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I'm learning to do neck resets. I've got an old Silvertone arch top I'm resetting/sacrificing, and now that I've got the neck off I can't find any instruction on changing the angle. Can someone point me in a direction? I'm sure some stock will have to come off the heel area, right? On this one I can cut some on the part of the neck that extends over the body, but how do you do it on a flat top where just the fingerboard extends?

So much to learn...

I dig it

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"Real guitars are for old people, Mr. Marsh."

Eric Cartman

Don't cut anything until you get some expert feedback here. I'm sure it'll come along very shortly--both for your Silvertone and for flat tops. In all probability, you won't need to remove much wood.

Stewmac sells an excellent video on resetting necks. Bryan Galloup is featured on part of the video, resetting a Martin and a Gibson flat top steel string. I learned to reset at Bryan's school and the video has been a great reference.

To answer your question about steel strings, yes you need to carefully remove material from the heel cheeks until the correct angle is restored. The angle, alignment, and fit must all be correct before regluing. For guitars with a dovetail joint, the dovetail fit will need to be restored also using an appropriate shim. This is all covered in the video. The tongue extension is glued down as part of the regluing process. Good luck, this is a repair that requires a lot of practice, especially on brands that apply finish to the neck and body after they have been glued. Martin makes this less painful by finishing the neck and body separately, then assembling.

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It will probably be alright.

Thanks, guys. Man, I want to go to Bryan's school so bad, but my life situation won't allow it. At least not now. I'll get the video. I've already spent so much $ at Stewmac, what can it hurt?

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"Real guitars are for old people, Mr. Marsh."

Eric Cartman

Check FRETS.COM, Frank Ford has documentation for that.

Wow. I never knew FRETS.COM had that much stuff on it. I've never scrolled down that far. Thanks.

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"Real guitars are for old people, Mr. Marsh."

Eric Cartman

Be patient and constantly test your fit. My guess is that most people think you have to remove a lot of material to reset the angle, you don't. A little bit goes a long way. Not only will you want to watch videos on how to do the neck reset but if you don't already know how to then I would read up on how to sharpen a chisel really well because you are going to need a very sharp chisel to do this accurately and without making mistakes. When you first get started resetting dove tails it can me an exercise in humility and question your sanity But with patience it all makes sense. You may even want to draw out on paper or even better make a 3D model of the joint to get an idea of why you need to remove material and where and then what you need to fill back in with shims. A dovetail should fit very firmly, it's a mechanical joint that his only held together with glue not the other way around.

I got the Stewmac video, and it's pretty much the same as the FRETS.COM procedure. How cool to have it in both formats. I've started hacking away (kidding) at the heel, and you're right about having sharp chisels! I'll have to learn how to sharpen them (a fine time to figure that out, huh?). I used Dan's formula for how much to cut and it was right on the money. You guys were right about how little stock removal was necessary. I think I might over set it just a bit. The bridge is adjustable, and setting it a bit high will allow for some movement in the future. I will make sure that the joint is tight and not rely on a gob of glue to hold it together.

Thanks, guys.

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"Real guitars are for old people, Mr. Marsh."

Eric Cartman

This may be helpful - it's a flat top with a bolt on but the basic idea of how to align and fit a neck and heel are the same:

http://www.luthiersforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10102&t=15022%22

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Ann Arbor Guitars