Martin neck reset

[Tidobear]

I'm reading of a lot of discussion of neck re-sets on fairly young Martins. Mine is from '83 and I've never needed anything like that done to it.

I've gotta ask - where do most of you live? I'm down in Florida where it's almost always humid, and the air conditioner runs most of the year.

Just wondering if heat and humidity is having something to do with these problems.

[Earl49]

There are a number of reports of early neck resets, sure. Many of those are the result of QC issues, ie: under-set necks when brand new. There are other reports of brand new guitars right out of the box that needed neck resets. This seems to be far more common than it was just a few years ago.

I have had warranty neck resets done on two out of four Martin guitars that I once owned -- one within its first year. The other was a neck reset done on a 1990 Martin about four years ago (at age 26) although it needed it much earlier in its life - after less than 4 years old. There was some initial push back from Martin, but they eventually relented and covered the repair. I signed paperwork for the repair shop reimbursement quoting ~$525 for the warranty work. We hear forum reports lately of Martin denying warranty coverage of neck resets on guitars that are less than ten years old, and also reports of them covering neck resets on guitars that are decades old. I'm not sure there is any rhyme or reason behind the variation.

[John Arnold]

Right as the neck joined the body the binding was stark white but the rest of the binding on the fretboard and around the bout were an ivory, yellowish color.

That is normal. Before recent years, Martin did not lacquer the edge of the fingerboard over the body. It's the lacquer on top of the binding that has yellowed from exposure. White Boltaron binding does not yellow much at all.

IMHO, it is not necessary to refret when the hump at the body joint occurs after the neck is re-angled. Typically, I remove 5 or 6 frets in the area, sand that part of the fingerboard flat, then reinstall the same frets. That is a small fraction of the work involved in a complete refret, adding about $50 to a $400 reset. The alternative is to install a wedge under the fingerboard tongue, but that by itself won't resolve the issue if the neck dips around the 11th or 12th fret. That is the advantage of doing the method I describe....it reduces relief where many square tube reinforced Martin necks can have a problem.

[B. Howard]

I have done Martin neck resets for as little as $375. The average is about $500. This is for guitars that require little fret work...

These models without adjustable rods need the attention of someone who knows how to accurately do compression fretting. The technique of compression fretting is how FB relief is set on these models.