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1975 Takamine F-360S - Worth Repairing
Hey folks,
I just bought, for $110, a 1975 "lawsuit era" Takamine F-360s. I see a very thin crack along both sides of the neck heel telling me the neck is starting to lift or separate from the body. I am wondering if it is worth spending the money ($300, $400 ?) on a neck reset. Other than this the guitar is beautiful. I had read somewhere that a neck reset might be quite difficult, and costly, on these old Tak's due to how they were made. Has anyone with an older Takamine had this work done? Thoughts? Thanks alot, Wuglan |
#2
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play it. Its probably a great camping/beach guitar. I wouldn't waste my money on a neck reset. I might be a great guitar to learn how to repair them youself though.
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Patrick 1968 Martin D-28 1975 Martin D-18 1976 Martin 000-18 1989 Martin 000-16M 2015 Martin 00-DB Jeff Tweedy 2012 Gibson J-45 Custom 2017 Gibson J-35 1971 Alvarez K. Yairi Classical 1970 Lou J Mancuso nylon string hybrid Harmony Sovereign H1260 30's MayBell Model 6 Nash MW-500 1998 Yamaha LS-10 2003 Tacoma EKK9 |
#3
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If you are on Facebook, join the "Takamine Guitars" page. There are lots of helpful folks there.
My understanding is that the early Tak necks are very difficult to do a reset on.
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2023 000-18MD 2021 000-15SM 2017 00-28 2023 0-18 2023 Guild D-1212 1977 Takamine F-400S 1976 Takamine F-365S 60's Harmony H1213 |
#4
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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.
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2007 Indiana Scout 2018 Indiana Madison Quilt Elite 2018 Takamine GJ72CE 12-String 2019 Takamine GD93 2022 Takamine GJ72CE 6-String 2022 Cort GA-QF CBB 1963 Gibson SG 2016 Kala uke Dean A style mandolin. (Year unknown) Lotus L80 (1984ish) Plus a few lower end I have had for years |
#5
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I owned the exact same guitar until last year, when I sold it after nearly 50 years of ownership. Mine, too, was in need of a neck reset. I brought it to an excellent repair shop here in Chicago (Chicago Fretworks), where I was told that these Takamines were very hard to do resets upon. It likely would have been prohibitively expensive, with uncertain outcome.
Instead, I ramped the strings at the bridge, which was helpful. Next step would have been to shave the bridge, but I never got there. By the way, mine sold for several times the cost of yours (it was in otherwise extremely good shape).
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RM ----------------------------------------------------- Taylor 856, Taylor GC7, Martin 00-28, Breedlove Oregon Concertina, Breedlove Jeff Bridges Signature, Guild JF55-12, Guild D212, Larrivee OM3, Eastman E20 OM, Farida OT22w, Cordoba Fusion 12 Orchestra, Blueridge BR-361, Pono 0-15 mango, Journey OF-660, Tanglewood TWJP parlor (Nashville tuned), Paul Reed Smith SE Custom. |
#6
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….it’s extremely crude but the poor mans neck reset can make a guitar that’s headed for the wood pile viable….all you gotta do is saw the neck from the heel to the fretboard where it meets the body….slide some sandpaper in there and sand it down a little and countersink a couple of screws through the back of the heel in to the neck block to pull it back into the proper position…..it takes less than an hour and costs basically nothing…..did I mention it was extremely crude??….but it works and has surprisingly little effect on the tone if done well….I’ve done it on a bunch of old Harmony Stella’s….it’s a better option than the woodpile…
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...Grasshopper...high is high...low is low....but the middle...lies in between...Master Po |
#7
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What JPatrick is describing many refer to as a "New York reset." Not sure where that term came from... I call them hillbilly resets. I've refined that approach and use it on inexpensive instruments (old Harmonys, Yamahas, and such) or guitars you couldn't otherwise do a traditional reset.
