Originally Posted by murrmac123
I do apologize, Howard, if I mistakenly conveyed the impression that you had advocated the "Californian neck reset" on this instrument, which I do realize you haven't, and I further accept that I am one of the 99% who have never seen this repair done, although I cannot visualize how it could be done without creating a visible and noticeable change of angle at the upper bout ... but maybe it doesn't , I defer to your expertise in this area.
I do, however, beg to differ about the relative difficulties of the subsequent touch up processes between the two methods, since the way I see it, the Frank Ford method is far less invasive than the "Californian reset" as long as you use a Multimaster. Frank's field surgery approach is guaranteed to leave masses of touch-up headaches (and intonation problems) but again, when he wrote this, the Multimaster hadn't even been invented.
Using very thin stainless shim shaped to the heel contour, and fixed to the upper bout with double sided tape for protection, it would be perfectly feasible to use the Fein Multimaster (with the appropriate fine (sic) blade) to cut through the heel from both sides without marking the finish on the upper bout in any way. (Obviously the fretboard tongue would have been loosened off in the conventional manner). Once the neck was off, it would be a relatively simple matter to chisel and sand off the minute amount of wood left, and touch up the finish on the upper bout to extend inwards past the witness line, so that there was no visible evidence once the neck was refitted (with the heel cut to the correct angles in all respects).
This process would also minimize any intonation problems, since due to the thinness of the kerf, the fulcral point would be just under the 14th fret, similar to a conventional dovetail reset. At worst, all that would be required would be a new saddle, or reprofiling of the existing one, if thick enough (and still with sufficient height).
Cosmetically, the only difference would be that the 14th fret would be marginally further in from the body/neck joint (by the thickness of the kerf). I doubt it would even be noticeable.
EDIT: There are, of course, oscillating tools other than the Fein Multimaster (and cheaper as well) which would get the job done.... the Fein is the top of the heap however, and will cope with anything you throw at it (and I have thrown a lot at mine ...)
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