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Hello folks,
have a look at these two photos and tell me if the black areas (carbon paper marks) represent sufficient glue area. ignore the white areas, they are the remains of shims.
thanks for your help!
William McDonald

sorry folks, I didn't post the opposite side but it looks the same as the posted photo.

The real question is whether the dovetail tenon has enough bearing surface to form a tight stabile joint with the mortise in the neck block. Glue just locks the dovetail in the mortise, but the real strength is in a good fit with much of that angled part of the dovetail and the diametrically opposed heel cheek area. Glue can't be relied on to correct an ill-fitting joint, I believe. For me as a newbe, what is shown in your picture isn't enough, but others will have enough experience to know.

Thanks Dan, that's the answer I expected. I think I need to reestablish the tenon angle, shim and start the neck fitting process again. Gotta love dovetails!
Back to work, pity because A.C.E. was spot on.

Can you pull the joint out by hand? Just curious.

No, it requires a little persuading.

It is not enough to just have a snug joint, it needs to be snug in the right place. (don't ask me how I know this) The place that really matters is down low - this is where the leverage is and contact there will keep the joint from opening a hair as strain comes on the neck from the strings.

I fitted a joint on an old Gibson that was in pretty bad shape and that had not been strung up in a long time, then strung up the guitar and played it for over a month without glue in the joint just to see what would happen to my neck set work. It did not move in the slightest without the glue, so as others have said, the glue just locks it is place.

Ed

I'm redoing my neck joint too. ACE is perfect and it will not come out unless it I beat it with a hammer. But the wood to wood contact is about as much as you have on yours. Maybe a little more on the lower areas. Then again I haven't used carbon paper just chalk, so who knows. (can you get that at office depot? or am I thinking of a different carbon paper?) Maybe I need to make a better sanding block for the tenon and heel.

Sammy, I bought my carbon paper from Amazon because local office supplies stores don't carry it. Later, I discovered it at my local craft store, Michaels.

Thanks to all for your replies!