Archtop Neck Reset Surprise...Kinda

[CowhornShoehorn]

Would like to take a look at the method, so send it over. What do you need to get it to me?

[mirwa]

Originally Posted by CowhornShoehorn

Would like to take a look at the method, so send it over. What do you need to get it to me?

Nothing, sent you the link in your private message folder

[Dave Richard]

I agree with replacing the shattered heel area with new wood(create a 'stacked' heel). I also might consider removing the fingerboard, removing the original truss rod, filling the truss rod slot, and installing a modern two-way rod. That would remove the original truss rod from the lower heel, which is weakening that area.

Nice guitar, interesting repair problem, and worthy of a good fix.

[CowhornShoehorn]

Thanks Steve - that would be great. What do you need to get the info to me?

Fred

[CowhornShoehorn]

Never mind - I found the link you posted. Am optimistic the glue up will hold but this is good info if it doesn't. Thanks again.

[redir]

Originally Posted by printer2

It does not look too bad. Glue the pieces together and then drill a hole down the heel and glue a piece of dowel in it. Cover it up with a heel cap.

That's the approach I would take too.

It's possible steaming could have caused the pieces to warp so much they don't come back together again well and in that case I might do something else. I'd also consider using something like Oak and Teak epoxy which would have the right color and superior strength for any minor gaps. Then the dowel would tie everything together.

[OVG]

Wow, that's a heartbreaker. I would be afraid to put that pile of wood chunks under any kind of string tension load again without bringing in an engineer The destroyed area has to resist the truss rod action and hold the neck into the body.

I hate to say it, but I think either a new neck heel or a new truss rod system are the safest bets. Not the most valuable guitar so the work may be expensive relative to its worth. You might also get lucky and find a loose neck out there in ebay world, or another archtop with a damaged body but intact neck.

[Dave Richard]

Originally Posted by OVG

Wow, that's a heartbreaker. I would be afraid to put that pile of wood chunks under any kind of string tension load again without bringing in an engineer The destroyed area has to resist the truss rod action and hold the neck into the body.

I hate to say it, but I think either a new neck heel or a new truss rod system are the safest bets. Not the most valuable guitar so the work may be expensive relative to its worth. You might also get lucky and find a loose neck out there in ebay world, or another archtop with a damaged body but intact neck.

Excellent response. Gluing those fragments back together(difficult to do accurately)and putting in a dowel will likely just mean the guitar will be back again, needing a proper fix. An early '30's L-12 Gibson archtop(having been refinished) may not be a high value instrument(unless it has solid, carved braces, making it, in effect, an early L-5), but it is still a great guitar, and worth of a good, lasting repair.

[printer2]

Originally Posted by OVG

Wow, that's a heartbreaker. I would be afraid to put that pile of wood chunks under any kind of string tension load again without bringing in an engineer The destroyed area has to resist the truss rod action and hold the neck into the body.

I hate to say it, but I think either a new neck heel or a new truss rod system are the safest bets. Not the most valuable guitar so the work may be expensive relative to its worth. You might also get lucky and find a loose neck out there in ebay world, or another archtop with a damaged body but intact neck.

And yet some well respected luthiers feel it is not all doom and gloom.

[OVG]

Originally Posted by printer2

And yet some well respected luthiers feel it is not all doom and gloom.

I would love to be wrong and see the guitar fixed simply. But I'm a pessimist with pretty bad luck, so I can see myself paying for the repair only for the neck heel to explode, putting me even deeper in the hole

[printer2]

Originally Posted by OVG

I would love to be wrong and see the guitar fixed simply. But I'm a pessimist with pretty bad luck, so I can see myself paying for the repair only for the neck heel to explode, putting me even deeper in the hole

And the OP asked if he could fix it, the total cost of a little glue and a dowel. If it does not turn out then he could do a stacked heel, and if that does not work, find a replacement neck. In your case I would suggest buying new guitars.