Twisted Neck Guild D-55

Hello People!
Thanks for joining me for more guitar restoration videos!
This is a Guild D-55 from 1978, Westerly, Rhode Island. I'll be untwisting a twisted neck with heat and clamping pressure and fixing a non functioning truss rod.
Say Thanks:
venmo.com/u/Ha...
cash.app/$Harp...
Cheers,
Scotty D.,
Harpeth Guitar Restoration, LLC.
Nashville, Tennessee

[@mikedavis3841]

That's the first time I've ever seen anybody straighten a twisted neck pretty cool.

[@johnlowry7768]

Guild guitars soundGOOD

[@floridajack7222]

Scotty - thanks for the spectacular save on my favorite acoustic. It plays wonderfully and has never sounded better. I am in the process of recording with it as part of my latest project. I will will send you a copy of the “finished product!”

[@harpethguitar]

Fantastic! I’m just finishing up the Les Paul for you! 🎸😎🎸

[@edadpops1709]

Good tip heating the fish glue.never have ,but will try it now 💯

[@kevinfisher1070]

Nice guitar always loved Guild great detailed repair

[@nicolen.9642]

Catching up with your great guitar repair...such pleasure to watch guitar surgery. Neck reset is (to me) the hardest (maybe with bracing floating around ha). Never seen such a twisted neck. 😮 Thanks Scott for sharing your enthusiasm!🎶

[@Eeearthmusic]

Man that’s a beautiful job well done 👍

[@harpethguitar]

Thank you! Cheers!

[@earlsinstrumentsandtunes9732]

The single rod design compresses the neck wood when tightened. That is why they are more prone to cause neck twisting when tightened, because both sides of the neck may not compress evenly. A double rod compresses on itself instead of the wood and the force is only on the bow of the neck. I have not had any neck twisting since I started using the double rod system.

[@christophernorman2781]

Thanks for sharing this Scott I will definitely be using some of these techniques.

[@harpethguitar]

Right on!

[@richardmcfalls8393]

Fascinating technique. Thanks for sharing this.

[@meltedwheeliebin]

Good fix Scotty!

[@daviddaniels6473]

Dude!! You got some cool tools!

[@harpethguitar]

Thanks David!

[@perihelion7798]

You are an exceptional craftsman. Thanks for sharing your expertise with us. Wonderful work. I watch several really talented and excellent luthiers, and each one has their own techniques and styles. I have a twisted headstock ES335 style right now, and this video will be a real help to me. Thanks!

[@harpethguitar]

Thanks a lot and good luck with the 335! 😉

[@markpell8979]

I did this same basic procedure recently on an Epiphone P90 Special that had an action problem. The neck was twisted slightly at the nut with the low E corner rising enough that the twist was easy to see, and the Low E string was gaining string height making the guitar harder to play. On the high E side, straight neck and no problem, with 1.25mm 12th-fret action height. I twisted the neck on a clamping jig on the bench and forced it back a little beyond flat to try and give the wood a new memory, and applied heat and kept the twisting force on it a couple days. This nearly straightened the twist when the neck was out of clamps and relaxed. I proceeded to level the existing tall jumbo frets, biasing toward the top left corner of the fretboard with my sanding beam to remove an extra few thousandths of metal from the frets there but barely touching the frets on the bottom right while just kissing the middle. Then I recrowned the affected frets and recut the nut slots a little on the left, bass side. So far the neck has stayed put and the sanding cheat on the fret levelling has the guitar playing better than ever. Let's see if it lasts.

[@harpethguitar]

Nice Job!

[@markpell8979]

@@harpethguitar You too! I kinda 'plek'd' mine by eye and feel. Works at least once, if the twist is a good bit less than your fret thickness. And if the neck is done twisting, problem solved unless/until you wear the frets out. I probably won't. So for a few hours work I get years of pleasure out of a new improved guitar I wasn't playing much.

[@vayabroder729]

Amazing work. That is a beautiful looking and sounding instrument and worth saving. Can’t find good wood like that anymore.

[@harpethguitar]

Thank you very much!

[@tomfoolery2082]

So it was being in the jig tht took the twist out . Iv got a similar situation with a lespaul . I may try the clamping thing . Its not terrible but tht keeps it from playing extra good . I learned some things Thk u sir ..

[@harpethguitar]

Cool! The refret service is why it holds it’s new shape 😊

[@tomfoolery2082]

Ok , good to know . Thx

[@Sci-Que]

Nice Guild. Great repair.

[@harpethguitar]

Thanks 👍

[@Sci-Que]

No, thank you. I am subscribed to several instructional channels to help people become better Luthiers. When it comes down to it though, your videos are about the only ones I watch all the way through. IMO it is common sense to watch folks who instruct in a common sense manner and that IMO is you.

[@samhawksleymusic]

Killer

[@toneconsultant]

There's something in his Hide glue. You don't get that much playing around time. He has a mixture in there.

[@harpethguitar]

It’s fish glue

[@DrAgan_tortojed]

Amazing! Priceless job is what you did here. What's the liquid you use for taking frets off of the fretboard (is any kind of "acetone" or "nitro dissolvent" suitable for that)?

[@harpethguitar]

Thanks! Naphtha and or mineral spirits. It kind of helps 😀

[@Sammywhat]

Another fantastic job! That was so impressive. Does the wood have a "memory" to some degree? Won't it want to go back to the previously twisted geometry?

[@harpethguitar]

Thanks 🙏 The heat and pressure reset the wood memory and the refret is insurance that it stays put. 😉

[@Sammywhat]

@@harpethguitar Thank you kindly for the quick reply. I have a tele neck that is relatively new... however there's a bit of a ski jump at around the 14th fret or so, actually it's a dip from about the 11th and then starts ramping back up. The truss rod doesn't seem to do anything. I was thinking of heat and clamps. But not a refret. Thanks again for the mad skillz!! You are a blessing, Mr. Scott!!

[@gregoaks4413]

So I have an Epiphone les paul custom I believe the neck is twisted what to do ?

[@harpethguitar]

Refret!

[@mysteritmodk9572]

What's with the german accent always? Love your videos by the way!

[@harpethguitar]

It’s the Freudian character who appears to describe guitar repair formulas and make us laugh.

[@RoyZenzo]

At first I thought this is a new guild for people who got twisted necks

[@harpethguitar]

😂

[@RoyZenzo]

@@harpethguitar great work btw👍