1960 Framus Sorella neck repair and restoration

[afterimage289]

I have had this 1960 Framus Sorella since 1992. I was 11 years old when I got it. It was stored in an attic for 15 years prior to it being in my possession. I never really played it because of a crack in the heel of the neck. I am at the start of a restoration project and would appreciate any information on the safest method to removing the neck. I have done research and have found removing the 15 fret where the joint meets the body and steaming it with a steam needle to be the most used method. My only concern is the fret doesn't meet perfectly with the joint and I may need to remove the fret board or drill into the the fret board itself. It looks like a V dovetail joint. Is there any other option to remove the neck safely without having to go through the fret board? Thanks you.

[Frank Ford]

We drill at the 15th fret on a standard Martin guitar, where the neck joins the body at the 14th fret. The end of the dovetail usually is close to that position, one fret inboard of the neck/body join.

That's for a standard Martin dovetail, and it's necessary to drill at an angle to intersect the space at the end of the dovetail so steam can penetrate the full depth. I have no idea about the Framus joint, but I wouldn't be surprised if it is similar. Fact is that few Framus instruments have sufficient cash value to allow us to be comfortable spending much time working on them.

Drilling through the fingerboard is generally the least invasive way to get steam needle in there, although it's sometimes advisable to go from the bottom of the heel, removing heel cap and drilling diagonally to reach the dovetail joint.

Steaming, removing and resetting a guitar neck is not a trivial piece of business, so don't be surprised if you run into difficulties along the way.

[B. Howard]

I typically pull the heelcap and go in that way on archtops like that.

[afterimage289]

Thanks guys. I pulled the heel cap off to find a metal rod inside. I personally haven't seen that before in the heel of the neck. I'm thinking the safer way is to go through the fret board. I very much appreciate the information.