Do Nylon guitars ever need neck resets?

[lar]

I'm considering purchasing a guitar on reverb, so I'm wondering if this is ever an issue. For example, should I ask the seller about the height of the saddle or is this never an issue for a Nylon guitar (with a truss rod)?

(if you have any questions you think I should be asking the seller, I'd appreciate any input).

[Carey]

Yes, classicals can have neck angle issues, though it's less common to correct
the problem by a reset than it would be with a steel-string.

There are a number of questions to ask, but the first two things I'd want to see
are the action height at the twelfth fret, from the top of the fret to the bottom
of the first and sixth strings; and a side-view photo of the bridge area, to
see how much saddle is showing above the bridge, and what the string
break angles look like, particularly for the treble strings.
If those things checked out ok, I'd want to know
the string height over the top at the bridge, and what the neck relief
looks like. Excessive relief is common in classicals, but it sounds like
the instrument in question has an adjustable truss rod, so probably less of
an issue in this case.

That's a start.

[Bruce Sexauer]

Nylon guitars of quality are much more lightly built that Steel String guitars, and are similarly close to the abyss as far as their structure is concerned. Therefore, all other things being equal (as they never are) the better the guitar, the more likely it will fold up over time.

Traditionally made classical guitars are made as an integral structure and so the neck set that has become standard on an SS guitar cannot be performed on a classical guitar. Instead, the common fix is to slip the back which necessitates rebinding. Some modern builders therefore use alternative construction methods, but I am much in love with the traditional methods, as is also true with my steel string constructions.

Because the nylon strung neck is bigger than an SS, and the tension cosidereable less, there is little point in putting an adjustable truss rod in a classical guitar. Some do it anyway, but I am not among them.

[Vognell]

Yep. I've seen them pull forward a few times.

[Alan Carruth]

You have to distinguish between the neck angle changing due to distortion of the box and actual bending of the neck. A truss rod is there to deal with neck bending, which is much more of an issue with steel strings than nylon. Steel strings tend to use longer 14 fret necks, which are narrower, and also carry much higher tension than your typical nylon string guitar. It's not unheard of for a nylon string neck to bend upward under load, but it's not nearly as common as on a steel string.

As Bruce points out, nylon strings are just as much subject to box distortion as steel string guitars. Traditionally, Classical makers dealt with it by using a thick fingerboard, which would allow for dressing down at the nut end to lower the action once things had moved a bit. After that, if things got worse, they often simply got a new guitar. Slipping the neck block is pretty invasive, and can be impossible (or, at least, much more difficult) on a guitar that was assembled with modern glue.

It's possible to make Classical guitars with removable necks, even when building on the traditional 'solera'. There's no physical reason to expect it to sound any different.

[Howard Klepper]

Fleta is one of the great 20th Century classical guitar makers who built with a dovetail neck attachment, so it's not like no one does it. But most still use the "Spanish foot/French heel" style of construction.

Resetting the neck block and back is not a very satisfactory way of resetting the neck on a classical, because the extended interior heel makes that difficult to do without damage to the back; because it usually requires replacing the back binding and retouching the finish; and because many classicals extend the back over the neck heel as a heel cap, and inset the binding into it. My preferred method is either to taper the fretboard so it is thinner at the nut end (if the board is thick enough), or replace the fretboard with one that is thinner at the nut and thicker over the body.

[D. Churchland]

Originally Posted by Howard Klepper

Resetting the neck block and back is not a very satisfactory way of resetting the neck on a classical, because the extended interior heel makes that difficult to do without damage to the back; because it usually requires replacing the back binding and retouching the finish; and because many classicals extend the back over the neck heel as a heel cap, and inset the binding into it. My preferred method is either to taper the fretboard so it is thinner at the nut end (if the board is thick enough), or replace the fretboard with one that is thinner at the nut and thicker over the body.

Seen a few guys do that. Also there's one local luthier who uses tapered shims to preserve the original fingerboard. I agree with you on the neck block technique, not exactly ideal.