One method of resetting violin necks

Marguerite Pastella - 04:59pm Aug 18, 2000
No Fret'n Here

Ok, lets hear your very best advice on removing necks from violins/violas as tenderly as possible. I am an old dog at doing guitar neck sets, but would really like to know what is the "best" way of resetting a violin neck.

Michael Darnton covered removal options and techniques in detail in American Lutherie a few years ago, check the GAL website for back issue descriptions.

If you have any questions about desireable geometry, his articles in the same magazine a few years earlier on violin setups are very useful.

Or wait, here he comes now...

I guess with an intro like that I can't just ignore the question, can I?

This method is going to sound brutal, but it's traditional, and it works, but you have to do every step properly, or you'll be sure to get in trouble. In fact, even if you do everything right you can still get into trouble, but if it helps you feel better, I've removed many necks this way and never had an accident. But don't blame me if you wreck something!

First, make sure that the ribs and upper block are all securely and properly glued to the top and back. If they aren't and you follow my procedure you'll surely just rip out the upper block and break the ribs. Also make sure the neck's not nailed or screwed to the block from the inside. Then saw down the sides of the neck with a very fine saw, against the sides of the heel, right down to where you project the bottom of the neck ends, and all the way back to the back--you'll have to use the tip of the saw to pick out this area, but it's necessary to get right down to the back corner.

Next, cut the heel of the neck free from the button. Use the same saw, and take off about one millimeter of the heel, leaving a thin wafer of heel still attached to the back, so that you don't touch the back with the saw. Saw right down to the ribs, as close as you dare. Then take a thin palette knife, put the point down into the kerf, and hammer it in so that you split the remaining unsawed bit of heel right down to the bottom of the neck. Since you can't see this to make sure it's been done, be sure you're sure you've done it. Some people cut the end of the knife off square so they can cut right to the bottom in the corners, and I've also known people to make a special short saw of only five teeth or so to saw this out, instead. Just make sure the heel is certainly not attached to the button, or you'll rip the button off in the next step.

Now rest the violin on its edges on the bench, as in guitar playing position, pointed left or right, whichever you prefer. Hold it gently against the bench with your forearm, especially at the lower end, with your hand holding the body near the upper block. Then take your free hand, make a fist, and lightly smack the side of the neck, right at the nut, tentatively down towards the bench--a sideways chop to the neck of the instrument. Not too much--you can always use more power later. If the neck doesn't come loose, do it again. Flip the violin, and give it a smack in the other direction. Try again. The only part of the neck that should be glued after all that sawing and splitting is the endgrain at the end, and that glue joint will break relatively easily if it has been glued with hide glue, as it should be (this is one reason I'm always telling you guys you !shouldn't! be using anything but hot hide glue on violins. Use more force if you think you should. Sooner or later you'll shock the neck loose and you can wiggle it out.

If all this scares you too much, you can drip fresh alcohol down the saw cuts before you start. This will help the glue joint break, but you have to be sure not to get ANY on the varnish, which it will instantly strip off.

After the neck's out, glue a 10mm slice of new wood on to the back of the heel and shape it to fit the heel (leave it a bit flared at the sides and top so you can trim it later to fit the button, rather than butchering the button to fit the heel), cleaning up the heel in the process, and glue a plug of basswood, willow, or similar soft hardwood into the hole in the block. Then you can put the neck back in.

Thank you Michael!

Do you have a favorite type of saw for this? Pull stroke?

I gather that the first time this is done, you lose some rib and top wood that gets sawed away either side of the neck. The softwood fills the sides and the top wood is left as is, slightly detached from the neck?

I prefer a push-saw. I have a tiny backsaw, I think it's a "Blitz", that I use for this. Yes, the inserted block fills the little bit of rib that this method removes, and this is retouched later, when the neck heel is retouched.

Michael, First, thanks so much for your reply. Second, write a good book for me to read :). Now, if you don't mind, I'm gonna ask another question. I believe I get the picture of adding wood to the button/heel joint, beveled in a way that tilts the neck back to the appropriate angle. But let me ask you this- how about the gaps between the neck heel and the sides/ribs of the violin? And you won't get any complaints here, go on and on. hehe. I'm all ears. Thanks again, Marguerite

You might have misunderstood my last steps. You nee only replace two pieces of wood: that which you sawed off the heel near the button of the back--this is an oversized wafer you then trim to replicate what you sawed off, plus a bit for later (this doesn't have anything to do with the tilt of the neck--it just replaces wood you took off); and you need to plug the hole in the body that the neck came out of. If you plug that hole, then that plug replaces the wood in the gap you mentioned.

From this point it's like you're starting with a new violin--there's no hole for the neck, and the heel is longer than it needs to be. You adjust all the angles when you cut the hole for the neck to fit in. As you're fitting the neck, you're also constantly planing off the back of the heel so that it fits snug against the button. When all the angles and appropriate distances are correct, you glue it all back together. It would be MUCH harder for me to explain how to get the neck back in than how to get it out, though!

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