A Tweak too Far

[T.A.R.]

How can I put this. Other than the title, I got greedy and reopened a crack at the head stock and neck on my '74 MG. When I bought the bass about thirty years ago it had a repaired crack. It never moved through all the adjustments etc that the poor thing has been through, until today. I wanted to get the neck a little flatter and tweaked the trussrods and gained zero. I thought not unlike when I first rebent them that they were flattened out. When I pulled them they didn't look bad at all they relaxed a little over time but not much. I added more curve and installed them set everything up I gained a bit then as installing the TRC and tuning I felt it go. That was awful, I asked too much.

Now for the the solution I have to once again ask the forum, what next? I'll post a pic or two I'm wondering if I should pull them and flatten or leave it be. I did release tension on the nuts. The neck is currently clamped to avoid anything further.
Who should I send it to? should I spread and push glue in? I'm a little shell shocked at the moment. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.
Ted

[T.A.R.]

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[chrisdski]

First have a cup of tea and relax. I think you've done right so far by loosening the nuts and clamping the neck. Now go no further until Paul W., Larry D, etc. etc chime in and give their opinions. You may be able to fix it yourself with some superglue- I'm sure they will let you know if thats viable. Anything beyond that you'll probably have to ship it out for repair.

[cjj]

Ouch!

Should be fixable though. Hopefully Paul or others will chime in with advice...

[rickyfricky]

Yikes!

If this turns out not to be a DIY repair, I would bring it to Mouradian Guitar in Winchester MA (near Boston).

Top-notch work at honest prices.

Best of luck Ted. Double up on the coffee milk if it'll help you feel better . . .

[johnallg]

I like Matt's suggestion, and would be tempted to just go there anyway to get it fixed by a pro if it were mine.

[jdogric12]

Now that I've got a few headstock repairs (to be clear, ones that completely broke off!) under my belt, this doesn't look that bad. PW recommended some very strong glue which I use. I can't remember the name off the top of my head. I think as long as you can keep it from getting into the truss rod channels, you should be able to DIY this and have a finished product that will make for in strength what it will lack in minty beauty.

Where's the clamp? Put some li'l pieces o' wood between the metal parts of the clamp and the guitar wood to prevent making an impression in the finish.

[T.A.R.]

When I had pulled the truss rods I had it clamped and secure the crack happened after all was said and done reassembled. I believe my mistake was in adding pre bend and in not waiting for a more moist climate, forced hot air is brutal. I'm thinking about having someone do it at this point I'm a little skidish and don't want to make matters worse. Matt's suggestion of Mouradian Guitar is a good start I'm open to more, trying to be thorough, it is my baby.

[Seans]

Wow that's an ouch, def get a first hand opinion on this one, old glue is a pain.

You're right on the pre bend, it's not really needed. Have a go with an assembled rod out of the bass and just tighten it slightly, notice it will form an nice curve all of it's own and not much can stop it pre bent or not.

There are three points of contact with this design, point one is the back of the rod at the base of the neck, point two is the middle of the rod on its face ( spreading contact as tightened) and point three is the back of the rod just below the nut of the guitar, it's this point that re opened an old break.

[walker]

Ouch! indeed. But "hindsight is 20/20" as they say, and I know you merely approached the problem with the solution that seemed most logical, and if the neck/headstock had remained unscathed, you'd be patting yourself on the back for a successful DIY job.

Since the problem was with the neck initially, then I would have approached the issue with the neck itself, as opposed to altering the truss rods - in line with what others have said about returning the arc of the rods to where they originally were. I've had good luck with the heat press method of straightening/altering neck curvature, and in conjunction with properly working truss rods the wood seems to do fine against "memory."

As far as a solve for this current crack - I'm also on the "glue train", and depending on how much wiggle room you have in that crack (looks like most of that potential is on the G side) you may be able to insert a grooved shunt to add support along with the glue. (I would recommend something more durable that superglue for a wood mend like this, though.) I use this method for tight areas where a dowel would be too large. If you can make it to the BK area, I'd be happy to take a look at it.

[Seans]

Since the problem was with the neck initially, then I would have approached the issue with the neck itself, as opposed to altering the truss rods - in line with what others have said about returning the arc of the rods to where they originally were. I've had good luck with the heat press method of straightening/altering neck curvature, and in conjunction with properly working truss rods the wood seems to do fine against "memory."

Yes I agree, my 21 fret had very short rods ( plus 1 inch difference between the two) and a kink at the start of the neck/heel, so I made some more, but cut them to just shy of the actual length of the board, the actual difference in length between new and old was about 2 inches, I'm sure the originals have not helped the problem and the new ones seem to be, but time will tell and if not heat will be a way to go, if not the way anyway.

[T.A.R.]

Thanks guys,
Mark I'm curious about the heat press, what you've said makes sense. Any information so I have an idea or could learn further would be greatly appreciated. I wish I was closer Mark.

[walker]

Here's the heat press table I use. I built it myself a few years ago. There's a wooden rail that runs along the bottom of the rack so I can apply force evenly on any part of the neck using long clamps. In this case, the bass had an S-curve, bending forward from about the 6th fret to the nut, then from 7 on up to the body it was back-bowed. So I clamped down the neck with a block along top the 6th fret to the nut to keep that part straight while bending the remainder of the neck forward. Not pictured: the hot plate with boiling water on a small table above the bottom rail to provide steam in conjunction with the heat lamp. I've heard that some people do this by applying a clothes iron to the neck as it's wrapped with a wet cloth; I'm just wary of melting the binding that way.

[T.A.R.]

Thanks Mark that is wild. I was trying to imagine how to deal with something so delicate. I've steamed frames for boats and made mast hoops but that is unfinished wood and not necessarily delicate.