Repair And Restoration
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Broken Neck Screws on Suhr JM
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Broken Neck Screws on Suhr JM
I had a client dropped off his Suhr JM Classic for a pot replacement yesterday. The fretboard extension hangs over the pickguard on these a little so I flipped it over to loosen the neck screws a tad. I found what looked like 3 missing neck screws and only one screwed in place. The one screwed in place was bright and shiny. I removed that screw and the neck would not budge at all. I focused a pin light into the neck pocket holes to find very rusted and broken neck screws. A quick search in the gig bag revealed 2 very rusty broken off screw heads. I called my client and he said he’d found a rusted broken off screw head on his studio floor recently. Since neck pocket screw holes are slightly larger than neck heel screw holes, I should be able to remove the neck even with the 3 broken screws stuck in the heel, right? It won’t come off. It’s like its glued in with epoxy. I asked my client and he said if it got glued in by some tech somewhere on the road, he wasn’t aware of it. I have a call and email in to Suhr but no response yet. Does Suhr glue and screw their necks in? If someone did actually glue in this neck, what’s a best practice to heat up/loosen the glue? A carefully guided soldering iron in the screw holes with the broken screws? A heated up palette knife?
Sidenote: My client mentioned that Suhr’s light reliq finish option included aged screws. I took out the pickguard screws and they’re all rusted completely through. In fact I’m hesitant to screw them back in. We all know what pain broken PG screws can be. I think the reliq process is a possible culprit here. Those neck screws where reliqued beyond usefulness and the last person who turned those screws obviously broke them. Why he/she didn’t inform my client is an entirely different discussion.
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4 Replies
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Are you certain the neck pocket holes are larger than the screw shank? A lot of manufacturers today will clamp the neck into place and screw through the body and neck heel at the same time, thus there are threads in the pocket side of the holes also.
Seeing as the broken screws are threaded all the way up the shank with no shoulder area, I will assume that is what you have here. The neck is still being held tightly by the broken screws threaded into the body holes.
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I suspect that the neck isn’t glued in, but you never know. I know that a lot of custom builders really pride themselves on those tight fitting neck joints. It could just be really really tight.
One other thing that could be going on is that there was a little bit of swelling over the screws locking them into place. You could try making some screw extractor tubes to relieve them. Ive attached a link to a variant from wood craft, but they are easy to make with files etc.
You are probably going to need them anyway for what remains in the neck.
https://www.woodcraft.com/products/woodriver-screw-extractor-1-4
woodcraft.com
WoodRiver Screw Extractor 1/4 for Removing Stripped Screws | Woodcraft
Easily remove stripped or damaged screws with the WoodRiver 1/4 inch Screw Extractor. Durable and reliable for any woodworking or DIY project. Buy online or in your Woodcraft store!
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I suggest waiting for an answer from John Suhr, or contacting customer service again; I have great respect for John, and can’t imagine that he would drive a screw through the body and into the neck. I think it’s a weird problem which can only be solved by experimenting and then taking chances. I would take some pieces of wood the same basic type as the guitar, drive a screw or two through it and tighten it until it broke; then I would see if I could drill the broken part of the screw out to free it from the body, however I would likely use an end-mill not a drill-bit. I would also have a hardwood block, phenolic, steel, aluminum, or composite with a hole through it the size of the end-mill to keep it square to the work and unable to run out while cutting.
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I finally heard back from Suhr. They quickly admitted that they used to relique all the screw surfaces instead of just the heads, weakening them in the process. This is a known issue in their enterprise. They seemed a tad embarrassed about it, but were very forthcoming once we started talking about it. The extremely helpful folks at Suhr insisted that I ship the guitar back to them so they can extract the screws. This is covered under their warranty and is costing the client $0.00 other than my time and materials to pack the guitar for shipping and taking it to FedEx.
Thanks for all the responses. I will be following up with Suhr to find out what method they used to extract the screws. I’ll share that information when I have it.
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