Hi guys,

My guitar is a little outta wack! the fret board and strings slowly move further and further apart as they go along. I had a guitar lesson a while back and the shops guitar expert unscrewed a cover on the head and inserted a piece of cardboard to raisethe fret board (cardboard was inserted where body and Fret Board meet.

Is this something anyone has tried to do at home before?
YUG

Hello yug, is your guitar a Taylor by any chance?

Cheers,

GuitarZen

hi GuitarZen,

no its a Magnum mag-300 its made in indo.

Yug

Ok, well you might want to sight down the fretboard from the tuner end, taking  note if the fret board looks flat, curved or bowed then let us know, I think then you will start getting some answers.

Cheers,

GuitarZen

The fret board itself is straight, it bows starting around the 3rd fret.

Thanks!

Hello yug, I've misread your original post that states, 'the fret board and strings slowly move further and further apart as they go along'...I now take that to mean that the space between the fretboard at the nut is less than it is at the 12 fret for example. Is this true? Also when you most recently mention that the fret board is straight then go on to mention that it bows starting at the third fret you confuse me a bit. Could you restate that in such a way that I'll more fully understand why it sounds like the fretboard is straight and yet at the same time it's bowed somehow? I really want to get to the bottom of this.

And finally, you never did really say there's a problem related to what you're talking about and you go on to ask, 'Is this something anyone has tried to do at home before?'....by that I presume you mean shim the neck, is this true? Please help me understand just what it is you're talking about so that again, I'll be able to help you yug. This thread is by the way, one for the books so to speak...I'm loving it, so thanks !

Cheers,

GuitarZen

Hi GuitarZen,

To start fresh...

My guitar if it were to be laying parallel to the ground, laying on its back. If you lok at the strings, starting at the nut, the distance between the frets and strings becomes further and further apart as you decent towards the 15th fret for eg.   which gives it a bowed look.

Pulling the guitar apart at the base of the fret board, were it attaches to the body. There was a small piece of paper to help lessen the distance between the strings and frets. I pulled it apart and placed some cardboard it helped to much, so the strings rattled against other frets while fingering strings above the 5th fret, then I removed a little of the cardboard and it's...helped it to put it positive but still not perfect.

Hope we're on the same page now..

Cheers,
Guy

Guy,

Does that guitar have a truss rod in the neck?  If so, your best (and safest) bet is to take it to someone who is well versed in guitar set-up.   You can do alot of damage foolin around with that stuff if you dont know how..   I have seen people snap necks trying to force truss rods to bow the neck to fast..   Those adjustments take time and patience.   Temperature and humidity are also a big factor..

just my 2 cents worth...

Jim

Hello again yug, well, I'm going to agree with Jag on this one....you've had it apart and back together a couple of times and for me to try and help from here could lead to the aforementioned snapped neck. If the guitar is worth anything and if I were you I'd take it to a guitar store and let them have a look at it.

GuitarZen

Quote: {cardboard was inserted where body and Fret Board meet}

What I think he means is that the action gets higher as you go UP the neck, It appears that he put a shim behind the bolt on neck to pitch the neck back a bit to lessen the action at the upper end of the neck around the 15th fret.
I think you DO need it setup by a good guitar tech. A setup should only cost you between $50-$80 maybe a bit more depending on the damage or amount of work needed.

Welcome to chordbook and the board squints. From the mention of 'made in indo' the guitar may not be worth the setup, but only yug knows that info and we've not heard back from yug lately. Enjoy the post !

GuitarZen