Undoing Awful Repairs on a 1954 Martin D-18
Posted: Sun Sep 11, 2016 1:48 pm
I have several guitars that are awaiting repair. This 1954 D-18 Martin is among them. This guitar has a lot of repairs done by someone who didn't know what they were doing. I'll have to Undo the old repairs then repair it properly. I decided to start with the neck reset.
I spent 2 hours yesterday trying to get the ruddy neck off of this guitar. I gave up on it, starting fresh at 5am this morning. After steaming it, the neck moved as though it was loosened, but it wouldn't come out. Although I was trying to avoid removing the fretboard, I decided to remove it after spending another couple of fruitless hours trying to remove the neck.
When I had direct access to the dovetail, I could see a lot of "stuff" under it. I used a small screwdriver to pry out some of it.
The "stuff" was silicone caulking. In fact, there was tan, clear, and a wonderful combo of caulking reinforced with wood dust, (a must have for all neck resets...NOT). The steam had made the caulking more rubbery, which accounted for the movement it made after steaming.
I removed as much as I could from under the dovetail, but getting at the tight fitting sides was another matter. I used a multifunction tool. I cut one of the blades to the width of the dovetail (see photo). I eventually got through each side of the dovetail, without cutting into the neck block. Of course, being thorough, someone made sure to put caulk behind the dovetail.
I removed the neck without damage to the guitar body, neck block, neck, or dovetail. I also did it without marring the finish. I still have a lot of cleaning to do, before doing the actual reset.
A lot of repairs need to be made on this guitar. I'll make entries to this post as things happen.
I spent 2 hours yesterday trying to get the ruddy neck off of this guitar. I gave up on it, starting fresh at 5am this morning. After steaming it, the neck moved as though it was loosened, but it wouldn't come out. Although I was trying to avoid removing the fretboard, I decided to remove it after spending another couple of fruitless hours trying to remove the neck.
When I had direct access to the dovetail, I could see a lot of "stuff" under it. I used a small screwdriver to pry out some of it.
The "stuff" was silicone caulking. In fact, there was tan, clear, and a wonderful combo of caulking reinforced with wood dust, (a must have for all neck resets...NOT). The steam had made the caulking more rubbery, which accounted for the movement it made after steaming.
I removed as much as I could from under the dovetail, but getting at the tight fitting sides was another matter. I used a multifunction tool. I cut one of the blades to the width of the dovetail (see photo). I eventually got through each side of the dovetail, without cutting into the neck block. Of course, being thorough, someone made sure to put caulk behind the dovetail.
I removed the neck without damage to the guitar body, neck block, neck, or dovetail. I also did it without marring the finish. I still have a lot of cleaning to do, before doing the actual reset.
A lot of repairs need to be made on this guitar. I'll make entries to this post as things happen.