HELP, I think I've ruined a neck

[Amon 7.L]

Hi there guys, I really need some expert advice on this one.

Long story short, whilst I was building a neck from scratch for a project I'm working on, driven by the fury of finessing the back profile using sandpaper I unconsciously went unevenly C-shaping the sides of the fretboard too
So now, from the 1° fret up to the 12° there is now not a crisp line but this uneven transition that flows straight edged in the neck heel area and a round over towards the nut.

I'm attaching some pics in order for you to see what I mean:






.. and a mock-up pick with the lefty Jag-stang body to which it should mate with:


Now, being a total rookie and being this the second neck I'm building from scratch I don't know what I can do to fix it.
I thought about these solutions:

1) try sanding 1mm of material from the top the fretboard (the neck thickness is 26.4mm at the moment);
2) attempt to route a binding channel around fretboard to compensate. (I never did it, nevertheless an already back profiled neck);
3) attempt to re-route the entire neck profile. At the moment the nut width is 39.70mm and I have a template to an A-width neck of 38.1mm.
4) Give up, start over.

Any help would me greatly welcome.
Thank you all

[oid]

Nah, you did not ruin it, you just made an offset neck for your offset guitar.

This is fairly common on necks which have had their finish removed by people more concerned with having a raw/oiled neck than having a perfect neck. If it was me I would just finish the neck and the guitar and play it, it will not affect playability, this is a bolt on after all, you can always replace it down the road and you will gain a fair amount of experience finishing it this being your second neck. Take a little off the fingerboard thickness and call it good, with a radius sanding block and some 80 grit, it will go quick.

nice looking guitar though, but it is backwards.

[Amon 7.L]

Thanks for chiming in, Old.
I guess I'll have to follow your suggestion and go ahead with taking that 1 extra mm down and see how the frets are gonna speak accordingly to the string spacing.. I'm afraid the latter will just float above the rolled portion.. as free as a bird into open sky

Anyway. mistakes are bound to happen.. let's try to learn something out of it.
If anybody has other suggestions, critics or anything to add, don't be shy, I'd like to hear from you

nice looking guitar though, but it is backwards.

Now THAT'S why I've got it wrong, it should have been RIGHT

[oid]

You should be fine on the strings, you may have to deepen the fret slots, tweak and or shift the string spacing a tad towards the high e. Worst case is it does not work and you are a little better at finish and frets for when you make a new neck for it. Then just hang the old one on the wall until inspiration strikes or you realize that stupid simple obvious fix that stared at you all those years it hung on your wall.

It is more important to get the second neck done than get it perfect.

[Fiddy]

Do a bound neck maybe? Would that help?

[Amon 7.L]

You should be fine on the strings, you may have to deepen the fret slots, tweak and or shift the string spacing a tad towards the high e. Worst case is it does not work and you are a little better at finish and frets for when you make a new neck for it. Then just hang the old one on the wall until inspiration strikes or you realize that stupid simple obvious fix that stared at you all those years it hung on your wall.

It is more important to get the second neck done than get it perfect.

Yup, deepening the slots and probably shift the spacing towards the high e or completely inwards as if the neck were already virtually bound is what is probably gonna happen. I'm with you thinking that is more important to get it done than have it done perfectly.. worst case, I might really have it hanging on the wall as a mental pin/pun to my thoughts.

Do a bound neck maybe? Would that help?

I really would like to because I even have the binding at my disposal and it looks like it could solve the issue but, as I said, I'm a complete rookie at building necks and adding such binding to an already back profiled neck seems to me a very hard task with a dramatic percentage of failure as:
A: I don't have a binding channel router bit, therefore:
B: I'd have to attach the template under the neck itself and to make it ride against some sort of pin routing jig I'll have to build;
C: I'm seriously worried about the smaller contact surface to which the binding is gonna be glued in the meeting area of the fretboard and the rounded backside.
There would also be an aesthetic bug which, as much as I'm really autistic in such a matters, I can live with: the side dots are already on the maple side, and won't be hidden under the binding. Oh well.

I remember some years ago, fellow member "theolderbrother" did a complete overhaul to his CIJ Jaguar to which he also proceeded with such a task of adding the binding to the neck but I can't find the thread and I also remember that the last time I've watched it pics weren't eventually showing up anymore.

