Gibson J55 Neck Reset

[Forty Watt]

I have a 1973 Gibson J55. I am trying to get the neck off because not many folks want to mess with it. After I get the neck off, I plan to take it to a luthier to have them properly reset the neck.

I have the fretboard loose from the body, 14th & 15th frets are out, 2 holes drilled into the dovetail joint. I have heated and steamed the joint but can't get the neck to loosen. The kicker is....the block has come unglued from the top and bottom. It is only held on by still being glued to the sides so I have no leverage to put pressure on the neck. I built a jig to hold the block in place somewhat and a screw that puts pressure on the back of the heel. The back of the heel is not at a 90 degree angle (more like 30 degrees) so I have to use a wedge to make it work. On top of all that I've heated the thing up so much that the 3 piece maple neck is starting to separate at the heel. The neck does not look like it belongs on this guitar. I have another 1974 Gibson J55 with a mahogany neck....the head stock is bigger and there is a 90 degree angle at the end of the heel.

It doesn't have a paddle joint.....I'm looking at taking the top off next to try to get the block and neck off.....any help?

[hubcapsc]

There's a thing where luthiers hate doing neck resets on
old (I don't know if the 70s is "old" but I think so) Gibsons.

There was a good thread on here about it recently, and there's
probably more if you search. When the recent thread was
on here I got a chance to talk to the luthier I go do about it.

He agreed with what I'd learned here (if it is on the Internet
it must be true ) but told me that many luthiers have
techniques now that make the job not such a big deal.
He told me about learning techniques from a guy
in Germany and another guy in Virginia, and he
doesn't have a problem with it any more. He even had
a lg2 or something there on the bench with the body
separated from the neck for us to handle while we talked about it.

It is these "D" necks that are/were hard to get off...



Anywho... there's luthiers out there that would do
the job.

-Mike

[redir]

Why would you even consider taking the neck off yourself and THEN taking it to a luthier? TBH I'm not sure I would even accept a job like that, in fact I would not. And I hate to say it but as mentioned you picked one of the worst guitars ever to try a DIY neck reset on. And hate to say again but you just made a $500 dollar job a well over $1000 dollar job.