neck reset

[graham gordon]

hello out there. i've just joined the freternity. i've got a washburn with too high an action. tried the obvious to fix it. no good. checked out frets. com for help. decided to do a neck reset myself. i thought i'll do a trial run on a cheap boston acoustic i've got. with similar problem. i cant get steam into neck joint. drilled hole at 15th fret. made clamp as per frets .com info. dont know if i'm drilling in far enough and if i am steaming it long enough. this is my first attempt at a neck reset. neck doesn't bolt on. can you help. Graham. Or. G

[Ned Knepp]

I don't know anything about Boston Acoustic guitars but at their price point, I think it's a pretty good bet that it is a flat butt joint with dowels rather than a dove tail. In that case there wouldn't be a pocket to steam. 

If it does have a dove tail joint, you can usually feel the pocket when you drill the hole in the finger board IF you are careful with the drilling. I haven't done a lot of this but I've done a few and never had one that was straight down. 

[Mark A. Kane]

If your Washburn is of asian origin you will not get the neck out as it's epoxied in place. 

[Mark Pollock]

Judging by the pictures I'm seeing of a Boston Acoustic, it is not a dovetail guitar. It's a really cheap asian import, meaning that it is almost certainly held in place with wooden dowels, which you CANNOT steam out, no matter how you try. (There is a chance it's a bolt on - did you check the neck block inside the guitar?)

You can still practice reset technique on it though - you would just saw the neck off, and place it back on with some glue and a bolt through a strap pin.

http://harmony.demont.net/kamikazie.php?page=023

I've done this to dowel-neck guitars, and it works fine. If that Washburn is of Asian origin, as previously mentioned, you will not get it off with steam. Saw the #@%@)( off and bolt it back on. If you follow some simple rules (check your work as you go, make sure the neck aims the right way, etc) it will work fine, and give you a better guitar.

(Unlike the article, I have not bothered to steam off the neck from the guitar, but just sawed through to the fingerboard, and tilted the neck into place, saving me some possible intonation problems.)

[graham gordon]

Re:   Boston  neck  job.   hello again from graham of glasgow.  sorry about the delay in replying.. hitting reply on my i phone wasn't getting me any where. 

thanks for responses from you all, Ned, Mark A,  and Mark Pollock.  and thanks Mr Pollock for link to Kev's  cutoff  job.  operated on the wee boston at 7 this morning,  Glasgow time. its a great idea. boston is still in intensive care,  on my way back with glue to finish it.  BTW mark,  I didn't cut neck off completely either, just up to fingerboard.  the amount of wood taken off by saw is exactly what was needed.  Again thanks guys. time for a beer! and tomorrow a beer and a song with my new guitar.