[oid]

Doing the binding is not that hard, with a router you have to make a jig, or you can do it the old fashioned way with a gramil and chisel.

https://www.lmii.com/products/tools-ser ... der-gramil

Few minutes practice and you will be able to cut the binding ledge in less time than the jig making and setup. There are a few other gramils on the market, stewmac has one and they are fairly simple to make from some hardwood scrap. If you want to do it with your router I would just take a 2x4, cut it to the shape of your neck and do a practice run, cheap insurance. Gramil and chisel has the advantage in that once you have the technique you can bind most anything without worrying about jigs or finding the right bearing/bit combination.

I would still go with just removing what you can thinning the fingerboard abit and call it good, but I find bound necks on unbound guitars to be funny looking, I am your target market on this build after all. Aren't I?

[ludobag1]

i don't see really the trouble in pics
1 )is you rounded the edge of fretboard instead stay them flat ?
2)or you are being to much agressive and you have rounded the fretboard and kill the straight line at the edge ?

for 1 is not to problematic you will have a confy neck if you have something constant it will not be too visible (i have a very thin i made on my own this way )

2 more problematic you must restrait it

for binding implantation with the profil already done is doable but you need to think about jig to made it ,a template where you can attach the neck where the bearing of the cutter can be guided (with a router table it will be easyer ,with a router in hand there is some risk to fall and made it worse)
or you can do it by hand with a trusquin but it is lot of works

first keep calm and breath ,after think about it and when you have a solution ,think about the way to do to avoid a bigger mistake ,it is wood and it is reparable if you think of the way to arrange (in stewmac information Dan repair a fretboard edge with sawdust and glue )

[Amon 7.L]

Old

I would still go with just removing what you can thinning the fingerboard abit and call it good, but I find bound necks on unbound guitars to be funny looking, I am your target market on this build after all. Aren't I?

You are indeed a target market in this build and you're giving me some real good food for thoughts.. A gramil would be an option if I had some perpendicular walls a guiding lines, thing is.. I don't have any on top nor on the sides

i don't see really the trouble in pics
1 )is you rounded the edge of fretboard instead stay them flat ?
2)or you are being to much agressive and you have rounded the fretboard and kill the straight line at the edge ?

Unfortunally, I think I've been a champion at getting both 1 & 2 done.
Check these out:



Can you see the gap between the fretboard excessively sanded edge and the wall of the wooden block?

Furthermore for a better insight of the situation:



I'm

first keep calm and breath ,after think about it and when you have a solution ,think about the way to do to avoid a bigger mistake ,it is wood and it is reparable if you think of the way to arrange (in stewmac information Dan repair a fretboard edge with sawdust and glue )

Indeed I'm on hold right now as my brain is spinning full throttle.

Atm, I'm now fighting with these new extra options trying to avoid to sand 1 mm off the top of the fretboard to reduce the roundover mishap and in order to have some extra "wall" for the glue to adhere to the binding:

5) Top-view wise: shall I make a full length uniform roundover to the sides of the fretboard (up til the neck heel left and right sides) as if the nut were like 38.1mm A-neck?;
6) Just be patient BUT brave and go ahead with a binding jig, some tests on scraps as per suggestion and then shoot for the head.

I'm gonna stop ranting and I do apologize for the essay.

Thanks again for chiming in and for the support, it means a lot to me.

[ludobag1]

i see now it is easy to repair
for me try the stew mac methode
glue some rosewood dust at the side after it dry sand it clean to have a straight edge all along the side
when you oli the figerboard it will not be visible
moreover when i dress fret i put a big 45 ° chanfer at the edge to make the fret less sharp (they are more inserted in the wood like this i find )

i do this way cause a friend of mine have an 70 jazzmaster and he make me see why it play like better ,the fret and the wood are really used at this side then no sharp end and you not feel each fret or the edge of fretboard ,then now i copy this (50 years of wear by a big chanfer)

[oid]

A gramil would be an option if I had some perpendicular walls a guiding lines, thing is.. I don't have any on top nor on the sides

Gramil does not need perpendicular surfaces, just an edge to follow, you hold the tool straight not the wood, a shim when it is riding on the fret board could be worthwhile, but far from necessary.

