NGD!!! 1980 Yamaha FG-345

CTGull,

It looks a beauty, hope it arrives save and sound.
I hate waiting with a passion.

It was accepted to redirect to the local FEDEX Office and is out for delivery!!! Now all I have to do is wait until about 6pm when it finally gets there. Only 11 hours to go!!!! UGH!!!!!

AND, I ordered some truss rod nuts on eBay that should work for the 1977 to 1981 Yamaha's. Should get them Saturday.

AND, I ordered (3) recommended books on guitar repair. The first has shipped from California and is due Monday 11/9. And the other 2 ironically I bought from Target!! I was trying to find a place that had both books (Vol I & II) with free shipping. Then I found Target had one, then the other. The kicker is I have (2) $25 gift cards from work and money in my PayPal from last Sundays neck reset payment. So those books are free!!!! Just waiting for them to ship to figure out when I'll get them.

Judging by the pic from the side (and the one on Goodwill's site that's a closer image of the neck from the side), the actions really high on this one, so yep, I think you're looking at another neck reset. Luckily, that something you've lots of practice doing, and doing well! 

I'm looking forward to another challenge!!!!  And this one should be. The fretboard is bound and the binding is yellowed with possibly lacquer.  That will make it tough to get the fretboard loose without damaging it.  And there's probably a HUGE lacquer radius I'll have to cut thru on the heel.  And it looks like there are divots in the fretboard, so I'd expect frets will need to be replaced, maybe all.  Another challenge to notch the frets to clear the binding.  And what condition is it really in???  The pictures are small, but I didn't see anything major.  I should know more in 9 hours!!

I looked at the pics - the back is really beautiful. I saw the few divots, those would never concern me. When to do it is up to you - are you doing any jobs right now you are getting paid for? If not, I would do it now. If you are doing any jobs you will be paid for, I would do those first, or work on this one while you are waiting for something to dry on the other one.

I removed the neck Saturday evening, 2 days ago. We were out most of the weekend. I tried to fit it in when we finally got home. 

The fretboard separated fairly easily with no binding damage. That’s where the fun ended. I should have cut the finish at the heel joint FIRST. The late 70’s & later models have a thicker finish and a large lacquer radius is the heel joint. When forcing the fretboard up I cracked the finish at the heel joint, some of which fell out.

It probably took me an hour to cut the thru the finish at the heel radius with a scalpel. That is not fun. Then I removed the 15th fret, drilled the 2 holes and used steam to remove the neck. It seemed to loosen fairly quickly but the bottom seemed stuck, but not like usual. I used more pressure from the neck jig and popped it out. It seemed like all went well! Until I looked closer. I had cut thru the paint at the heel binding, and usually the steam releases the glue that holds the binding to the heel. Not this time. Note to self – Cut completely thru the heel binding next time, OR remove the heel cap. The heel binding was pulled away and mangled. I was not happy. It was getting late, and I was a bit upset, so I put it down and walked away.

Last night I started trying to reglue the binding. The problem is the heat distorted it. I used a hair dryer to heat it up and tried to push it back in place. That didn’t work so well. I ended up having to cut one large chunk off, I couldn’t get it to fit under another piece. I reglued all the small stuff, leaving the larger pieces for hopefully tonight. Unfortunately, I doubt it’s going to be pretty when it’s finished. I’m going to have to reconsider doing a neck reset for a customer on the later 70‘s bound models. There’s such a high probability of finish or binding damage. I’ll make more notes and update my neck reset guide with this new experience.

The green mystery glue.




The ugly detail.  One piece of the binding was still stuck the the heel.




Partially fixed last night.  Those are the last 3 pieces of the puzzle, but they aren't straight or flat.  I'm not in the mood to mess with this tonight.

It's just another change by Yamaha.  I'm better off learning on my guitar than someone elses.  I don't know what I'd do if it was someone elses!!!!!

I changed my neck reset procedure to reflect what I've learned.