60s Advanced Jumbo Neck

[Maple Mountain]

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.

[Maple Mountain]

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.

[OldCowboy]

I'd really like to see a picture of a late 60's AJ. Any chance of posting such?

[ksdaddy]

I’m thinking he means SJ.

[Maple Mountain]

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.

[j45nick]

1969 is tricky. This is about the time that all Gibson squares went to a 25 1/2" scale. If it is in fact a long scale body, any long-scale neck from that period should work, even if it doesn't have exactly the right inlays. A Hummingbird neck might be the closest. But the scale length is important in order for the guitar to intonate properly.

 

The neck joint itself should be the same on all the square dreads, but if the saddle location doesn't correlate with the scale length of the neck, it won't work properly. You almost need access to other Gibson squares to compare saddle location to verify scale length of the body.

 

You could check a modern Hummingbird for the distance from the front of the body to the ends of the saddle parallel to the two edges of the neck. Modern 'birds are 24.75" scale length. If your friend finds the same measurements to the ends of the saddle on his guitar body as on a modern 'bird, it's a short-scale model, and any number of vintage Gibsons neck might work. If the distance to the ends of the saddle on his guitar are roughly 3/8" longer (actually probably very slightly less than that) than on the modern 'bird, he has a long-scale model, and will need to be more selective in necks.

[Dave F]

I would take it to a competent luthier and have him make a replica for it.

[Maple Mountain]

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.

[OldCowboy]

I’m thinking he means SJ.

That's what I wondered - trying to be diplomatic.

[OldCowboy]

1969 is tricky. This is about the time that all Gibson squares went to a 25 1/2" scale. If it is in fact a long scale body, any long-scale neck from that period should work, even if it doesn't have exactly the right inlays. A Hummingbird neck might be the closest. But the scale length is important in order for the guitar to intonate properly.

 

The neck joint itself should be the same on all the square dreads, but if the saddle location doesn't correlate with the scale length of the neck, it won't work properly. You almost need access to other Gibson squares to compare saddle location to verify scale length of the body.

 

You could check a modern Hummingbird for the distance from the front of the body to the ends of the saddle parallel to the two edges of the neck. Modern 'birds are 24.75" scale length. If your friend finds the same measurements to the ends of the saddle on his guitar body as on a modern 'bird, it's a short-scale model, and any number of vintage Gibsons neck might work. If the distance to the ends of the saddle on his guitar are roughly 3/8" longer (actually probably very slightly less than that) than on the modern 'bird, he has a long-scale model, and will need to be more selective in necks.

Good info.

[OldCowboy]

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.

My luthier might be able to help. Send a PM if interested.

[j45nick]

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.

 

 

It obviously has an adj bridge because of the hollow bolts, and those details sound about right. Without knowing exactly where that neck joins the body on a square dread, even though we know it's the 14th fret, it's hard to be absolutely sure of scale length based on those measurements. However, I checked all four of my nominally short-scale Gibson flat tops--two vintage, two modern--and found that analogous distance from the front of the body (all these necks join the body at the 14th fret) to the center of the saddle varies from just under 11 1/16" to just over 11 1/8", so at 11 3/8", the odds are that his is a long-scale guitar, even though the numbers don't add up perfectly.

 

Normally you would just check the distance from the nut to the 12th fret to determine scale length, but you don't have a neck.

 

A good luthier can make a new neck, but it won't be cheap, probably on the order of $2K, even if he keeps it simple. On the plus side, you could make the nut width whatever you want.

 

Stewmac sells dreadnought neck blanks, but theirs are for Martin-style dovetails, which I believe are somewhat different. A good luthier might be able to adapt that neck, but you still have to add a fretboard, frets, a truss rod, nut, tuners, etc. This is not a simple job.

 

Sometimes, used necks show up on ebay and elsewhere.

[Maple Mountain]

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