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As for this new use for drywall screws, maybe we will see a new item for sale online: "Luthier Screws", at three times the price of drywall screws, of course . . .

And let's guess which supplier of all things guitar, needed or not, will offer them...

So, this is my solution. I've cut off the old heel, which was stacked, and glued on my own stack. I've cut a dovetail tenon. I'll cut a dovetail mortise. I'll also dye the neck so that the difference in color isn't apparent.

So, I have one last question for John Hall. Will the neck hold okay, since the tenon doesn't extend completely to the front of the neck? The worst thing that can happen at this point is that it becomes a bolt-on neck.

So John, can I go ahead with the dovetail in this configuration?

After my experience with this nonsense, I've come to the conclusion I need some kind of metal detector in the shop. I found 2 types that seem to cater to woodworkers. One is called Little Wizard II, which runs ~ $29, and is specifically for woodworkers. I'm not sure if there's a reliability problem.

This one seems to be the first choice when I look at reviews. It's sold as a stud/nail finder for plaster walls, but is being used in Woodworking. It finds ferrous and non ferrous metal:

Zircon MetalliScanner m40 Handheld Electronic Metal Detector https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000VKJ1MM/re ... K9E807V1F0

TEETERFAN wrote: ↑Sat Sep 18, 2021 5:41 pm Sorry you encountered this. Hidden screws on anything can be “the devil”. Perhaps a thin blade or saw could have disclosed it was metal when you first detected it.

Well, there shouldn't have been any screws in this position, period. Bolt-ons screw from inside of the guitar, through the neckblock. I thought I was going to find dowel pins, which I have seen before. This was the result of someone who didn't know or understand a guitar neck from his butt. I've encountered some pretty messy neck installations, but never a heel hollowed out, with a drywall screw installed from the top, at an angle!

magnets work
it is hard sometimes to know what the odd ball guitars construction is or what someone did before. Repair is almost as much about detecting lots of learning opportunities out there

I was thinking magnets, too: neodymium, or rare earth magnets are cheap and work well. I’ve used them to find hidden nails in old wood. It’d be easy to try before you spend more on the detectors.

This is what I would try:

https://www.homehardware.ca/en/magnetic ... /p/1018080

My own is different, a veritable antique, and I can't find one like it online, but I've used these too. The magnetic arm swings to point where the metal is. Bruce W.

John,

Will this dovetail hold although it doesn't extend to the front of the neck, or should I bolt the neck on?

I cut off the stacked heel and replaced it, cutting this dovetail. The dovetail is one with the heel, as it should be, but I couldn't extend it further forward because of the truss rod.

I would dowel it from the top for a good tie in. I have seem them stacked so you should be fine