Maple Mountain

Thanks, Leonard. This one will require a different approach from the dovetail. I've steamed off plenty of dovetail joints. I can see this joint clearly because I have the back off the guitar. The mortise measures 5/16" wide by 1/2" deep and extends into the neck block to half way between the 12th and 13th frets (the guitar is 12 fret parlor from the early 1900s, probably made in England). The neck joint has no gap as there is behind a dovetail, and drilling into the 13th fret would take me into the neck block, so it's a good thing I removed the back. The joint is perfectly fitted, so the only thing I can think of so far is to drill deep holes into the neck block exactly at the inner corners of the mortise and put little shots of steam in to avoid backpressure issues. If the heel is glued to the sides, that will introduce another challenge. I'm not concerned about finish damage, as it's French polished, so I can repair that easily. I'm hoping another member has been down this road before.

Hello. I need to do a neck reset on an antique parlor guitar with a tight, glued mortise and tenon joint. Has anyone separated one of these joints?

Thank you all for the interrest and replies. I'll send a PM for that luthier'name.

I've looked the guitar body over carefully. It has laminate sides and a solid back. The top bracing is non-scalloped. The bridge plate is large (original?) and there are two hollow bolts extending through it. The belly on the bridge extends downward. It has square shoulders. 11 3/4" upper bout. 11" waist. 15 3/4" lower bout. 20" body length. 11 3/8" from the upper body edge to the center of the saddle. It is stamped "SJ" on the interior lower side. If my search for a neck doesn't pan out, any suggestions of a luthier who could fashion a new neck would be appreciated. I only do repairs. I travel to the Phoenix area fairly often. I'll try to figure out how to post images. I'm new here.

I called my buddy John and he corrected me. The guitar is a SJ, not an AJ. I'll get the guitar and post photos when I return home.

Sorry about the multiple entries. I did this on my phone, and I thought it wasn't taking, so I kept trying to post. Then suddenly, bam! They all posted.

Hello. Many years ago, a friend lost his wife to cancer. He came home and, in a fit of anger and frustration, kicked his guitar, a 1969 Advanced Jumbo, across the room, breaking the neck off. The neck was lost in a move, but he kept the body. I inquired with Gibson about repair. They said it's not worth repair. The new AJ neck joints are different, so they would have to custom make a neck. I asked them to sell me a new neck and neck block so I could repair it myself. They said no. If anyone comes accross a neck for a 1960s era AJ, please contact me. At this point in his life, my friend would like to play this guitar again, and I'm hoping to get it repaired for him.

Hello. I'm new. I'm providing specs on a 1923 L3 I purchased recently, in case they are of value to anyone. I conclude it's a 1923 because the FON, is 30 off from a 1923 that was documented as having shipped from the factory on June 15, 1923. Specs: Slant "The Gibson" logo in mother of pearl with vine inlay below partially covered by the truss rod cover; 13 3/4" lower bout; 10" upper bout; 18 3/4" long body; 24.25" scale length; ebony strap button; 1 7/8" wide nut; spruce top, mahogany body; ebony fingerboard with pearl dot position markers; adjustable and reversible ebony bridge with feet. (By reversible I mean the top can be flipped over to raise the action for lap steel playing. I was told it came from the factory with the reversible bridge and two nuts, one for lap steel and another for regular playing; red burst top; red back; one-piece mahogany neck; white ivroid-bound body and fret board; truss rod; three-on-a-plate open tuning machines with leaf engraving around each screw; unbound headstock; aluminum truss rod cover engraved with the name of the original owner; metal trapeze "PATENTED JULY 19,1910" bridge plate (circumference of the low e hole will only accommodate a "11" or smaller string); 13 frets to the body; no cross brace above the sound hole; one small cross tone bar below the sound hole which bridges the gap between and touches two lengthwise sound bars that run the entire length of the top; multi-stripe sound hole rosette with herringbone middle stripe sandwiched between two thick light-colored stripes; thin black and light stripes on the inner and outer edges of the rosette; "GUITAR" and "L3" stamped on the inner label with the serial number written in pencil. FON stamped on the neck block; two pick guard mounting pins in the fret board, but the pick guard is missing. That's about it. I believe this guitar to be all original, including the case, with the exception of the missing pick guard. For information, the guitar is more mellow than I expected it to be,but when I temporarily put a rosewood bridge from a 1960's Kay archtop on this L3, it softened the tone compared to the original ebony bridge. The rosewood bridge has no feet and the ebony bridge does, so I don't know if the change in tone was caused by the wood or the bridge design. The ebony bridge it back on, it now has phosphor bronze 11s on it, and it sounds great. The strings sound evenly with good separation; the volume is impressive for a parlor-size instrument,and the tone is pleasing. It can whisper clearly and it can growl if attacked hard with a pick. It responds well to a varied attack, to sliding,bending and intensity. The response is quick, and the sustain is also very good. It maintains tone quality all the way up the neck. It's a fine guitar, both in sound and appearance,and it won me over as soon as I played it, even though the strings were many, many years old. IT could use fret crowning. This guitar has an interesting history, which I won't take the space to relate here, except to say that, as well as having a lot of playing time, it was stored in a closet and not played for over 50 years because someone didn't know the bridge could be flipped over and the nut replaced to lower the action for normal playing. Considered to be unplayable and in need of repair, it was then sold cheaply at a yard sale. Unfortunately, I was not the person who bought it from the yard sale, so I paid more for it, but still got it at a very good price. Also, it has no cracks, only a ding here and there.