SG neck repair

Jacques_nasi

Hi guys, I have this Stagg SG that I played a lot when I still used to play in garage bands and things, and this was the guitar I used for giging the most. When I got it as a present from my cousin, it already had a broken neck. I "fixed" it quickly with some wood glue and a clamp, painted it satin black and fitted better epiphone pickups. the fix was never ever 100%, but it held up somewhat and was good enough for me at the time. needles to say all the years being strung up with heavy gauge strings and a couple of bangs here and there made things worse, a whole lot worse, and I would like to attempt a proper fix now. I would like to do this myself in order not to spend huge amounts of cash on a cheap guitar, and also develop my repair skills.

the crack seems to have gone right through the neck joint now, and only the fretboard is keeping it all together. I've seen a couple of how-to's on fretboard removal using steam irons etc, http://www.projectguitar.com/tut/removal.htm and I'm keen to give it a go. my question is the binding on the sides, can the fretboard be removed without destroying it?

Anyone have any advice or so on?
cheers guys! ?

Manfred-Klose

i have removed a fretboard before with a heat gun and some very sharp razors, took about an hour. but fairly easy to do.

in terms of the binding, i'm not sure what it will do, but it should come of with the fretbaord, and you could just glue it back again................or you could cut some maple strips and put that back on as binding instead ?

Jacques_nasi

hopefully it comes off cleanly with the fretboard, but I must say the maple stip idea is very interesting!

slyd

Okay, . . . been there. . . .

If you use the heat gun on the neck to loosen the glue, the plastic binding will ignite/melt/burn !

My advice is for you to use a Stanley blade to cut/score the finish between the binding and the neck. Then begin separating the binding from the fingerboard, by slipping a blade in at the start of the binding, and gently twisting so that it separates away from the neck, and slowly proceeding all the way around the neck until you have freed all the binding. It may crack here and there, but after replacing the binding, it is easy to fill the cracks with liquid plastic(binding shavings with acetone), and then colour to match, after scraping level.

So after the binding is removed, the finish and the glue is fair game for the heat gun and scraper.

Another method is to iron the fretboard, slipping in a spatula along the way as the glue softens (use a normal iron, with a t-shirt over the fretboard) - this is the most common method, but I would still remove the binding first (the frets too, maybe)

Personally, I would re-bind the neck, and then re-fret too.

Jacques_nasi

Hey Slyd, Thanx for the info dude!

So the fretboard is off and still in one piece. the plastic binding came off in tact with the fretboard but needs replacement. the neck joint was totaly loose so as soon as the fretboard came loose where the neck joint is the headstock just fell off. it's mahogany and seems quite splintery so what I'll do is sand it smooth and try glueing it with normal cold wood glue. I'll also keep the fretboard, but now I'm starting to go down the old route of thinking of all the changes I can do..... ?
Replace the plastic binding with maple ( thanx Manfred)
Replace the plastic inlays with something else,
While i'm replacing the inlays maybe go for a totally different design on the inlay,
and then maybe just changing the neck profile to something a bit slimmer?
I'll probably also try and do a re-fret.

Neon-Gecko

Jacques_nasi wrote the neck joint was totaly loose so as soon as the fretboard came loose where the neck joint is the headstock just fell off. it's mahogany and seems quite splintery so what I'll do is sand it smooth and try glueing it with normal cold wood glue.

Try not to sand the two surfaces smooth. You will get the tightest, strongest fit by having the two pieces keying in, splinters and all.

The problem is once you sand you will most probably never get the surfaces truly flat and at the correct angle, which would result in unsightly gaps and also weaken the join.

slyd

Neon Gecko wrote Try not to sand the two surfaces smooth. You will get the tightest, strongest fit by having the two pieces keying in, splinters and all.

The problem is once you sand you will most probably never get the surfaces truly flat and at the correct angle, which would result in unsightly gaps and also weaken the join.

Yeah, +1 on that!

I've just done exactly that repair on a bass, over the past two days. Keep the surfaces virginal, so they "key in" as Neon G says, . . and clamp after gluing with high pressure for a good few hours. 8)

Jacques_nasi

slyd wrote
Neon Gecko wrote Try not to sand the two surfaces smooth. You will get the tightest, strongest fit by having the two pieces keying in, splinters and all.

The problem is once you sand you will most probably never get the surfaces truly flat and at the correct angle, which would result in unsightly gaps and also weaken the join.
Yeah, +1 on that!

I've just done exactly that repair on a bass, over the past two days. Keep the surfaces virginal, so they "key in" as Neon G says, . . and clamp after gluing with high pressure for a good few hours. 8)

Ok, now you guys tell me!!!!! ? ? ? ?
already smoothed the two joints and then read this post ☹ . Like Wayne said the two surfaces arent completely flat anymore, well at least I'm going to go for a matt black finish again so if I can get the glued joint strong i can fill in the gaps and paint over it!

slyd

Jacques_nasi wrote so if I can get the glued joint strong i can fill in the gaps and paint over it!

Yeah, that'll be fine. More pics, bru . . . . . ?

I use fine sawdust and very thin/light superglue to fill small gaps.

Jacques_nasi

Ok first of all if you are sensitive about guitar mutilation I suggest you dont look at the pics!! ?

Glueing the neck joint seemed like a real simple task, and I suppose it is if you know what you are doing. I got everything lined up perfectly straight, but as soon as I tightend the clamps the headstock joint would slip and glue on skew. I resorted to lining up the headstock and neck the way I wanted it and drilled two holes for tiny screws. I then apllied a little glue and screwed the headstock on.

Once the glue dried i removed the screws and drilled the holes to 6mm to be able to insert two 6mm dowel sticks. I then loosend the neck again and applied enough glue for a strong joint. with my 6mm holes lining up I then inserted the 2 dowels and then clamped the joint. this at least ensured me a straight fit.

Once all this dried I then drilled 2 more holes for another 2 dowels, just to make sure I have a solid joint, and glued them in place.

Now the rectangular piece of wood you can see on the back of the neck I had to glue in due to my 6mm wood drill bit ripping a chunk out of the neck, I then dremmeld out a rectangular piece and inserted the little block of wood.

Now this is a real mess I made here :-[, but at least it seems strong and straight, and I will be painting over everything again.!!!

makepeace

Nice!

Art there a reason why thou displayest not the side of the headstock which upon the logo sits? ???

slyd

Jacques_nasi wrote
Glueing the neck joint seemed like a real simple task, and I suppose it is if you know what you are doing. I got everything lined up perfectly straight, but as soon as I tightend the clamps the headstock joint would slip and glue on skew.

Hehehehe, . . . same happened to me . . . . . ?

Jacques_nasi

makepeace wrote Nice!

Art there a reason why thou displayest not the side of the headstock which upon the logo sits? ???

Because it art being looking very very un pretty!!!