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Greetings, hope all is well in the forum...I am in the process of fixing an error that I made on a previous instrument some time ago and need some help. the guitar (classical) in question has a twist in the body (looking down the fingerboard the upper and lower bout are misaligned). I have no idea how it happened, but I believe the sides were not properly fitted into the heel and it threw the alignment off . I have tried heating the heel to loosen things up, but to no avail. I believe it is necessary to take the back off and see what is going on inside. I have never attempted this and I am curious how to proceed. I searched the archives but did not find much. Any help would be very much appreciated.

How does it play?...How does it sound?

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JJ
Napa, CA
http://www.DonohueGuitars.com

Due to frustration the instrument was never finished. it is sanded and prepped, but the finish has not been applied. Good thing, it will make the repair process much easier. Do you have experience removing backs???

Gool ol clothes iron-kudos Wildmanmichael. turn up fairly high, with cloth between wood, and when glue softens, carefully and slowly send slim blade between back and sides, then move to adjacent spot and repeat. For me, works like a charm.

Or mount one of the small circular saw blades in a Dremel with a router base and cut just below the level of the back inside surface.   You'll have to use a hand saw blade at the neck block/heel and at the butt block, but you can get backs off very cleanly by sawing them off. Of course if your instrument is really twisted, you'll find that the back will not align and fit well when the body is straightened out, and that will mean either wider binding and purfling or a new back.

Very good advice...I really appreciate all of your responses. Guess I'll get started tonight!!

I did exactly as Rick described two weeks ago. I set my cut a bit deeper
to take 1/8" off, but if you set the blade right where your glue line is, you
should be able to get the back off without losing any body depth.

Dremel circular saw blade in my dremel.

I do them with a knife, cold and dry, but the technique takes some practice. My reaction to the information you gave is that taking the back off is unwarranted for the purpose of just seeing what is going on. You should be able to figure out the problem without doing that.

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Howard Klepper
http://www.klepperguitars.com

When all else fails, clean the shop.