Tool for bolt-on neck/ seam split

[BEBF#BEb-man]

I was going to attempt a slight neck reset on a Seagull S6 I'd bought on eBay. I found a bicycle kit spanner (wrench?) that fit but it was hard work. It seems the heel is glued as well as bolted so I think I'm going to have to forego the reset. (I'm sure my last Godin factory guitar wasn't glued and bolted.) Doing the nuts up tight enough turns out to be tricky. Someone must make a tool for doing this with your hand outside the soundhole - could someone provide a link please? I will be looking in a chaotic hardware shop today for something suitable but otherwise a recommendation will be good.

I'm fairly sure the seller was naive about what had happened to this guitar but it seems to have dried out badly. The seam of the top is slightly raised and I think it may have been on the way to splitting, but feeling inside it doesn't seem to have quite happened. I'm keeping it in better conditions in a case so hopefully it won't get worse. I was going to have cleats put in but if it didn't get as far as detectable split felt inside the cleats couldn't do anything could they? Or would you say that they're adviseable and couldn't hurt?

I don't trust the local luthier having seen some overshot nut slots he cut on my friend's Les Paul, and both London luthiers I've dealt with botched their work - a banjo got an inch-long chip and a nut looked like it was from the Stone Age. I'm sure there's some great ones but it's no more Russian Roulette for me. I've watched the cleat work on a YouTube video and the principle of it looks common sense and doesn't look tricky. Any additional pointers someone could offer?

For now strings are fully loosened. Of course if I'd seen the raised seam in the man's house I'd have given the guitar a wide berth but I'd like to improve it if I can without spending so much on it I may as well have got a new one.

Thanks.

[dhalbert]

Originally Posted by BEBF#BEb-man

I'm sure the last Godin factory guitar wasn't glued and bolted.

Around 2006 Godin started epoxying the necks on. They kept the bolts to keep the neck stable as the epoxy set. Here's a thread with more details: http://www.acousticguitarforum.com/f....php?p=3764366. However, the video shows that they don't glue the heels on, so I'm surprised your heel seems glued. It may just be that the fit is really tight.

On my old Seagull I was able to remove the bolts just with a socket wrench and a short extension bar.

[BEBF#BEb-man]

Thanks. As the heel doesn't recess into the body like on a Martin I'm having trouble understanding what will be tight I suppose, after the bolts are off I mean. I still hope to try again with the reset but happily enough I found the right tool today, well, a set of wrenches with a hole in their handles to fit in a thin metal bar to twist it from outside the soundhole. Not super-comfortable but much better than the previous struggle and only £5.

Would certainly still like thoughts on the seam issue if anyone's reading this later.