06/25/2026
Customer Dan Curran brought in his original 1961 Les Paul Special because it has a back-bow in the neck. The bridge needed to be raised really high in order to get the first few frets to sound clearly. Not a fun guitar to play to say the least!
I humidified the neck beyond what you’d think would be acceptable and then heated it hotter than you’d ever what your guitar neck to be heated too, all done safely without alternating the finish or binding. My thinking is that guitar necks get ruined in hot cars or damp basement…conditions that are really bad for the structure of the instrument but don’t seem to bother the finish. I try and recreate these situations to get the thing to bend back.
After I’ve heavily humidified and heated the neck, I clamp it to a metal bar and bend it way more than you’d ever want your neck to be bent, literally to the breaking point.
It’s nerve racking and I hate doing it, especially to a classic. Luckily this one had a relic’d refin done to it so I wasn’t so stressed, even though the refin work was done incredibly well to where I was fooled.
Good news is the neck came back with just enough relief for it to be playing beautifully with a set of 9’s.
This guitar plays and sounds incredible now!
