Repair & Finish 40 year old project

[PSmill]

Hi, I have offered to help a guy complete this build that he started 40 years ago....he took course and got the guitar 80% done and then put it aside and never got back to it. It's in pretty good shaped considering, no cracks, the neck and fretboard joints looks good, there may be a slight twist in the length of the neck visible when siting down the top of fretboard. It's never been under string tension. I think it's based off a Larivee slope shoulder dread. A few questions if anyone has advice!

It has this dried brittle masking tape in place from when the bridge was positioned, I'm afraid of pulling up the grain, I was thinking of rubbing alcohol on it to soften it and then peel up. Suggestions?

I am thinking the top should be sanded to refresh the glue surface for the bridge after 40 years of oxidizing. Will a light sand 220 then 320 be sufficient?

The build seemed to go sideways when it go to the peghead, it is tilted 15 degrees off-centre, and the tuner holes were drilled, fixed, and re-drilled. But they are poorly placed, I am thinking to remove the veneer, drill them out, plug with dowels, re-do the veneer top and a thin layer on back to cover the dowels and then re-drill, aligning things as best I can to get the tuners lined up with the nut slots. It's going to look weird, the tuners won't be well aligned with the sided of the peghead, if they are moved. It's all going to be kind of crooked one way or another.

[AluminumTop]

Hi, If it is the same neck,
I have 10 of them sitting here.
LMI standard dread bolt-on?

[TEETERFAN]

I would try naphtha on that tape. It will have to soak. I would neatly fold white paper towels to cover area, soak with naphtha, then cover with some aluminum foil. Let it work for a few hours.

[Stray Feathers]

That's an interesting project that looks worth doing! In eleven years as a picture framer I removed an unforgivable amount of masking tape from old jobs. It can be either fiercely stuck, or if very old it can almost fall away. So I would try to delicately lift the tape portion away if it will go, then soak the adhesive residue with naphtha (or Ronsonol lighter fluid). If the tape is definitely stuck, then yes, go straight to naphtha. And I agree with Diane about trying to put a new straight headstock on, cutting a 15º scarf joint in much the same way you would do on a new neck, probably with a temporary jig of some sort. Bruce W.

[jread]

Very cool. I was gifted a partial build from 1977 and really enjoyed completing it. Vintage out of the gate!

[PSmill]

Great thanks so much for the advice! I'll take a look at the option of cutting off the peghead, that would be a cleaner finish for sure. The neck and neck joint and geometry look good, everything inside looks solid. I think the issue issue is just up top is was cut off centre. I also noticed the saddle slot is only 3mm deep, so will look at deepening that to 5-6mm.

[PSmill]

Diane, not sure what the neck wood is but I'll take a closer look and come up with a best guess. Tnx

[PSmill]

One other thing I see is a bit of twist along the length of the neck, I think it is in the length of the neck, not originating in the neck joint. When I place winding sticks at the 1st and 14th frets, I can see the twist with a low point at the nut bass side. I am thinking to just hand plane the fretboard flat to correct for this. Open to suggestions to confirm this diagnosis and how to correct! thanks

[Stray Feathers]

It looks like the fretboard is flat now, i.e. not radiused, so maybe there is a way for you to radius it and remove (compensate for) the twist in the process. Using your winding sticks, or placing the fingerboard upside down on a known flat surface, can you say how much twist there is to remove? Bruce W.

[tippie53]

if the neck is twisted then true it up and get that twist out . I use sanding blocks as the term planing a fret board is done with flat sanding blocks not hand planes