"steel reinforced neck" refret question

makepeace

hi guys,

i'm about to embark on a fretboard refinish/refret project on my harmony archtone. i've done a lot of research and acquired the right tools and i'm pretty confident that i can get it done well.

there is one thing that is plying me. the guitar in question has a "steel reinforced neck" ala:

basically, instead of an adjustable truss rod it has a piece of steel square bar running through the neck, just under the fingerboard (i saw it when i had to reglue the fingerboard; the previous person who worked on it did an absolutely terrible job.)

my question is this: is it alright if i sand the board with a radius block just as it is, once the strings and frets have been taken off? i've read that before sanding a fretboard, the neck should be as straight as you can get it by adjusting the truss rod, but obviously this isn't adjustable. were fixed truss guitars designed to have straight necks with strings off? or were they designed to have some negative relief? - and if so, by sanding it as is without propping it etc will i end up having too much relief?

i'm hoping that this isn't going to end up being as complicated as i fear it could be..

thanks ?

Gearhead

The way a truss holds the neck is by going into tension and putting the wood into compression. With the string tension this combination should give a little relief, without the strings there is a little backbow. Sanding will flatten the backbow and therefore give unpredictable results. So, by relieving the truss rod, you get a sraight neck that sands to predictable relief.

The way your beam holds the neck is by going into compression on the fretboard (front) side while the back goes into tension. Taking off the string tension will straighten the neck rather than giving it backbow.

Leave your neck as it is, support it evenly during sanding and you will have no problem.

AlanRatcliffe

+1. With strings off the neck should be flat, so sanding is straightforward. As with any neck sanding, a little fallaway from the 12th fret is a good idea for lower action without buzzing.

makepeace

cool thanks guys, happy to hear.

Alan Ratcliffe wrote: As with any neck sanding, a little fallaway from the 12th fret is a good idea for lower action without buzzing.

Yep, already planned for that ?

HankCastello

Sorry about being 11 years late! But the correct answer is to string the guitar, tune to pitch and measure the amount of relief. Then remove the strings and measure - this time looking to see if you still have a bit of a bow, backbow or perfectly straight neck.
Calculate the amount of relief you want to eliminate and that tells you how and how much to shave the neck or fretboard.