to take it to your tech. Hows the Buck/Bigsby working for you? -- Darwin

Fumble fingers · Post by **Fumble fingers** » Wed Feb 12, 2014 12:58 pm

I really like the BO and Bigsby , she's heavy though , good thing I'm a play at home guy cause I don't think I could do 4 hours standing up with it , the sound is great , even the bridge pup sounds good by itself and the Bigsby is so controllable

Fumble fingers · Post by **Fumble fingers** » Sat Mar 01, 2014 4:00 pm

update on my Comanche neck , my tech cut the strings off and things got worse , way worse , the whole neck just twisted and back bowed even more ..... at this point my local G&L dealer is going to send it in for a factory neck replacement , I think I'll order quartersawn neck this time with maybe some vintage tint , color matched head stock and some SS frets .... meanwhile I panic'd and put a bid on a 2007 Legacy neck with locking tuners and reverse head stock .... so either way I'm covered ..lol ...

heres a couple shots of the neck , you can see low E side of the nut is twisted big time and the back bow .... this all happened in a two weeks time , no more birdseye necks for me

darwinohm · Post by **darwinohm** » Sat Mar 01, 2014 5:31 pm

Wow Eric, that really has a twist. Amazing it happened that quickly but the verdict is in. Hope it all works out. -- Darwin

Fumble fingers · Post by **Fumble fingers** » Sat Mar 01, 2014 7:17 pm

I ended up winning the ebay neck , so I'll use it for now and when my new neck comes in I'll have a nice reverse head stock loaded neck available if I ever need it or I'll sell it

Fumble fingers · Post by **Fumble fingers** » Sat Mar 01, 2014 7:28 pm

darwinohm wrote:Wow Eric, that really has a twist. Amazing it happened that quickly but the verdict is in. Hope it all works out. -- Darwin

its amazing how quick it went bad .... G&L will only warranty a Birdseye neck 1 year , no doubt they've seen a neck or two ..... you'd think at 14 years old the wood would have been set by now ?? ... I knew when I tightened the truss rod a 1/4 turn and the strings laid on the fret board like a soggy noodle it was in trouble l

Post by **Craig** » Sat Mar 01, 2014 10:23 pm

Fumble fingers wrote:
darwinohm wrote:Wow Eric, that really has a twist. Amazing it happened that quickly but the verdict is in. Hope it all works out. -- Darwin

its amazing how quick it went bad .... G&L will only warranty a Birdseye neck 1 year , no doubt they've seen a neck or two ..... you'd think at 14 years old the wood would have been set by now ?? ... I knew when I tightened the truss rod a 1/4 turn and the strings laid on the fret board like a soggy noodle it was in trouble l

Actually, the warranty period is 90 days. This was changed in 2008 or 2009. See: Birdseye neck warranty.

If you were the original owner of this 2000 Comanche and found the issue prior to the 10 year warranty period, G&L would have replaced the neck under warranty.

Fumble fingers wrote:I ended up winning the ebay neck , so I'll use it for now and when my new neck comes in I'll have a nice reverse head stock loaded neck available if I ever need it or I'll sell it

I would expect that G&L will want the complete guitar to do the neck replacement, so that they can properly fit it to the body. Or, did your dealer work this out with the factory to just build a neck and send it back?

Fumble fingers · Post by **Fumble fingers** » Sat Mar 01, 2014 10:41 pm

I was wondering if the whole guitar has to go in ??... my local G&L dealer Centerville Music is going to call on Monday so we can figure out what to do , me or him .... if I have to send it out thats OK too ... I just want it fixed right , I'll end up having more than buying a new one all said and done , but I really like it and it is a Candy Apple red beauty , so it's going to stay here with me

fianoman · Post by **fianoman** » Tue Mar 04, 2014 5:43 pm

Interesting read in the link that Craig posted. If you are replacing the neck with another birds eye, I would make sure to correct the humidity issue first. My guess is the warp was an extreme reaction to the humidity change that was in the works and cutting the strings sent it on its way. I never knew BE was so fragile. Good luck with your replacement Fumble!

Fumble fingers · Post by **Fumble fingers** » Tue Mar 04, 2014 6:08 pm

I think I'm going with quartersawn SS frets on this one , that was my first and last birdseye ...... I did buy a complete Reverse Headstock 2007 Legacy neck with locking tuners off of ebay

..... I placed a bid that wouldn't be beat (LOL) before I knew I could have G&L fix/replace the neck .... I will wait until alls done and put the ebay neck in the classifed here when I'm ready .... the cool thing about the Reverse headstock is that there is no model name on it , meaning it would have been hard on a quick glance to know it was a Legacy neck on my Comanche short of taking it apart

Guitars by Leo (aka "GbL")

how do you add relief to a neck ??

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