Alvarez Neck Set

[Gregory Hites]

Greetings fret.netters,

 

A customer brought me an Alvarez from the seventies wanting a refret.   After looking it over, it's going to need a neck set to get the action right.

 

Does Alvarez use epoxy in the neck joints?  If so I can only imagine the headache involved.  Charge a little extra should I....hmm?

 

peace,

 

littleguitargreg

[Jeffrey L. Suits]

You have an instrument with AMJ (Asian Mystery Joint), and AMG (Asian Mystery Glue). This is a legitimate candidate for a saw-off, convert-to-bolt-on, reset. Refret/reset, Alvarez? Get money upfront.

[Grahame Myers]

Thanks Jeffrey for making me laugh: " AMJ (Asian Mystery Joint), and AMG (Asian Mystery Glue" Great stuff! The funniest thing I've read today, and soooo true!

Grahame

[Gregory Hites]

Jeffrey, Or a legitimate candidate for kindling wood? Probably only going to refret, get the action as good as possible without the neck set. This guitar is not worth it.

Oh and I think you forgot one... ASW (Asian Shit Wood)

thanks,

Greg

[Jeffrey L. Suits]

You might consider the cheap & dirty, "saw thru the heel, and screw it back together" reset.

Grahame--you've been there, too, hmm?

[Grahame Myers]

Hi Jeffrey
I've seen some combinations of neck/body joints and assorted glues that W.Heath Robinson would've been proud of :-) I'm looking forward to the day that the Asians start to copy Taylors, complete with Bob Taylors brilliant neck/body joint!
In my experience, if you have no idea what joint/glue combination you have for you, either you have to start off by sawing the fretboard off at the 13th fret, and then separating it from the neck, so you can perhaps guess how to get it apart, or do the quick and dirty version with sawing the neck off, and converting to a bolt on neck. Both alternatives take a lot longer to do than a good old dove-tail or bolt on, and with a cheapo guitar the repair costs usually exceed the worth of the whole guitar. If I have to quote for a job with one of these mystery Asians, I warn the customer that it could get messy and expensive, and quote a starting price, with the warning that the costs could escalate, depending on what I find when I get into the job. I'm almost glad when they decide against it, I already have grey hair, I don't want it to start falling out too :-)

Grahame

[Jeffrey L. Suits]

Grahame--

"some combinations of neck/body joints and assorted glues"

Yeah, some I could only describe as, "Unspeakable!"

J