Takaminie neck reset

[Peter Laine]

 I'm not sure if this is the accepted way of asking a question on this forum, pls check me if I'm out out of line

I have a Takamine TAN 16c serial # 07020365  it needs a neck reset, I've called Takaminie north america and spoke with someone there who told me the necks are glued on with some Devcon super epoxy.

before I saw into this and make it a bolt on,   can anyone tell me

1)  if this true    and/or

2)  is there another way to go about it ( I don't want to lower saddle height)

3 any tried and true way to get an epoxy glued fingerboard ext off  ( I know heat works but usually a lot more heat than I want to put into a guitar)

[Paul Verticchio]

Hi Peter & WELCOME to the forum.

Although I'm not proficient in neck-restting, you definitely came to the right place. You'll get the best advice available from other forum members.

I'm certain that the respondents will need more info such as the current saddle height, the "humidification" condition of the instrument and most importantly, all the photos of the instrument that you think will be helpful in helping others formulate their replies. I included the humidity part as a dry guitar's symptoms often mimic the perceived need for a neck reset. I also mention this because it has a solid top & back and because it seems way to young to need a reset.

Others will know for certain, but several large scale Asian manufacturers use epoxy in their neck joints.  The others use a thing that the neck reset experts call: Asian Mystery Glue or AMG. You'll hear that term used often(:

Anyway, hold tight as help is on the way.

Best of luck,

Paul

[Peter Laine]

The guitar's owner is a working musician. he normally plays electric, and his acoustic style is fast leads 

I will try to respond to each of your comments

I have a moisture meter in my shop but I have no baseline data for moisture content in the guitar. it does not live in a/c and I have no doubt that  the humidity levels we have here in T&T make the wood go a bit more plastic  than it would be  up north ( my own Martin custom needed a neck reset at three years)

The action is high, 2nd oct E measures 9/64ths at 12th fret,  there is a pronounced "kink" at the 14th where the neck joins the body, saddle height approx 32/64ths

I am adverse to ever lowering the saddle height, it results in such a reduction of volume and tone I am always doing the reverse, making new saddles that fit tight  base E a full 1/2 from the top.

If I am taking care of this guitar for him the first thing I will do is  remove all neck relief, file the nut slots as low as I can ( I find this allways has a huge effect on the "feel") and I might lower the bridge a bit temporarily untill we can schedule down time for a neck reset,  this gets the guitar playing again, but the tone and volume have been compromised. 

   I don't want to try and do too much with intonation at this point because it will change when I do the neck and get the nut in the right place,  but since I have frigged with the saddle to accomodate the bent neck it will need to be replaced and I will shape it a bit to get closer to correct intonation ( with a thin saddle I can't get all the way there at this point)

but this does not change the fact that the correct repair is a neck reset, If it is true that this neck is glued on with epoxy,  I am thinking of a repair Mr Ford did and saw off the neck, drill ,put in inserts and bolt it, at least from that point  keeping it playable will be easier.

If anybody has any experience or knowledge of this guitar  re the neck joint glue I would appreciate a heads up

Thanks