i would like to ask some luthiers about pulling

[FRANK]

a finger board off to extract the truss rod and replacement of a new finger board? if i may ask what did you encounter and what were the out comes and ideal scenarios that should play out for a good pop off and replacement please anyone ?

[Len Biglin]

HI paul , I use a heat lamp to warm the fretboard and bridge removal spatulas to ease the board off from the body end , its pretty straightforeward , just move the lamp along as u get the board free . You can reuse the old board if you want.Depending on what you are chasing here , you may need to pry out / chisel the filler stip , or just lift out the rod assy.When you install the fretboard put some brads in the first and 12th fret slots into the neck , this locates the board and stops it skating around , use a straight caul too and dont over tighten the clamps or u get a ridge down each side of the neck as it spreads apart.Len

[Dave Yelverton]

Yup, that's pretty much it. A couple of things I like to do as well; occasionally the f/b comes off looking like a banana! I like to warm it up and clamp it between a couple of stout straight pieces of timber and leave it a day or so. The other thing is to scrape down the finish on the sides of the fingerboard. It's much easier to refinish along the edges than to replace jagged flakes that have broken off the neck. Even more of a nightmare if the neck finish is coloured!

[thefishinmusician]

To remove the filler strip over the truss rod, I use a piece of brass about the thickness of the strip.,( any metal will do )...I balance and old clothes iron set on medium on the bar...Let it heat a while, and begin to slowly pry it up..Also, to flatten the fingerboard, or for that matter, bridges, I have an aluminum bar that I heat with said iron....I then lightly clamp the fingerboard to the bar and squirt water around the sides to make some steam. Leave clamped overnight..serves 4...

[Nick Anthony]

you can also use heat blankets....prevents the curl....luthiers merc. sells them in the entire length of a fingerboard ..much quicker

[Chris Sisson]

The replies concerning removal of the fingerboard are pretty much on target for me. I've taken a bunch of fingerboards off at different times and the move-heat-lamp-scrape-sides-spatula method works for me. I make sure to protect the parts of the guitar I don't want to heat with foil over a towel. Done carefully the frets only take a light dress once the board is re-glued.
More recently I repaired a broken truss rod without removing the fingerboard by excavating the anchor end and re-anchoring that end. If you are careful you can remove a "divit" between two frets, excavate, and replace the divit once the job is done. If the rod is not too tight it can be pulled out once it is free and replaced. The above method worked well on a 1955 Gretsch CC!