I release the fingerboard overhang like you ordinarily would by heating and running a knife to break the glue joint. Then make a cut between the neck heel and body. I remove material on the heel to achieve the correct neck angle. I then install threaded metal inserts into the heel and run bolts from the inside to reattach. If necessary I'll use a thin shim under the overhang to correct fallaway. I've done a bunch like this, and they have all turned out good. The process takes a fraction of the time it takes to do a traditional reset (hence, a fraction of the cost if someone was charging for the service). |
#8
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Quote:
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RM ----------------------------------------------------- Taylor 856, Taylor GC7, Martin 00-28, Breedlove Oregon Concertina, Breedlove Jeff Bridges Signature, Guild JF55-12, Guild D212, Larrivee OM3, Eastman E20 OM, Farida OT22w, Cordoba Fusion 12 Orchestra, Blueridge BR-361, Pono 0-15 mango, Journey OF-660, Tanglewood TWJP parlor (Nashville tuned), Paul Reed Smith SE Custom. |
#9
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if it plays fine, i wouldnt worry about a neck reset -
you might be worried about something youd never have to do - just enjoy the guitar - for a 110 bucks you got a great player or camping guitar -I did the same thing with an Guild i bought , its my play out / camping guitar ( I dont worry about it - love that guitar - stress free ) .
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--------------------------------- Wood things with Strings ! |
#10
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Quote:
Another option, with which I've had varying degrees of success, is to use heat and steam to correct the neck angle. No cutting or neck removal involved. If it were my guitar, that's what I'd try first. Non-invasive and safe (unless you do something really stupid). |
#11
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1975 Takamine F-360S
Thank you all so much for the great advice. This definitely reduced my stress level.
I reached out to a luthier near me to see if he has experience with these guitars and the HillBilly reset. In the meantime I will be putting on some light strings and playing it while keeping an eye on the crack. When I got it the action was perfect, will see if it starts changing after I put on some light strings and play for a while. Thanks again !!! Wuglan |
#12
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Quote:
Hope this helps. Jim
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#13
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In my opinion, to answer your question, yes, these are worth it. It just depends on how much money/time/effort you're willing to spend.
I'm curious; you mention a couple of cracks on either side of the heel. Can you post pictures of the cracks you mention, that would help the diagnosis/repair. they might be unrelated to the neck angle. You don't specify what is the current action like, or if there is any saddle left to lower? Do all your research first, and ask a bunch of questions of the luthier you take it to, if you opt not to do it yourself (you don't mention if you've repaired before, and these old cheaper guitars are good to learn on): what would be his approach? why that one over say the xyz approach? Short of a full-on proper neck reset, which you already correctly surmised is going to be difficult (expensive), others here have already mentioned a few options; ramp the slots, shave the bridge, and the 'sandpaper/New York reset'. There are plenty of tutorials on the first two options. The 3rd option can be done quick and dirty, or can be quite elegant. I agree with stormin1155's approach in converting to a bolt-on, with all the 'dirty work' being hidden inside. Plenty of big-name manufacturers (Taylor, before the NT neck; Breedlove), and quite a few custom luthiers (Halcyon, others) use the bolt-on method. Here's a link to Frank Ford doing one on a classical guitar, but the approach is the same: http://www.frets.com/FretsPages/Luth...ichreset1.html Frank's got all the tools, and he's even made a few himself. You really don't need more than a heat gun with a 'low' setting, a thin putty knife, a thin-blade japanese pull-saw (Harbor Freight), a couple 1/4-20 bolts and threaded inserts (Home Depot), wood glue (Tite-bond original is ideal), nerve, and patience. Again; if you could post pictures of the cracks you mention, and the bridge/saddle, that would help a lot. |
#14
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Hi and thanks Joed1964.
I'm going to see if I can upload some pics, gotta figure that out still, but wanted to at least send you this: So there aside from the cracks at the neck heel there is a thin crack that on the saddle that goes down the middle but not the full length of the saddle. There is also a small crack on the top in front of the sound hole a little below the neck overhang. The saddle is already quite thin as well as the bridge. Maybe shaved down sometime ago, but if it had been it was a nice job b/c I see no evidence around the edges indicating work was done. The action was perfect in my opinion. I didn't measure it but it was as low as the strings on my HD-28. I have the strings off at the moment to clean the frets as they had some oxidation (used Frine kit and came out nice). Oh, and the neck is straight, no bend. I am trying to learn more about repairing acoustic guitars. So far I've done 3 saddle re-glues and straightened some necks on inexpensive guitars I bought. Hoping to try a neck reset someday soon, but not on this one. Thanks for all your info, most aporeciated!! I'll work on uploading pics. Wuglan |
#15
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Response 1975 Takamine Repair
Hello joed1964 et al --
Not sure if this will work for pic but providing link to Google Photos: https://photos.google.com/share/AF1Q...JQbjBmWVM0cFVR Let me know if OK Thanks !!! |
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Tags |
f360, neck, repair, reset, takamine |
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