I get what you’re feeling: you’re ready to rock and roll, but then all of a sudden, your jam is cut short because you realized your guitar neck might have been warped or bent. But an important question is: how to tell if a guitar neck is twisted?
This article will help you find not just the quick rule of thumb to know whether you have a twisted guitar neck, but also the simplest solution to fix it.
Contents
How To Know If The Guitar Neck Is Twisted
The quickest way to know is to eyeball your guitar by holding it from the body side and looking down at the neck area from that position. It might help to close your one eye for a better, focused look.
If you see that the guitar’s middle neck area is quite higher than the ends of both the body and headstock, then chances are your guitar neck is twisted and needs evening.
How To Straighten A Twisted Guitar Neck
Step 1: Prepare The Tools
You can’t just use a kitchen knife or what-have-you there under your counter top drawer to fix guitar neck issues. What you need are real tools made precisely for normalizing the warped areas of your guitar’s neck.
You may want to go check your favorite guitar store in Amazon, and see if they have a complete kit for repairing guitar necks. Just search for keywords like ” Straighten Guitar Neck repair kit“, and you’re halfway there.
Step 2: Identify The Degree of Twisting
Once your tools are ready, the next step would be to identify what kind of repair method to be used. If it’s just partial twisting, you may fix the guitar neck bend by planing the fretboard.
Now this method is a bit technical, but don’t be discouraged. We got you, right?
Planing the fretboard requires removing a bit of wood from the guitar neck. Which means you’d have to measure the right neck thickness and the warp made on the neck to see how much you would have to remove.
Don’t get scared. Here’s a simple video tutorial on how to do that:
Step 3: Use Heat and Pressure If Planing Isn’t Enough
This step only applies if the previous step of replaning and removing of wood doesn’t cut it.
Heat and pressure starts by clamping your neck on both of its ends and partially rendering heat onto them.
When the material in the neck area eventually heats up, it becomes malleable and you can then twist it carefully to bring it back to its normal, even state.
The heating process also acts up as a sort of adhesive glue that permanently holds the new, even position of your guitar neck. Just remember to be really careful when bending the wood material, and avoid using crude or sharp instruments in clamping.
For a more detailed guide on how to do this carefully, without adding further damage to the neck, watch this short DIY video below:
Step 4: Bring It to a Local Guitar Repair Shop
If you’re not too confident about your observation and repairing skills or you just can’t have enough time because there’s still so much Netflix to watch (we feel you), then we suggest you just get your guitar checked and fixed at your nearest local guitar repair store.
Who knows? You might even earn a friend from the store and learn from them how to fix your twisted guitar the next time it happens.
Conclusion
So there you have it: you now have learned the key details on identifying and fixing a warped guitar.
To summarize this guide on how to tell if a guitar neck is twisted: find the tools first, apply the replaning or heating method and then call an expert if still needed. Simple, right?
Frequently Asked Questions
Will it be expensive to get my guitar neck repaired?
Not really, if you know how to look. Search online for the repair shops near you and compare prices.
You get a better rate when you tell the shop their competition is offering a much more competitive price.
Do I need to do the repair often?
A twisted guitar neck may only happen once and would most likely not return after you’ve replaned or get it heated and fixed.