|
|
#1
05-07-2017, 03:00 PM
|
|||
|
|||
Bourgeois neck resets: how to?
I've got a Bourgeois built guitar, famous for its '15 minute' neck resets. I'd like to change the neck angle a little but, in looking at photos of the underside of the finger board extension and the heel joint itself, it seems that there are screws in the way everywhere except for the sides of the heel joint.
How would you reset the angle with metal in the way? 
|
|
#3
05-07-2017, 04:49 PM
|
|||
|
|||
|
Can't speak for the OP, but I contacted Bourgeois for this information via email and didn't get any response, so I bought a Taylor instead. I'm interested in any responses the OP receives here from those who've been through the process.
|
|
#4
05-07-2017, 06:55 PM
|
|||
|
|||
|
Quote:
Have you tried calling Bourgeois? They recently moved their shop their new number on their website is (207) 755-0003. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
|
|
#5
05-08-2017, 03:39 AM
|
|||
|
|||
|
I reset the neck on my OMS and all you do is undo and remove the four bolts holding the fretboard extension and undo and remove the two bolts holding the neck heel.
The neck can then be removed and the heel trimmed. You need a 7/64th Allen wrench to remove the fretboard bolts and a 5/32nd Allen wrench to remove the two neck bolts. I'm not sure that Bourgeois are famous for "15 minute neck resets" ... it took me longer than that, although admittedly I am not a reset expert. Are you thinking about Taylor neck resets perchance ? Last edited by murrmac123; 05-08-2017 at 03:46 AM.
|
|
#6
05-08-2017, 07:59 AM
|
|||
|
|||
|
While I am sure its easy for someone doing repairs all the time - sanding off parts of the heel/flossing the neck joint is not without risk... Its also not really reversible should you change your mind...
Why not call Bourgeois and have them fix it up for you or have them recommend a luthier to do the work...
|
|
#7
05-08-2017, 09:32 AM
|
|||
|
|||
|
Quote:
I have seen posts from repair people who say they don't measure, just eyeball and sand the neck heel by instinct ... more power to them if they can do that, but for me I have to know before I start cutting , to the nearest .001", how much I am going to take off the heel. If you know how to calculate that, and are skilled with a chisel, then getting a successful result is very doable. Might take (a lot) longer than John Arnold would take, but if you are careful and take your time, you will get there.
|
|
#8
05-08-2017, 11:00 AM
|
|||
|
|||
|
It's not an amateur job, and I've never heard of the famous fifteen minute neck reset on a Bourgeois, or seen it mentioned on this or any other forum as a fifteen minute job. I think the OP is confusing the time to turn the screws with the actual skilled part of the job. Or confusing Bourgeois with Taylor. The question how do you reset it with the metal in the way tells me that he should take it to a good shop.
__________________
"Still a man hears what he wants to hear, and disregards the rest." --Paul Simon
|
|
#9
05-08-2017, 01:33 PM
|
|||
|
|||
|
Quote:
Sand too much off one side or both sides and you have a very expensive problem on your hands. I bet a new neck is around $2K If you want to cut up an instrument or try resetting a neck - go right ahead.. Find a cheap guitar with a bolt on neck and go at it... Buy a used Rogue/Burswood/Mitchell/miscellaneous $60 Chinese guitar with a butt joint neck and cut it apart then floss to reset the angle... But.... Theres a large gap in consequences between mess up a $100 plywood chinese beater and mess up a $6K custom guitar... Leave this one be..
|
|
#10
05-08-2017, 02:12 PM
|
|||
|
|||
|
Cool your jets everyone. I wasnt asking with an intention of doing it myself, at least not a solid intention, and it seemed an interesting question to post.
And the 15 minute reset reference is a quote from Dana himself, that I read while researching the neck joint that I can't find quickly right now. I do like to understand how all of the various approaches function and I don't think that actually doing something like this is such a difficult and rare skill that mere mortals should never attempt it. I haven't even taken the neck in mine off to look yet, mostly because I've become more suspect that I've only got a loose bolt and it most probably needs nothing. And I've done a bolt on neck reset before. Still, people seem to work themselves up over simple conversation very easily around here. Why? Last edited by dannyg1; 05-08-2017 at 02:16 PM. Reason: Fixing autocorrect mistakes (with frustration)
|
|
#11
05-08-2017, 02:31 PM
|
|||
|
|||
|
Quote:
It happens all the time. Sometimes I give partial but targeted responses to posts, rather than writing a minor dissertation based on MY assumptions. But I will pile on here and also say that if you need a neck reset, the builder is THE primary source, especially at this level of instrument quality. I have personally seen 15 minute neck resets on Taylor NT necks, due largely to the replaceable precision machined wood shims. But I have no idea about Bourgeois.
|
|
#12
05-08-2017, 02:52 PM
|
|||
|
|||
|
Quote:
It came out perfectly, because I had thoroughly researched everything to do with the procedure, had learned loads reading posts from the likes of John Arnold and Howard Klepper among others, and also of course had a fully equipped woodworking shop and forty-odd years cabinetmaking experience. I am slightly puzzled , John, by your assumption that flossing with sandpaper is the chosen method to alter the neck angle. I trimmed the heel shoulders with a (ultra-sharp) chisel and tbh could have gotten away without any flossing whatsoever... I did administer a couple of strokes with Oslong 600 grit on either side (absolutely the best sandpaper for this job btw ...zero chance of scratching the body) but that was all it needed. It's all about making sure the shoulders are properly undercut and that your initial trimming cuts are accurate.
|
|
#13
05-08-2017, 03:03 PM
|
|||
|
|||
|
Quote:
 . One thing I have run into is that there are curious people who just want to know something and then there are cheap/arrogant people who think that they can do anything that a 35 year pro can do without any practice. Unfortunately - there's (almost) no way to know which one you are from my end of the internet.. In all honesty - I fall into category #2... But I have learned the hard way that just because somehing seems straight forward and easy enough to me doesnt mean it is to everybody else... And since I don't like getting shoeboxes full of parts to reassemble for people who believed me when I told them how easy it was... I learned that warning people not to do stuff I feel perfectly comfortable blundering into is usually a good idea.... At least until they prove to me otherwise... I had highschool friends who thought they could take apart their fishing reels to "clean" them out... And they couldn't get them back together... Shoebox full of Abu Garcia parts... Other friends who completely disassembled their lawnmower engines (removed the head, all the valves, cam, everything...) because they were convinced they had an engine problem when all they had was a bad plug wire.... Yeah.. And I had to put it back together for them... Groan...
|
|
#14
05-08-2017, 03:28 PM
|
|||
|
|||
|
I've been around here long enough to know what to expect and to also be a part of the "we" you've referred to. I've also been here long enough to read the tone of people protestations and these weren't the measured calm of a polite warning amongst friends.
Have you been around long enough to intuit the rest of my thoughts? (S)
|
|
#15
05-08-2017, 03:38 PM
|
|||
|
|||
|
Does your reply tell us that the large face of the joint has enough room to fit after shaving the heel shoulders? The bolt on neck I reset had a bit of room, recessed in front of the nut part of the bolt on face so there was room to shave that but the photos of the Bourgeois design look to be face flush.
Quote:
|
