New Truss Rod and Fretboard : 1995 G&L Legacy | Cherryburst

[geargarage]

I acquired my 1995 G&L Legacy some years back, and until recently, ever touched the truss rod. Long story short, the threads of the truss rod (not the nut) became very worn causing the truss rod nut to just spin. These threads were so worn, and the placement hard to reach for chasing the threads, required me to remove the fretboard entirely to install a new truss rod. I used an iron, a razor blade, a sharp chisel and patience to remove the fretboard.

G&L necks are quarter sawn for their own personal reasons regarding stability. They install the truss rod by inserting it into neck when it's in two pieces. These separate neck pieces are then glued together. Since this is their method of madness I had to route out the truss rod like a coal miner to remove it. This also meant once I channeled out the old truss rod that I would have to install a skunk strip to plug the channel once the new rod was in. All in all I felt this was the best approach to saving my beloved neck vs. asking G&L for a new neck (they told me $500). I ordered my fretboard pre-slotted from Stew Mac for $25.00 and traced the old fretboard over the new fretboard. The new truss rod I obtained for $45.00 from a known luthier that was also a talented machinist who made me one from scratch and gave me a scrap of walnut for my skunk strip for free. I used Titebond II for gluing the fretboard and neck together and typical leveling tools to sand the neck and fretboard flat before adhering.

Finally, I noticed in the neck heel pocket during my work a fancy schmancy cursive "G". I like to think it's George Fullerton's G, but let me know what you think.

Neck Heel Pocket


Truss Rod Extraction


Truss Rod Installation and new Skunk Strip


Fretboard Installation

[FZTNT]

That's quite an undertaking. The old necks were bi-cut the length of the neck and routed from the side to insert the rod and then glued back together. Did you know this before you started? Or did you think you would find the truss rod just under the fret board like they do it now.

Either way, looks like you did a great job of it. Well done!

Tom

[darwinohm]

Interesting project, looks very nice. -- Darwin

[JagInTheBag]

Nicely done! ~P

[geargarage]

Hey Tom

Yeah after noticing the split on the back of the neck (I can see the line) I looked up some of G&L's documentation where it stated how the truss rods were installed back then. Thanks for the kind words. It was definitely a chore. Can't wait to start the frets.

[FZTNT]

Hey Tom

Yeah after noticing the split on the back of the neck (I can see the line) I looked up some of G&L's documentation where it stated how the truss rods were installed back then. Thanks for the kind words. It was definitely a chore. Can't wait to start the frets.

No problem. You mentioned the fancy schmancy cursive "G" in the neck pocket and I might agree that it could be a George Fullerton thing. Recently I acquired an instrument from his collection. It came with some paperwork from loaning it to a museum quite a few years ago. I will post some pics. You can also look around at some of the GF models out there for sale and compare. I am not sure it's an exact match but looks close enough for me. Quite a rare find if it is.

Tom

[geargarage]

Hey Tom,

Thanks for the docs posted. I've tried to send G&L a message via e-mail and Twitter with no reply so it's certainly nice to see an authentic signature. I wish I could say the ones in your pics are identical to mine, but they definitely differ slightly. However, I still agree it looks close enough to his G and frankly who else in the shop is gonna write a G like that in the neck heel especially that fancy and in cursive.