Taking off bolt-on neck advice ?!

[evh_slash]

Hello, The student house I live in gets really damp and cold over the winter, and I have noticed my two beautiful ibanez guitars have a tiny bit of mould within the bolt on neck screw holes... Not a massive problem, its just a tiny bit in the 4 holes, Ive never unscrewed a neck off before. Im scared Ill mess something up. Is it ok to unscrew the bolts even with the strings still on ? Or do I have to remove all the strings, loosen the tremolo springs first ?? Will it mess with my truss rod/relief or tension if I unscrew them for like 10 minutes and clean the bolt-on holes ??


Im moving out of this house and returning back home in 4 weeks, so this will be the last time I have this problem

Cheers

 

[kramersteen]

Re: Taking off bolt-on neck advice ?!

Just back the screws off a bit one at a time and put a rag around it and clean it, Then screw it back in and go to the next one. I dont see why that wont work.

 

[greekdude]

Re: Taking off bolt-on neck advice ?!

if its an all-access neck, maybe the distribution of force is not uniform along the 4 screws?

 

[evh_slash]

Re: Taking off bolt-on neck advice ?!

What do you mean ?

 

[kramersteen]

Re: Taking off bolt-on neck advice ?!

What do you mean ?

Seriously just take one of the screws out, clean it then put it back in, go to the next and do the same until you have done all four. Its basic stuff. If you dont want to do that take all your strings off and take all the bolts of and clean them then assemble it and restring.

To quote nike, Just do it :laughing:

 

[tonechaser]

Re: Taking off bolt-on neck advice ?!

I don't see what your worried about really. If the guitar is in an environment that caused mold around the screws it probably needs a set up anyway, so your probably better off removing and replacing the strings along with giving it the little tweaks it most likely will need anyhow at this point to play at it's full potential.

 

[evh_slash]

Re: Taking off bolt-on neck advice ?!

haha Yeah Sorry I understood you, I meant that for the guy who commented after you ... Anyway , yeah Im gona do it. I have to clean the holes because theres mildew and its annoying me. It was in the 5-way switch hole too.... got most of it out. I think Some of the Mold spray went inside the 5-way switch ... haha hopefully it wont break the switch.

Seriously just take one of the screws out, clean it then put it back in, go to the next and do the same until you have done all four. Its basic stuff. If you dont want to do that take all your strings off and take all the bolts of and clean them then assemble it and restring.

 

[evh_slash]

Re: Taking off bolt-on neck advice ?!

I've already had it set up over winter, the weather is fine now and there is no more damp. Ill be back in my dry home in 5 weeks so hopefully it'll be fine, just need to clean it

 

[uOpt]

Re: Taking off bolt-on neck advice ?!

Put some of the humidity eating bags into the case.

If you remove more than 1 neck screw at a time you need to slacken the strings. But chances are you could do with a string change anyway.

 

[greekdude]

Re: Taking off bolt-on neck advice ?!

haha Yeah Sorry I understood you, I meant that for the guy who commented after you ... Anyway , yeah Im gona do it. I have to clean the holes because theres mildew and its annoying me. It was in the 5-way switch hole too.... got most of it out. I think Some of the Mold spray went inside the 5-way switch ... haha hopefully it wont break the switch.

i meant to not risk any excessive force anywhere in the heel. Just as an extra safety measure. Most probably you are gonna be ok, but yeah, doing this without strings would be safer.