Glue and dust will work, it will add a new 'grain line' which will not follow the grain, only you and those who know the trick will notice. Not sure how I feel about the longevity of such a repair on the edge like that, even if done with epoxy. I expect it would eventually break off due to the movement of the wood slowly shearing the fibers connected to the rather rigid epoxy. It would take a few years for that to happen though.

There is always the option of new fingerboard, learning to replace a fingerboard is a useful skill and a maple neck is as easy as it gets, you will not even have to refinish, it is almost cheating.

[Steadyriot.]

You should be fine on the strings, you may have to deepen the fret slots, tweak and or shift the string spacing a tad towards the high e. Worst case is it does not work and you are a little better at finish and frets for when you make a new neck for it. Then just hang the old one on the wall until inspiration strikes or you realize that stupid simple obvious fix that stared at you all those years it hung on your wall.

It is more important to get the second neck done than get it perfect.

Yup, deepening the slots and probably shift the spacing towards the high e or completely inwards as if the neck were already virtually bound is what is probably gonna happen. I'm with you thinking that is more important to get it done than have it done perfectly.. worst case, I might really have it hanging on the wall as a mental pin/pun to my thoughts.

Do a bound neck maybe? Would that help?

I really would like to because I even have the binding at my disposal and it looks like it could solve the issue but, as I said, I'm a complete rookie at building necks and adding such binding to an already back profiled neck seems to me a very hard task with a dramatic percentage of failure as:
A: I don't have a binding channel router bit, therefore:
B: I'd have to attach the template under the neck itself and to make it ride against some sort of pin routing jig I'll have to build;
C: I'm seriously worried about the smaller contact surface to which the binding is gonna be glued in the meeting area of the fretboard and the rounded backside.
There would also be an aesthetic bug which, as much as I'm really autistic in such a matters, I can live with: the side dots are already on the maple side, and won't be hidden under the binding. Oh well.

I remember some years ago, fellow member "theolderbrother" did a complete overhaul to his CIJ Jaguar to which he also proceeded with such a task of adding the binding to the neck but I can't find the thread and I also remember that the last time I've watched it pics weren't eventually showing up anymore.

You can do binding from the top side too; get a piece of extruded rectangular aluminum tubing and fix it to the neck.
The distance between the edge of the neck and your tubing should be the width of the binding (approx 1mm). Run the router on top of the tubing (so supporting its weight with the tubing) and route the lip with a template bit.
Now, because the fretboard is radiused; the route will be slightly angled inward BUT because we're talking about a route that's 4 to 5mm deep it negligible.

Reading this back it's pretty unclear what I mean; let me clarify.

This may be the shittiest drawing I ever made, but I'm on my phone and on the train so this is all you get!
The green bit is the router, the grey bit is the aluminum bar, the red part is the cutter, the blue part the bearing and the neck is pretty clear I hope.


Go slow with this and be precise, for the heel you'll need to make a small template but it is doable.
Use a small handheld router if you have one, but a bigger one will work also, you'll just have to be more precise.

[higgsblossom]

I must say I'm not a guitar builder myself but I do enjoy reading threads like this on this forum a lot. So many people helping each other, I love you guys

[blimpage]

This may be the shittiest drawing I ever made, but I'm on my phone and on the train so this is all you get!

You are a hero and we do not deserve you.

[Amon 7.L]

This may be the shittiest drawing I ever made, but I'm on my phone and on the train so this is all you get!

You are a hero and we do not deserve you.

+1!

Don't worry, Steadyriot.. the drawing is perfectly clear and the suggestion is quite cool and gave me some further ideas!!
During these past days I couldn't work on the neck but I managed to think about a solution quite similar to your sketch, check it out!:



Just as your advice, I thought about a jig with the router fixed on top of a board with an index pin with a gap of 1.55mm (binding thickness) so that I can double side tape my actual neck on top of an identical neck blank I already have or either to the master template, so that the pin has a constant wall all around the neck profile whilst the router bit on top will cut the slot on the fretboard.

I think this weekend I'll be able to build the jig and hopefully make a test to see how things will roll..

I must say I'm not a guitar builder myself but I do enjoy reading threads like this on this forum a lot. So many people helping each other, I love you guys

Yes, this is why this forum rules. People here is just splendid