Twisted neck - fixable?

[delt]

Posted this in reply to another thread, but i can't find it.....

I have this old KE3 neck that i scrapped a few years ago. It's been in the shed the whole winter. Lately i tried to fix it & put new frets on it but the fretboard is "twisted" .... if you hold the nut horizontal, the upper fretboard area is at a good 10 degree angle from horizontal. ie, string action would be way high on the lower strings above the 15th fret or so. Something like this:



(i exaggerated the deformation in the sketch for illustration purposes) Any way to fix that?

[Bengal65]

I've never have attemped one myself. On a bolt on I usually scrap them. I've heard of some luthiers using a steam press after the finish has been stripped to bare wood. The neck is clamped in a fixture and steam is introduced through holes. Other methods are steaming the neck, then clamping in a special fixture. Other than that I don't know what else to suggest, but contact a good luthier.

[straycat]

Steam.

[kelly user]

i think i would be cheaper to find another neck for it, unless you ambitious and want to learn then................... put that bitch in a jig and have your way with, similar to that of an Asian hooker

[z1n]

I think if you did get it back in shape, it would start to twist again over time but each neck/wood is different so who knows.

[jcm800x]

I had a soloist with that problem, Jackson took off the frets and re-planed the neck, came out great.

[Bengal65]

I had a soloist with that problem, Jackson took off the frets and re-planed the neck, came out great.

Just a thought! That would work great if the twist were not severe. When planing the fretboard on a severly twisted neck you could end up with one side of the board thinner than the other. It would most likely be a cosmetic issue though.

[delt]

That and the fret slots might not be deep enough. This is a problem if the neck has bindings and you don't have the same kind of binding to replace it after taking it off.

Luthier's Merchantile International (lmii.com) CAN'T SHIP CELLULOID BINDINGS TO CANADA ANYMORE!!!!!!!! http://www.lmii.com/CartTwo/thirdpro...lastic+Binding ±@#¢±%±£¤¢± If i knew this before, i woulda stockpiled on ivoroid binding strips (part# PBII on that page)!!!!!

[charvelguy]

If steam or high heat & humidity with clamping to a flat level surface doesn't do it (which can be a many days process) then you have to resign to removing the freboard and replaning the neck surface level again.

[Special-K]

New neck or steam

[gitfiddler]

i had a neck twist on a charvel years ago. Bob Willcutt at Willcuttguitars said it's pretty common with Charvels. He fixed it for $100+