360-12 without strings

[rgmaier]

I acquired a 360-12 with some modest head damaged that will require taking the strings off for a few days to re-glue/fill some chips/cracks. Should I worry about adjusting the truss bars to loosest position to avoid any damage-- shouldn't be more than a week.

[doctorwho]

Robert, although I am not a luthier, I would recommend backing off the tension on the rods for that length of time. I have done this on a couple of my guitars when I had them 'stringless' for longer than a day. Just remember to take it slow when you do restring them and retension the rods.

This thread probably belongs in The Vibrola section.

[BobKat]

I left the strings off of "Rosie" for over a YEAR as I attended to other matters. It did not affect the neck at all. She set up beautifully afterward.

[jdogric12]

Belloff's back! What's up duder? I forget, is Rosie still there with you? You buy and sell her so much I can't keep track!

[BobKat]

No, Rosie is with someone else. I'm doing good,just really busy. I just finsihed up a project to put up a Victorian Street clock in my hometown so things have eased a bit. Good to stop by.

[jdogric12]

I got to play Rosie today! She's doing great.

[trosse]

You can lock the neck in straight position by putting a tension to the neck similar to the downforce produced by the string pull tension.

Use a clamp and a piece of tough wood and two pieces of small wood in the end of the long wood piece and one on the top of fret board in the middle - to protect finish and frets. You can now easily emulate the string tension while the strings are removed. The string pull works like a downforce on the neck - and it is this downforce you can subsitute by gently pressing the fret board and the long piece of wood gently against each other with a light clamp on - but only just enough to keep the neck straight when the strings removed.