Podcast 109 - How to Fix a Twisted Guitar Neck

In this episode Ben answers a viewers question on the various ways in which a luthier can repair a twisted guitar neck. From removing the fretboard and planing it flat to just working on the fretboard with a levelling beam. Or a brand new compression fretting method.

Chapters
0:00 Introduction
3:00 The question - twisted neck?
4:03 Sometimes it is okay
6:13 And sometimes it is not! With mild twist take out frets and sand
7:35 Recommended method is to remove the fretboard and repair the neck
9:09 However, compression fretting may work
12:09 Conclusion
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[mhsandifer]

I have a neck thru tele that does exactly this. It's fun to play. Action is a touch high, but not terrible. Was thinking of trying a fix, but I may leave it, A good friend of mine once imparted the truest of guitar sayings ever:
"No matter how much you want the instrument to be just a guitar, in the end, it wants to be a piece of wood and will do what it does."

[RandySchartiger]

Hello Ben, great info! I had success with a twisted neck about 5 years ago and what worked for me was clamping the neck down tightly near the body, it was an acoustic so didn't want to take the neck off, the twist was up near the nut, I used the low E string and ran it from the peg down to a nail driven into the side of my bench, I used a bubble level and kept cranking the key until the twist was gone and bubble level centered as it was throughout the rest of the neck, then applied 125 degrees of heat for 24 hours, then humidified it another 24 hours in that same condition still under pressure from the low E string tied to a nail holding it in position, finally after 48 hours removed the clamps and low E string that was used to hold the twist straight and it worked! I still have that guitar and 5 years later the twist has never came back. Hope this helps someone, it worked for me and I saw another guy to very much the same here on Youtube on an electric guitar.

[bleikrsound]

Content of title begins at 3:45. I sat through redundant talking so you don't have to.

[TattieYT]

A twist towards the treble end of the nut honestly sounds like it would be a joy to play. You should try a limited edition run of this, perhaps coupled with fanned frets just to see how it would play. I bet there are others out there who think the same and would buy something like this up in a heartbeat.

[jjm]

release the tension on the truss rod the use heat not steam (heat gun) using dowels and carpenter clamps technique with using a straight edge it should repair the twist. Then allow the neck to set. After releasing the neck check it 5 days later to see if it moved back. Then level the frets, crown them and should be good to go for restrings and set up.

[SalvvOrtiz]

One of the greatest satisfactions I've had a couple of days ago, was that I was able to fix a warped neck on a guitar that cost me $10 dls. It plays like a dream after that.

[stevenhein]

Good advice. I just picked up a 1981 Carvin DC150CM and it has a tiny twist towards the headstock end. Luckily it's rotated in the 'good' direction....I will see it as an asset and not a problem now!....being a 1981 I think it's safe to say that it's settled.

[kazabubu]

Putting balanced tension strings might help fix that over time....standard guitar strings pull stronger on the low-E side than on the high-E side. Equating the tension might help revert the twist...
More drastically, you could maybe bias the tension towards the high-E e.g. by taking the high-E, B and G from an 11-50 set and the D, A and low-E from a standard 9-42 set...Tune it to pitch and leave it for a period of time....

[RatFinkRod]

I've done work on guitars with twisted necks before and never had to any straightening.  It's very simple, use a strait-edge and adjust the truss rod so the neck is straight along the MIDDLE of the frets, then check both sides (hi-E, lo-E) for straightness.  If everything's straight all you need to do is adjust the height of both ends of the pickups and bridge saddles to match the continued twist of the neck.

[jakethelen]

Gods save and bless you sir!! What a saint and savior, much appreciated!!

[stevepolychronopoulis]

I was searching this topic, oddly didn't check this channel first (at this point, I should just look here first for everything). I'm converting a five-string bass to a fretless, and the donor neck has a slight twist. I think I'm going to try the method you described here, but with the veneer pieces I put in to replace the frets. I'll just make the pieces a hair thicker on one side, maybe with a slight taper (wedge), so when they expand with gluing they'll push the twist back slightly. After that, I should be able to finish it with the sanding beam. I'll let you know if it works. Thanks for the great videos as always!

[willturner]

What a strange coincidence! I just fixed my old dot, she had a huge twist in the neck, probably bought on over the last decade or so since the neck break. More relief on the treble side, due to the twist, made it impossible to get a decent setup. My solution was to remove the frets, flatten the fretboard, and then re-radius it. Much to my delight she's playing great now. Cosmetically not the best, but it was a straightforward enough fix and the slightly irregular depth fretboard isn't really noticeable unless you really hunt for it, especially as much of the material was taken off the treble side. Taking the fretboard off sounds the best bet, but as you say, and I agree, taking steam to an already twisted neck is asking for trouble! The idea about straightening the neck with the fret tangs is an interesting one, great in theory, I'd love to hear if anyone has had any success. Thanks for the videos, they are a great resource.

[krazykrumz]

Hi Ben, I noticed that Fender has uncut strings and just wanted to say watch out because those can poke you in the eye if you're not careful. It had happened to a guitar player I met at one point and from the relative sharpness of them they can damage your cornea unless you wear eye protection or just cut the strings soon as you put them on. Thank you for making these videos, always insightful and fascinating

[wombat]

Hello Ben ! I had an idea for something that could be a fun "summer special" podcast episode : in the days when you were an apprentice, what were the 3 things in the learning process of building guitars that you liked doing the most and the 3 things you hated/feared doing the most ?

[ysteinberg]

I fixed a twisted neck once by taking off the strings, forgetting about it, then a year and a half later it was straight and I put new strings on .10 set down from the.13 that it used to have. I hear it's still good. Thin necks can't handle too much tension..

[JustRockMySoul]

Damn, that is one neatly arranged workspace. With solid tools.

[Logan.Ninefingers]

Good to know, thanks.
I came here because I noticed a slight (about 1-2mm difference at the nut) twist on my new bass.
Thankfully it is the "right" way so I'm just gonna leave it.

[DstryEviI]

I realize this is a bit old of a post but...I have to give credit where credit is due.  Ben, you are the f#$%in man!  I tried this on a guitar I purchased from a <insert bad name here> on Reverb.com.  It had a very similar twist to the tele neck in the video. I used Jescar EVO Gold frets, crimped the tang on the opposite side I wanted raised a smidgen and it flipping worked!!! It isn't perfect but before i couldn't get a straight edge with fret notches to stand on fretboard on the high E side...now it will stay without falling over.  Thank you Ben for your amazing talent and willingness to share with us :)

[ecycle]

I have a 4 string bass neck slightly twisted to the g string side at the head stock and about half way downthe neck, however the heel pocket end is flat . Its not a complete twist like you were referring to the on the white telly.
I bought this bass for 30$ no strings and missing nut and stuff and didnt get to play it. So I dont know if the slight twist will even have any noticeable effect at all. But I was liking your thinking about twisted would be more comfortable.

[jamestunedflat]

There's a large market for guitar repair in the town I live in but I don't have much experience fixing my own guitars and I'm not competent with finishes. Should I try learning on the job (other people's instruments), or should I continue working on my own stuff?