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Hello,

I have replaced a top on a dreadnaut steel string guitar that I am repairing. Removing the neck was totally out of the question so I cut the end of the finger board at the 12th fret and routed out the old top. My problem is after installing the new top the neck angle slid back and now I have 9/16 at the bridge location from a strait edge to the sound board. Is this a huge problem? Any suggestions?

Thanks

Wes

I have never been that tall.

14 mm (.55") is my target string height over the top after setup. When you set up the bass string they will be .16"-.2" higher than the 9/16" you have. That is a bit tall for me. A lot of saddle will be showing and you will really be driving the top.

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http://www.Harvestmoonguitars.com

Anything more than 1/2" gets to be problems. You could make the bridge itself thicker but you will still be increasing the load on the top quite a bit.

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Brian

You never know what you are capable of until you actually try.

https://www.howardguitarsdelaware.com/

Thanks guys I guess I'll try and remove the neck they told me it was epoxied but it looks to me like regular wood glue.

Or... you could level the board and mill the frets in such a manner so as to reduce the overset of the neck angle. It's a technique that we repair guys often do to belay the need for a neck reset for a while. It's simply a matter of measuring and understanding what you have AND where you want to go.

Then in the leveling process, prior to the refret, one concentrates on the areas of the neck that will change the neck angle as desired. You can divide the level of change as well between the board leveling and the fret leveling. In this case, with an overset neck, you would concentrate on milling some material away where that pesky body hump may be anyway - two birds with one stone... Half the change could be with the board and the other half with the fret leveling or some combination of both.

Make sense?

No neck removal is required with this process and it's no more complicated than a board level and refret. My bet is that you could reduce the neck angle by about 1/16th and that puts you in the ball park.

Also during the retop there was an opportunity to do what the Michigan guys call a "California" reset and the "California" guys call a "Michigan" reset in that no one wants to claim the method.... It's simply forcing the body back into spec and using creative bracing and buttressing to restore a proper neck angle. Reattaching the top would have made this possible as well in that you have an opportunity to distort, as needed, the upper bout body geometry.

Not to hijack here, but I had an old Kalamazoo acoustic guitar in my shop, and someone had performed a neck set that I am sure no state would claim. The genius cut a kerf from the bottom of the heel, all the way to the bottom of the fretboard. Then he closed the gap at the bottom of the heel, with epoxy and a carriage bolt, to change the neck angle. Of course, he cut right through the non-adjustable truss rod, and it rattled like a '57 Plymouth with rocks in the hubcaps. However the noise would not have bothered him, He also installed a humbucker pick up just behind the sound hole. I'm sure he couldn't hear thunder when he cranked up his amp.

BTW, I agree with trying your solution to plane the fret board. If that won't get the change needed, the neck will have to come off.

James

Hi ya James.

See why no state wants to claim this method.... The carriage bolt is a nice touch too, wonder if that bolt is listed on CITES....

Back on topic

That was my plan after I noticed the bad neck angle but at 9/16ths it's a 1/4 inch across the board to level it out. There wouldn't be much of a fretboard left. I'm super bummed I didn't get it right on the retop. It looked fine when I tes fit it but after all was done not so good. Looks great though!! Hahha fit real nice can't even tell saved the bindings and everything.

What if I put in a floating bridge and a tail piece?
I'm just nervouse heati g the area up to remove the neck worried ill break loose the heel block from the body.