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#1
11-06-2013, 09:29 AM
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Making a neck smaller
Recently I got a guitar from a guy who wants the neck smaller. He wants me to carve it down so it fits his hand better. Its fairly simple to do, but I'm a bit worried about the truss rod. This guitar is a Goya. It was made by Martin, and has a typical Martin neck shape. I can do it, but I'm not sure how to make sure that I don't hit the truss rod slot. Any suggestions?
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#2
11-06-2013, 01:24 PM
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Are you sure he wants the actual depth of the neck to be smaller (ie the distance between the top of the fretboard and the back of the neck, or would he be happy with a reshaping of the neck contour just by removing material symmetrically from the shoulders of the neck ?
I did this many years ago to a Lakewood guitar which had a most uncomfortable neck contour ...I used a card scraper to convert it from an almost semicircular profile to what I would describe as a gentle V shape. I made sure not to remove any material from under the truss rod slot, however. It didn't take that long, and the difference in playability was incredible. What I didn't expect was the marked difference (for the better) in tone and volume once the lacquer had been removed from the neck. If you are on good terms with your dentist, you could always ask him to X-ray the neck ...
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#3
11-06-2013, 01:30 PM
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A "typical" Martin neck shape is not fully meaningful since they make both V-shaped necks as well as D-shaped necks.
You should research how deep the truss rod slot is on your instrument (there is likely variation with the different types of trusses Martin has used over the years), then calculate your minimum comfortable thickness of wood beyond the truss slot.
__________________
---- Ned Milburn NSDCC Master Artisan Dartmouth, Nova Scotia
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#4
11-06-2013, 02:15 PM
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I would not take any material off under the truss rod, only just the finish so that when you refinish it it will look right. It's just two risky imo. I suppose you could drill a pilot hole with a very small bit and that would be hidden well enough.
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#5
11-06-2013, 04:31 PM
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thebolo - here is a link to the martin style truss rod. http://www.lmii.com/products/mostly-...tyle-truss-rod It says the channel is .360" deep...that is under a "most likely .250" fingerboard. Even though the fingerboard might be a little thinner.
So you could measure down, with a caliper,.610" from the top of the fingerboard at the nut/first fret area and this would be how deep this truss rod is put in...my guess is a typical Martin neck carve is .830 - .860 down by the nut tapering to even more at the 9th/12th fret. This would give you .220 to .250. Even if they put a .125" spline in over the truss rod, you still have some room to carve. My ultimate point is, if you can find out what truss they are using and spline if any, you can most likely calculate how deep the truss rod slot/truss rod is. Take a caliper and measure the neck thickness between the nut and first fret. This number will help you know what to do and will help you track how much your taking off; measure more as you go. If you take off .020/.030" this would be pretty significant in feel. For example, going from .850 to .820 is a "big" difference in feel. They will feel it. Just some conversation I thought I'd entertain you with. Have a great evening. Kevin.
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#6
11-07-2013, 07:31 AM
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The only problem with Kevin's suggestion is that there is no cast-iron guarantee that the specs which Martin follow in 2013 had been adopted (let alone actually implemented) in Japan, Korea or Taiwan back in the 70's 80's and 90's.
The Goya range of guitars which Martin imported were never actually "made" by Martin, they were constructed in the Far East. That is not to say that similar specs were not followed in these factories...just saying ... I still think you should ask your friendly dentist to X- ray it, to be absolutely sure.
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#8
11-07-2013, 12:19 PM
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Quote:
You are correct there is no way to know with 100% certainty. Maybe Martin didn't even put a truss rod in this model/make. Maybe its a steel square/rectangular bar. Either way, if you could find out some details about the construction of the guitar, you could then plot the depth of the truss rod to realistic judgement. It can be done. Kevin.
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#9
11-07-2013, 01:45 PM
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Quote:
__________________
Warren My website: http://draudio56.wix.com/warren-bendler "It's hard...calming the Beatle inside of me."
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#10
11-08-2013, 12:35 PM
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Thanks for all the suggestions. Unfortunately, I don't have access to an x-ray machine. The guy I"m doing it for actually suggested drilling a small pilot hole and measuring the depth that way, but that is the nuclear option. The main problem I'm running into with this guy is he wants me to turn a Martin neck into a Gibson neck. I told him flat out that wouldn't happen, but I would try.
As far as the history and specs, the guy doesn't know much and I don't know much. It says Goya on the label but on the bottom it also says Martin.
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#11
11-08-2013, 01:37 PM
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I would be confident that you have at least 1mm of safe removal. As another poster stated, 1mm is enough to change the feel of the neck a great deal.
__________________
---- Ned Milburn NSDCC Master Artisan Dartmouth, Nova Scotia
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#12
11-08-2013, 03:06 PM
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Quote:
Remember, this is a Pacific rim imported guitar we are talking about , it's not like it's a pre- war Martin D-45 ...
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