Official Luthiers Forum!

I have a circa 1970's Conn 12 string that my wife purchased online last year. I can nearly walk under the strings at the 12th fret. Looks like either the bracing or body is heaving up where the string saddle rests. I had strung it originally with 10-46's to try and lower it but to no avail. The neck looks perfectly straight which is the hard part for me. I guess looking for direction or someone here in sunny Fla. That could advise or steer me to a luthier in my area. I live in NorthPort which is between Sarasota and Ft. Myers. This guitar has sentimental value to meore than what it may or May not be worth. Thank you all for any advise you can muster! I'll send pics if I can. This guitar is in excellent condition other than what is previously stated. It's pretty and I want her fixed. Scott!

Hi Scott - It more than likely needs a neck reset and may have other issues as well such as bridge plate wear from the string ball ends, perhaps a loose brace or two, and I would check the back edge of the bridge with a feeler gauge for lifting as well. The instrument is now 44 years old and prime for a neck reset especially with the added string tension being a 12 and all.

Good thing that it has sentimental value because neck resets are expensive and involved. Can't recommend any specific Luthier in your area but expect to pay north of $500 for the reset and again it may need more too.

You can evaluate the instrument yourself for needing a reset by sighting down the neck on either the bass or treble side and following the imaginary line of the neck angle through to the bridge. You want the the fret board to line up approximately with the bridge top. More than likely what you will see is this line intersecting the bridge below the top of the bridge. Other symptoms are very high action at the 12th.

What causes the need for resets is the distortion of the upper bout of the guitar with the ravages of time and constant string tension. It's something that most acoustics will need someday and to be expected.

What a neck reset is is the careful removal of the neck taking great care to not damage the instrument, finish, etc. and then refitting the neck to the body at the proper neck angle, rebuilding the dovetail (if present) and reattaching. A very minor amount of material is typically removed from the neck heel to achieve the proper neck angle in relation to the body. It's a pretty good idea to always get a fresh fret dress too if it does not need more such as a refret. It's involved, time consuming, and if the finish needs touch-up, and it usually does.... the Luthier will have to respray and then you are basically waiting for paint to dry since lacquer takes at least several weeks to cure hard enough to be safely buffed out.

Prices vary in various markets but not all that much for resets.

Hope something here helps.

Todd just posted - Yeah try Chuck - he's good people!

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Ann Arbor Guitars

Thank you guys! I'm not sure if I'm willing to go north of 500$ for repair based on what's out there new waiting to be owned for that but, if nothing else it will be proudly displayed in a nook of the house somewhere! I have an 1800's Gourd mandolin it can rest next to. This guitar though is in such nice shape it's a shame to not fix it! Whoever owns it took care of it as I would any wood instrument I own. I am gong to take it to a luthier to see what they think. I will look up chuck in Tampa. Thank you again! You guys are artists! That I can appreciate! I'd love to build my own!

Two other options for you Scott:

1) Hang it on the wall for now... as you suggested and the neck reset, if it needs one, can be done at a later time. This gives you choices. Be sure to detune the strings too.

2) Last summer when the invitation only North Woods Seminar was being held here in Michigan there was a call put out for instruments needing resets to be reset in a demonstration for the pros attending in a discussion of various methods. Instruments contributed got a free reset and were returned IIRC. Although the North Woods is over and not in your neck of the woods anyway look for a local Lutherie school and explore the possibility of having it used as an educational mule for a reset. It's likely that the school would appreciate the use of the thing for the time needed to use it as a teaching moment (times about 360 or so...) and promise to do a quality job only under the supervision of a skilled teacher/Luthier.

While I am at it there are lots of folks who might want to use it to learn neck resets. Of course buyer beware here but you may find someone that your sense of them is positive and you believe that they will be a good steward of your ax and give you a big break on costs.

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Ann Arbor Guitars

Thank you sooooo much! That is exactly what I'm going to do. Leave it for now and see if anyone would like to use it as an education tool. That's great advice. I appreciate your time!

Now my favorite part! Finding a worthy 12 string to play!

I did find a decent 12 string in an Ovation Celeb. I traded one if my 6 string Ovations for it. I put the Conn in the case for now. It's funny but the 12 string gets old fast however, it's great going from that to 6 strings after a couple weeks. Thanx afain

My first real guitar repair project was a neck re-set on a 70's Conn. I learned a lot. The guitar I worked on had a lateral dovetail key linking the neck to the body, and a single bolt in the heel. Somewhere I have pictures of the joint. It certainly wasn't a conventional dovetail joint.

Maybe it would be a worthwhile addition to this forum to have a compendium of neck joints.