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Old 10-30-2016, 05:12 AM
JIMBO53 JIMBO53 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Bax Burgess View Post
My last update for this thread. Jake, the luthier said that it was epoxy at the neck joint, a shallow dove tail that required him to dramatically slant his drill holes so that the steam could access the cavity, which I guess would be at the top of the dovetail. The dovetail began to split on one side as he worked both sides with a blade to loosen the neck. The treble side loosened easily, the bass side was the bugger.

Re-attaching the neck, the dovetail remains, however, Jake inserted a sleeve into it, to pair with a bolt applied from within the body, through the neck block - a bolt-on, dovetail neck. He also made a replacement bridge, its height almost twice that of the original, sanded down one.

The aforementioned, a little cosmetic work at the neck joint, some shaving of the fretboard to even out a slight twist, and new frets - total $930
It'll play great, already sounded great, but it'll win no beauty contests - can't wait. Crass looking, non original tuners will be replaced at a later date.
Obviously a labor of love, since the repair bill is higher than the instrument is worth, IMHO, by a long shot. I have a very soft spot in my heart (or maybe head) for Red Label Nippon Gakki's having owned 2 FG-75's, a FG-110, a FG-150 and the only RL-NG Yammy I currently own, a 1969 FG-180 is awaiting some tweaking on the nut and neck relief.
Unfortunately, these guitars nearly always need some moderate to severe neck remediation, a reset being one of the most expensive options. I've had luck with Bridge Doctors in taming a high action, but it's a cheap fix that can offer only moderate gains in playability. Only a neck reset can dial in the proper relationship of the neck to the body and bridge to achieve optimal playability.
Once repaired and set up properly, these early Yamaha's offer a very playable and nice sounding instrument that are pretty much bulletproof due to their laminate construction and beefy necks. For laminates, I'm always amazed how light these guitars feel in the hand.
I've replaced the tuners on most of my RL-NG's with Stew Mac tuning machines-excellent quality and affordable priced.
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