Acoustic Guitar Neck Reset – Part F
Source: Guitar Neck
Tool and Materials Required:
36″ Steel Straightedge
Wood Chisel Set
Sanding Surfaces:
Garnet Sandpaper Assortment
Titebond III Glue
5-1/2″ x 12″ Bessey Heavy Duty Tradesman
6″ Medium duty C Clamps
LED Work Light
Mechanics Inspection Mirror
Wood Clamping Cauls:
Acoustic Guitar Neck Reset – Part F
In this article, the 6th in this series on a neck reset, we will discuss the gluing procedure of the neck back into the dovetail joint, including the fretboard from the body joint to the sound hole.
Make one last dry fit check of the neck to the body of the guitar. Use the Stainless Steel Straightedge and check the the horizontal and vertical alignments are absolutely perfect with no wobble in the joint. This time put a clamping caul on the face of the guitar and on the heel trim and clamp the neck into position.
Check the neck joint where the neck joints the body to make sure they are tight. Also grab the neck and body of the guitar and try to initiate movement in the joint.
If the joints are tight and there is no movement in the joint. disassemble the neck and get ready to glue.
Glue the Dovetail Joint:
First take your clamping cauls and wax the face of them with paraffin wax thoroughly. A option to this is to use waxed paper to prevent the cauls from sticking to the guitar face.
Carefully apply glue to both the male and female portions of the dovetail and to both sides of any wood shims that you may be using. Slide the neck into place, assemble the wood clamping cauls and clamp tightly with the Bessey Heavy Duty Tradesman Clamp.
Cleanup and glue squeeze-out with a damp cloth. Set the neck aside to dry thoroughly.
Glue The Fretboard:
Next fashion a couple of clamping cauls for the fretboard. You will need one for the inside of the guitar and one that sits on top of the fretboard.
I made my fretboard caul the same size (roughly) as the fretboard. Actually it is about 1/8″ smaller around the perimeter. Next I cut channels in this caul for fret relief. I didn’t want to compress the frets into the fretboard and desired to have the caul apply pressure directly to the fretboard – not through the frets.
The caul for the underside of the fretboard will need to be made with cutouts for braces, reinforcement strips etc. that you may encounter on the inside of the guitar. Be sure to check it out completely with an Inspection Mirror and a LED light source.
Place some double stick tape on the face of the caul that goes inside. Another option is to use a couple small pieces of Velcro to hold the caul in place. You don’t want to be concerned about this caul dropping out of place while you are wrestling with the clamps.
Press the inside caul into place.
Clean Up The Glue Joint:
Now mask off the fretboard area on the guitar tap. Take a sanding stick and carefully sand the guitar top at the fretboard attachment and get off all the old glue and smoothen the surface to prep it for glue.
Remove the tape and carefully fit the fretboard piece to make sure the fretboard fits tightly on the top and against the edge of the fretboard attached to the neck.
Glue the Fretboard In Place:
Spread glue on both surfaces of the fretboard. Use glue sparingly as you don’t want the fretboard to slide around too much.
Set the top clamping caul into place and lightly secure the C clamps into place. You will need to place at least (4) 6″ C clamps for this.
Clean up the glue squeeze-out with a damp cloth and set aside to dry.
Once dry, release the clamps and make any final cleanups.
Replace the Body joint Fret:
Your last step is to replace the fret that in located at the body joint. This will likely need to be glued into place. For directions of gluing frets see the articles:
How to Do A Glue-In Fret Job.
Check the fret height with a Fret Rocker. Adjust height as required and shape and finish fret.
Ultimate Guitar Repair Tip: Refer to our fretting section for detailed instruction on replacing this fret like a pro.
Click The Links Below To Go To Other Articles In This Series
Acoustic Guitar Neck Reset – Part A
Acoustic Guitar Neck Reset – Part B
Acoustic Guitar Neck Reset – Part C
Acoustic Guitar Neck Reset – Part D
Acoustic Guitar Neck Reset – Part E
Acoustic Guitar Neck Reset – Part F
Tags: fitting the acoustic guitar neck, Guitar Neck Repairs, guitar neck reset, how to reset a neck
