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Private member DiscussionNeck Reset Database

2003 Fender DG-14SCE Solid Top Acoustic

This guitar does not have a dovetail. It has five dowel. Three in line and two at the top on either side of the truss rod. Remove truss rod nut before sliding neck straight out.

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I thought that is where I posted this!
Private member DiscussionGeneral

Cello neck repair

Greetings all! I’m repairing a student-level cello, neck snapped off at the heel. I removed the fingerboard and reattached the neck with hide glue. It was a pretty clean break, and fit back together nicely. My question is – some sources say to reinforce the neck joint with 1 or 2 dowels before attaching the fingerboard, some say don’t… anyone have opinions or experience one way or the other? Thanks!

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Morning Group! Unfortunately, I need to open this conversation again. I completed the cello repair and delivered to my customer; but 2 weeks later, the glue joint has failed. I used Titebond Hide Glu…
Private member DiscussionAcoustic Repair

‘58 Martin strange stuff

So I have a ‘58 D-18 in for a lifting bridge. Upon inspection I find a 1/2” dowel glued from side to side about an inch below the top right under the front of the bridge. I’m baffled as to what this is or what it’s for. The current owner didn’t know it was there. Was just going to leave it alone (ya know, just back away slowly 😂) but it’s located such that I can’t get bridge clamps above or below it to reglue the bridge. And informatio…

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The saddle slot has been filled and recut at some point.
Private member DiscussionNeck Reset Database

1980 Daion 12-string

Model is "The '80". Daion built some nice guitars in the 70's and 80's out of a small shop in Japan. Nice old all mahogany 12 string. It's my instrument so doing a bolt on conversion. Forget about trying to get the neck off one of these (apart from Kung Fu) - neck construction seems to be based on multiple dowels (a bit like some Japanese furniture I suppose)

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Private member DiscussionElectric Repair

Electric mandolin headstock repair - a previous glue and screw job used....

Hey! So I've got a customer who has dropped off with me one of the nastier headstock breaks I've seen in recent memory. There is excess glue of some sort (rock hard, clear) all inside the break, along with the threaded tracks of the screws. I'd usually just recommend a replacement neck in this case, but the customer is desperate to keep this neck as it holds some sentimental value to him. He's aware the repair will not be invisible, how…

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Ian Davlin
Some people have painted over faux wood. It would certainly be acceptable on this instrument to give that a whirl. We did an episode with joe glaser on the subject. Nikki Walters did a fine article on…
Private member DiscussionNeck Reset Database

Jester W160 neck joint

This is an early 80's Jester. The only identification is the label inside which appears to show the model number as ACW160, though I've only seen reference to model W160 online. There is scant information about Jester guitars online, and some of it seems inconsistent. This was most likely made in either Holland or Romania. Online information indicated that this would have a dowelled neck joint, but it clearly doesn't. This was a very di…

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Neck block side
Private member DiscussionNeck Reset Database

Morris F-10 or A-6? Early '70s

The label is torn so not sure of the model, but it looks like F-10 or A-6 examples online. I even saw one that had both A-6 and F-10 printed on the same label. Anyway, it's a lower end guitar with a doweled joint. The glued joint damaged the top layer of the laminated sides. It was like that when I received it.

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Private member DiscussionElectric Builds

2D Printing Saves The Day

We hear a lot in LoothLand these days about 3D printing. I think it's an awesome use of that technology for what we all do. With my long history with AutoCad and 3D rendering in my previous life, I should pull the trigger on a 3D printer, but I'm just not ready yet AND I have no available space for one in my little shop or in my office right now. Yes, 3D printing is great, but sometimes, good ole regular printing can be a surprise frien…

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Ian Davlin
Awesome! Great idea.
Private member DiscussionNeck Reset Database

Takamine F370S Lawsuit Era Dreadnaught

I was able to get this one out using two Foam cutters and a little extra external heating of the heel with a heat gun on the low setting. Drilled at 15th fret as usual and got lucky, the holes intersected and scorched the dowels. I still had to wrestle it for about an hour... Converting to bolt-on is fun because the dowel holes will make aligning things easier. Once the dowels are removed, I'll just use two of the holes to refasten with…

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Private member DiscussionFinish New Builds

Yellow stain creeping from ebony dots

As seen in the picture. I gotta get this build done in one week and realized I didn’t have black plastic side dots so I whipped some up out of ebony dowel stock. For some reason a yellow stain comes out after I spray with lacquer. I sanded back one time already and respirated but here we are once again. What’s going on here?

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I talked myself through it. Sanded back and did a shellac wash coat then lacquer. Also added a white dot inside the black dot for fun. Looks good to me. Thank u :)
Private member DiscussionAcoustic Repair

'88 Washburn Headstock recapitation

I'm working on a repair to a Washburn EA50 headstock. Someone previously tried to repair this with a dowel, which likely worked until it was strung up. I've routed a slot and created a biscuit, and built a jig to hold both parts of the headstock in the same plane and clamp everything tight (some cauls and threaded blocks of maple with 1/4-20 machine screws). The plan is to use System 3 gel epoxy (a'la Beau Hannum) and then add a coup…

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Ian Davlin
Killer fixture! No issues I see.
Private member DiscussionNeck Reset Database

Takamine Neck Reset

I’ve come across several Takamine lawsuit guitars needing neck resets. These lawsuit guitars are from the 1980’s and are basically a copy of a Martin. Pictured below is a 12-string Takamine that came in for a neck reset. After several hours using heat rods at the 15th fret all of the the wooden dowels would not release. My solution was to take a putty knife with a sharpened edge and using a hammer slice the dowels at the joint. As you c…

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I don't have possession of the guitar anymore, but I believe it was an F385.