1975 Takamine F-360S - Worth Repairing

[jwhelan56]

The older Takamine guitars like this are highly regarded and have great tone and playability.

You might consider getting on this Facebook Takamine group and pose your question. There are a number of people who undertake repairs like this and you’ll likely get some helpful advice.

https://m.facebook.com/groups/Takami...ibextid=S66gvF

[GoneTroppo]

I had a Takamine F360S for some years as my gigging guitar, and only acoustic. I loved my one, and to this day it is the one guitar I truly wish I had never sold... I managed to track down the guy who bought it from me who gave it to his son - but they didn't want to part with it at all...

So there you go... In my opinion, definitely work repairing that baby. They really nailed that vintage Martin look too! Congrats on that purchase, I reckon you got a bargain..

[Neil K Walk]

I'd heard of it referred to the "California" neck reset. I don't think New Yorkers want to be associated with it.

Anyway, I have the remnants of a 1973 F-360 - no "S"; the top is laminated. I had a tech do a neck block slip type of reset but he used epoxy, which is a "one and done" type of repair. When things started to go south again - heat stress can be like cancer; it never seems to fully go away - I tried to DIY a neck reset. Hence my admission that I have the remnants of this guitar. I routed off the top (because even though it was plywood it was warped so I bought a replacement for $50) and when steam through the 15th fret slot wasn't doing the job I sawed off the neck.

What I found was that the neck joint was a butt joint with four wooden positioning dowels. Pretty much the only thing I could do at that point was the replace the top, bridge and the fretboard, convert it to a but joint bolt-on fitting using thread furniture fittings and respot the new bridge to compensate for kerf left by the width of the saw blade I used.

At that point the boat of the body became a storage box for my gobar deck wood cauls. It just wasn't worth repairing. It's a shame because that guitar would have turned 50 this September. I may just follow through for sentimental reasons and to try and teach myself better repair skills.

So unless the neck is falling off, consider putting silk and steel strings on it and get used to singing Let It Be so that you don't do something you may regret.

[John Arnold]

Originally Posted by rstaight

A couple of years ago I watched a video done at Takamine in Japan. The neck was put on then 2 slots were routed and 2 dowels or dominoes, since they weren't round was glued in place. Then the fret board was glued on.



This method reduces the need for a neck reset. But when one is needed, fun, fun, fun.

The common name for a rectangular insert is a 'spline'.
While a neck reset may be required because the neck joint failed, it is not the only reason. Most resets on quality instruments are done because of distortion of the body, primarily the soundboard. On those, the type of neck joint is a non factor.
The Takamine is a candidate for a reset by doing a bolt-on conversion.