View Single Post
  #6  
Old 04-22-2017, 10:27 PM
John Arnold John Arnold is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Jan 2009
Posts: 4,082
Default

There are methods to do this. I prefer removing the fingerboard and drilling into the joint with a long, thin drill bit (~ 1/16" diameter). You can remove the whole fingerboard, or cut it and just remove the section over the joint. Instead of cutting the fingerboard at the body junction, I prefer to cut it 2 frets up the neck. With a 14-fret neck, that means cutting at the 12th. This allows the fingerboard to overlap the joint when it is reassembled, which will be stronger.
I drill 4 or 5 times on each flank of the dovetail, then apply heat. If the end of the dovetail is glued, I drill there, too. If it is epoxy and not some other glue, I don't use water.
When the neck is reglued, the drilled surfaces are leveled, and thick shims are installed to compensate for the material removed by drilling. Most every dovetail reset involves installing shims, or replacing thin shims previously installed with thicker ones. At this point, the only difference from a conventional reset is the thickness of the shims.
This method has been successful on older Yamaha's, which are notoriously difficult to remove by steam injection.
Quote:
If the neck gets put in with routing and a new mortise, would it show?
No. The dovetail is smaller than the neck heel....usually at least 1/8" on each side. Guilds have wide heels like Gibsons.....much wider than the dovetail at the bottom. So even if the newly cut mortise in the neck block is slightly larger, it still will be covered by the neck heel.
Reply With Quote