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Meet my vester VSS577 electro acoustic that I bough from kijiji for $100~

Long story short, I finally removed the neck and I found these white greyish glue sticking on the dove tail. It's nothing I can steam off, and so I just wanted some professional opinions on what I should do now.

I'm an absolute novice and I know it's a big stunt for me to attempt a neck reset, but i'm determined to put this back in one piece and singing again =)


A little extra information for you guys:
- The guitar came in with a huge heel separation already in place. Since I have no idea how to refret a neck, I decided to inject the steam needle right into the separation gap
- Flat ironed the spot where neck is attached to the body
-Steamed the separation gap, eventually hammering the neck out of it's body (gently of course =) )

I took a video of pretty much the whole process, let me know if you want to know all the details.

Pictures:


I'm not sure what glue this is, but I might just sand it down...

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http://www.youtube.com/user/jonnyXrice

Anyone?

I know I may sound like a total noob, but i've read so many articles and tutorials on how it's done. I've gotten this far, and wouldn't mind taking extra time to simply plan my next step, even if it takes a year or two. Just want some opinions and directions =)

Thanks in advance!

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http://www.youtube.com/user/jonnyXrice

Well... First off, it's not much wonder the neck wouldn't hold its set. Was that big, rough hole in the top already? Or did you saw it out?
If I had to do the job, I'd chisel out a square section of the heel block & epoxy in a new piece. I'd probably glue a laminated hardwood cap over the inner surface to give it some integrity. What does the neck heel look like? You might want to consider sawing off the tenon & using threaded inserts to bolt the neck back on.
Looks like quite a mess to me & will need some clever work to get it back together.
Maybe some more experienced guys will chime in with better advice.
First thing I'd do is clear away all the old glue & clean everything up.
Is that a steel bolt, buried in the old glue?

That glue looks like regular construction adhesive to me. Looks like it would chisel off easy. Sorry I can't advise you on what to do afterwards, good luck on your project.

I would use a sharp chisel to get all that dried up glue out. Then I'd glue a fingerboard extension(don't know if that's the correct term) to the underside of the soundboard like lots of guys( and Taylor factory guitars) use when going with a bolt on neck, and rout out for the tenon. I would also try to convert the heel to a bolt on instead of a glued in, and bolt f/b extension as well(again, similar to Taylor).
Realise that I'm not a luthier yet. I'm still on my first, but I've studied the various ways people build, and I think that might be doable. Not easy, but probably the only way I can see to get a solid joint that will last. How much is the guitar worth and how much energy/resources are you willing to spend to fix it? If it were me, unless the guitar is worth alot(doubt it, from the looks of it's construction) I'd use this as a learning experience , get a plan and forge ahead with it. Either it works or it doesn't. Either way you'll have learned something. MHO.

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Mike

The only thing nescessary for evil to thrive is for good men to do nothing.

Advice? Throw it in the trash. The only thing this will teach you is how frustrating working on import guitars can be.

You have a bit of a mess but I think it is a great chance to do some creative repairs and learn a lot with out risking damaging a fine instrument. In other words you have nothing to lose. Pull off a nice neat repair and you will feel good and gain experience. I can't advise you with any real expertise but am hoping someone will chime in soon.
Good luck,
Link

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Cut to size.....Beat to fit.....Paint to match.

Yeah! What Link said.

hello you really should take a pic of the neck aswell
that way you/someone here could figure out what to do with
the lack of a fretboard extension support
chances are that it will be easiest to make a bolt on butt joint though
and fill in the neck with hardwood


if your wanting to do something go get some threaded inserts
buy/make a driver for them (a flathead screwdriver is not the tool for the job )
and ive presumed youve looked at frets.com
you can make a reverse countersink bit with a flat boaring bit for next to nothing
just file off the taper in the shaft to 90 deg and file an edge the same way
as the tip

a bolt on neck will come in handy for your first reset
im sure someone will chime in with some kind of method for supporting the f/b
good luck
tomas

I would Mask up
Clean Up
Repair neck block with appropriate wood and epoxy (you are gluing to end grain)
sand flush
Chop the tenon off the neck
Fit and floss to assemble with two bolts and inserts
Simple,a little agricultural but fine for this guitar and a good chance to work on the neck to body geometry.
.02c

Thanks for much for all the constructive suggestions! I've definitely thought about making it into a bolt on, i'll probably take a good few weeks reading around and checking things out before making any more change.

Here are some pictures of the neck. These pictures were all taken the moment the guitar was taken apart. I was puzzled by the way the body looks as well. The neck however looks normal, just like anything I've seen on the internet.

First step i'll do is probably remove all the white crud with a catechize, which i'd have to shop for.




< This side concerns me a little bit. The bottom block (hope that's what it's called) looked like a bit of wood has been ripped out... didn't see any remains on the body though.

I doubt this guitar is worth anything more than $400-500 new, i've founda similar Dean electro acoustic with virutally the same specs for around that price.
Specification:
Body: Flamed maple
Inlays: Mother of pearl
Neck: Mahogany with rosewood fingerboard
Tuner: Gold GOTOH

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http://www.youtube.com/user/jonnyXrice

that glue looks like cake icing or drywall joint compound.

OK... Now the big hole under the fretboard extension makes some sense.
That big chunk of mahogany glued to the fretboard extension isn't doing you much good, structurally. If you're going to do a bolt-on, I would thin it down to 1/2" or so to leave room for 2 bolts, without crowding them together. Or... even better, remove it completely & incorporate a "tongue" section into the heel block repair. This will improve the integrity of the whole joint. You would want to make the tongue flush with the top surface.
You have plenty of gluing surface for the fretboard extension, so you don't really need do more than tidy up the rough hole in the top. It'd be better, though, if the tongue fit nicely into the area. I make the tongue about 1/8" wider than the fingerboard extension on the bass side & fit it right to the side of the cutaway... Remove kerfed linings if they are in the way.
If you don't have one, I recommend buying at least one good chisel & the means to keep it sharp.

Thats a really wide heel aswell
Check the Hesh tutorial on neck fit
so that when it comes to flossing you are i not working on more area than necessary

School has been super busy. But I'm going to earn a little time for spring break. So i'm shopping for hardware tomorrow! Here is the plan:

From what I have read in the recommended things you guys mentioned... I should have a self tap quarter inch standard thread going on. But to me like it's not strong enough... And what am I supposed to thin down 1/2"(For Daniel Minard) ? Should I also do anything to the starred area?

Please see picture for clarification. I have attached the real picture and the concert picture within it...

Thanks again!

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http://www.youtube.com/user/jonnyXrice

Jay:
Your first step is to get a good sharp wood chisel(1/4"), and remove all
of that glue crap. Be careful not to take any wood if you can help it.
Then take some coarse sandpaper and clean it up some more. When
this is done, you can set the neck and body together, and see what needs to happen from there. Post pictures then, and we'll go from there. There is lots of help here on this great forum! Good luck!
Allen