Eyeballing a Twisted Neck

[@DS-zo8xs]

I have a guitar with a bent neck. Had no idea until I took it to my local guitar shop. It's being repair now. But it sounded like trash when I was playing, I thought it was just me being rusty. I'm excited to get it back.

[@leam1978]

Whoa, i could see the twist from the thumbnail! Interesting discussion about doing charity skilled labor.

[@DrewsGuitarShop]

Yeah, its pretty bad! I don't think I have ever seen a neck with a twist this pronounced. I strung it up yesterday and it seemed to not be a huge playability issue though. I am setting this up on Monday and plan to do a part 2 when I get the thing playable. Also, yeah, I think I worked out that I some of these student instruments I end up making like $3 p/h sometimes. Thing is, I also get a lot of attention from music teachers in the area who have sent students my way to buy their instruments, so that is some pretty good word of mouth. It's a bit of an advertising fee that has the added benefit of getting good instruments in the hands of new players. It works out.

[@Driessens_Peter]

im a starting luthier, how become necks that twisted in the first place? is it bad storage, humidity, heat, cold, stringtension...? or some combined cases from what i mentioned, like to hear your opinion. thanks

[@DrewsGuitarShop]

Id say most of the time this kind of thing comes down to using green wood and pilot error.

[@Driessens_Peter]

@@DrewsGuitarShop oh okay thank you, its nice to know what cause the problem also.

[@plasma3211]

I found a Behringer Strat type in a goodwill for $25. I was going to put it down because the neck is twisted! It is probably twisted in a favorable way-i think! The twist is at the first fret and twists up towards the treble side (high E). This may be be doable since It will avoid string buzz with the small gauge string. I already have a few bucks into for a new Tusq Nut, Whammy Bar and Neck Shim. Probably more than this thing is worth! If I can get a decent set up I may sell it for $75 or donate to a deserving student.

[@beefyjoe]

Thank you for the information and example neck

[@upload2352]

More useful info I can apply. I recently ran into my first twisted neck ('70s Conn student classical), and used that experience to confirm I had another guitar (Taylor) with a slight twist. Sighted up from the nut, both appear to have a clockwise twist in the lower part of the board that raises the treble strings enough to require excess reduction of the treble side of the saddle to get the lower action I like. Both guitars remain set-upable, and playable, so there's probably no big gain from trying to fix them to "perfection," but it was an eye-opener to finally determine the reason why I had to lower the treble-side of the saddles so much on those guitars. And I hear you on cost/benefit. I think the Conn classical sounds amazing, but fixing that twist likely means pulling a bunch of frets and reducing/re-radiusing the board in the raised area (assuming the whole board didn't have to be re-done, which may be required), then reinstalling the frets, setup, nut/saddle, etc., on a guitar with no market value. It plays, so it stays, as I've not heard a classical I like as much. Life is imperfect.

[@JeanYvesP]

Thanks!

[@gantz4u]

1949 U.S. NAVY TRAINING FILM BENDING OAK TECHNIQUES FreddyFrets-straightening a warped neck. Its like the fact it bent and stayed that way just works somehow. you cant mangle it MORE. Its a bolt on neck and you got a flat on the back. Im looking at your flats like that thing demands 3 days and a C-clamp. If youre looking at having to buy a new neck or a new guitar I dont see the problem here.

[@ChristianJ5680]

Nice video!!! I have a high end guitar with a twisted neck, but I don’t know if I should be worried about that. Neck relief is 008-7” on the bass side and 016” on the treble side. The 1st and 2nd string feels a bit far from the middle register, although they’re set as lowest as they can go (1.25mm at the 12th fret). That doesn’t affect playability, but you can feel that easily. On top of that, the previous owner refilled the 6th and 5th string nut slots to raise these strings and get rid of fret buzzes. It worked, but it’s been a cause of poor intonation on the first three frets since then (notes are too sharp). Cutting the slots a bit deeper seems to be the way to go, but a lower string height at the nut would cause fret buzzes on the first frets again. I totally ignore if there’s other solution. One of the good things is each string intonates right on the money without issues. The guitar also plays like butter and frets are even.

[@thetravisparker5259]

I recently bought a brand new esp LTD h1001 for 1300 from sweetwater and it came with a warped neck.. unbelievable

[@DrewsGuitarShop]

I'd believe it. I have seen all kinds of issues right out of the factory on just about every brand.

[@knowledgelibrary1141]

Can the eyes be deceiving? I have a guitar that is having some buzz issues and I did all the sighting I could and I THINK I SEE a twist but then I tried your gauge technique from your other video and that did not indicate a twist so I'm a bit confused.

[@DrewsGuitarShop]

I am kind of a fan of those optical illusion vids and pics. It's humbling to remember that eyes and brains can sometimes just not work the way we think. I always trust har measurements over what my eye might tell me.

[@ws6206]

@@DrewsGuitarShop Thank you for the reply :)

[@paulyoung4781]

Oh my god soon as u put that kneck to the camera close up i saw that massive mega twist!! Oh its bad is it?? Whoa? Lol haha thanks for showing and taking time to explain buddy,,iwas going crazy thinking i cant see nothing hahah soon as u picked the kneck up!! I saw that twist in a second haha its really bad? Lol WINDING STAIRCASE?

[@Joakimfrank]

Interesting! Just a tought: Would it be possible to reverse the twist by flipping the nut, and stringing it the opposite way? Low E in the place of high E? And put som extra tension where it seems necessary + some extra air humidity, and leave it for a year or something?

[@DrewsGuitarShop]

You could try it, but heat is the thing you need to reform wood, not humidity. The tension over time *might* stretch the fibers though. The best solution is a refret so you can retru the board.

[@Joakimfrank]

@@DrewsGuitarShop thank you!

[@2000SkyView]

just get a new neck

[@12to3Guitars]

Easier said than done depending upon what you're dealing with. As an example, I have an old schecter 5 string bass neck with a dip and twist. I know of no 3rd party manufacturers who make a replacement and schecter won't sell a dang thing for parts. Especially for a discontinued model.