removing my phenolic fretboard: Steinberger Synapse truss replacement

[johnnyhaggis]

Anyone have any idea how to remove this carbon fiber stiffening strip from a neck?

See thread below for the rest of the story and photos


*original post:

I recently got my hands on a bass which has a broken truss rod. The rod's been removed except for the small piece which screws into the base of the neck, which has broken off. My original plan was to attempt to remove the fretboard and extract the broken piece and put in a new rod.

However, I tried playing the bass with no rod, and the action height doesn't bother me and it sounds great, and the intonation isn't perfect, but it's decent, such that I'm tempted to avoid risking catastrophe by removing the fretboard, and just keep playing it like this.

If I keep using it like this, will I be causing major damage to the neck over time?

 

[line6man]

It depends on a lot of factors. Mainly, whether or not you have stiffening rods, and whether or not the neck is a stable cut of wood.

 

[vaesto]

Why not drill a sufficient hole in the back of neck and remove the broken part of a rod without removing fingerboard?
Without the rod neck may develop a bow if you leave it for a longer period of time under string tension.

 

[johnnyhaggis]

It's a steinberger synapse with graphite and wood hybrid neck

Wouldn't drilling a hole in the back compromise the base of the new truss rod?

 

[Hopkins]

It's a steinberger synapse with graphite and wood hybrid neck

Wouldn't drilling a hole in the back compromise the base of the new truss rod?

You would just need to drill out the anchor, any wood removed could be easily replaced and the repair would be hidden with the neck bolted in place.

Playing it without the truss rod will do nothing to compromise the necks stability, as its not there to add structure. Its purpose is to adjust relief to counteract string tension and wood moving due to climate changes.

 

[johnnyhaggis]

How do i know exactly where the anchor is? I feel like I'd end up making a mess and several holes

 

[vaesto]

I guess you can't separate body and neck on this bass? At least current specs say it is "set neck". In that case I'd bring it to the experienced luthier.

 

[johnnyhaggis]

Yeah, it's one piece. Luthier costs $500+ for this operation. Anyhow, I started removing the fretboard with a hot knife. Slow, but getting there, about 1/4 of the way through after 45 minutes

 

[vaesto]

You are brave man.

Take some photos of a process as well.

 

[johnnyhaggis]

Haha, brave or foolish - will do. At the 7th fret now, after almost 3hrs, excruciatingly slow.

 

[johnnyhaggis]

So, I completed my operation, which was almost a success.. until it wasn't. Turns out the phenolic gets really weak when you start having many frets closely spaced together. In the end I'll need to sand off the bottom of the fretboard and replace the fretboard...

Started with a little artist knife to make a little crack at the top of the neck. That was really easy and happened naturally. Then I started sticking in the heated spackle scrapers (heated with a heat gun), two thicknesses. That got me down to the 7th fret, but after that there was no progress. I ended up taking out a steak knife, heating that up and pushing it downwards. I had a towel on it so as not to burn myself and for leverage. I would use the spackle scrapers to wedge into the sides as much as I could and then use the steak knife downwards to get the glue in the middle.

That worked great until about the 20th fret. Then the whole fretboard snapped off.

Oops...

 

[johnnyhaggis]

My big question now though is how the f*&@ do I take out the graphite reinforcement strip??

Should I start a new thread for this question?

 

[vaesto]

I'd finish removing the rest of the fingerboard.
IMHO the thing you called "graphite reinforcement strip" actually is the insert that forms the rod channel. If it is glued to wood - try to use blade to unglue it Then carefully pop it out. Do not bend it too much.

 

[johnnyhaggis]

I did remove the rest of the fretboard, sort of:


I'm gonna need to sand the rest of the phenolic off, it's impossible with the knives or scrapers.

As for the graphite, I'm trying with the art knife, but it doesn't seem to be doing anything...

Would a graphite rod channel like that render the rod itself obsolete?

 

[JustForSport]

Once you get the rest of the fretboard off, you may be able to get under the end of the graphite rod and pop it out- doesn't look like too much glue around it.

 

[vaesto]

Be extra careful. I see masking tape is not holding up. You may damage the body finish!!!

I agree with JustForSport - there is no evidence of glue around that graphite stripe. It looks like it has been pressed-in. So get access and pop it out.

 

[johnnyhaggis]

Hah, you guys were dead wrong, the graphite piece was glued in with wood filler or epoxy. Getting it out was hell. Carbon fibers ripping everywhere. I'll post some photos, but holy caca, I do not recommend doing this! I shoukd have just played the bass bowed! However, now I just have to smooth the surfaces of the neck and the fretboard, add some wood filler to where there are crevasses in the back of the fretboard, and then I an give it to the luthier who will add the remaining frets that I broke off and add a dual action truss rod vs the flimsy one gibsoncorp uses...

 

[JustForSport]

Dang!!!
It would've been too easy to slide a dual-action rod in there in the first place, then if it needed replacing, pull it out and slide another in...
that may only work with an angled headstock, tho.
Hopefully, this thread will give a heads-up to anyone else in that position, but not knowing where the anchor is, it doesn't leave many options.

 

[johnnyhaggis]

There was no way to do that - there's a graphite channel holding the truss rod and the stock truss rod is really narrow, no room for a double action rod. The only way to put one in is remove the graphite piece. GibsonCorpBorg should have put one in to begin with.

I'll post photos asap so you can see where the anchor was and what the operation involved...

 

[JustForSport]

It would've been too easy to slide a dual-action rod in there in the first place, then if it needed replacing, pull it out and slide another in...

^^ I was referring to Gibson, but AFAIK only Spector or Warwick had a trussrod that could be replaced w/o a major operation (fretboard removal, etc...).
It probably would've made the bottom of the channel too thin, tho with the CF strip there also.