Neck separating from my D25m and I am freaking ouy

Joined
Nov 11, 2019
Messages
2
Reaction score
0
High Guild community. I am new to the forum and I could use some advice.

Tonight I precariously leaned my 1974 Guild D25m against a chair, then accidentally knocked it over. When I picked it up the action was incredibly and with further inspection I found that the neck had begun separating from the body. I fear it needs a neck reset, but with still paying off my recent wedding and trying to head to grad school this upcoming fall I am in no position to shell out $500-700.

I don’t see a way to upload a photo. The neck is separating from the bottom and is still attached under the fret board.

My question is, has anyone ever attempted a neck reset? I’ve only done minor work on my guitar, but I have worked with wood. However an instrument is another thing entirely.

This guitar really means the world to me. I love the way it sounds, the way it feels in my hands - it’s perfect (or it was).

Any suggestions or comments would be amazing.
 

Default

Super Moderator
Platinum Supporting
Joined
Jul 30, 2007
Messages
13,595
Reaction score
3,008
Location
Philly, or thereabouts
Guild Total
11
How to post pics.

Welcome to the forum. Wish it were under better circumstances, but It sounds like you might have broken the dovetail, or knocked it loose somehow. I would take it to somebody and see what they say. Where are you located, roughly?
 

davismanLV

Venerated Member
Joined
Mar 24, 2011
Messages
19,196
Reaction score
11,811
Location
U.S.A. : Nevada : Las Vegas
Guild Total
2
Welcome! Sad state of affairs. Accidents happen. Sorry you have to deal with this. I've helped a friend build two guitars and one (not yet finished) had to have the neck taken off and now it's to be reset. A huge move and "downsize" happened during this time so now, it's pending. But if it were one of mine, I'd have a pro do it. If you were happy with the action and the neck angle before the accident, it might be able to be just reset and glued, but I'd have someone look at it. I know times are hard, but just slack the strings for now and get a pro opinion, would be my advice. Guild's are notoriously "difficult" for neck resets because of the dovetailed neck joint and glues. But since it's already somewhat broken, it might be easier. Just getting the fretboard extension off the body and reevaluate the action and angle should tell you more. Sorry it happened. It's worth fixing. You don't say where you are, but people have very good recommendations if you're nearby or willing to ship. I shipped mine to Tom Jacob's Custom Guitars in Florida when the worst happened. What a seamless transaction on a truly tricky repair.

Tell us what you want, and we'll help you as best we can.

Again, welcome. More knowledgeable people will be along soon.... don't worry. OH and your fist posts are monitored to make sure you're not a robot and so they have to be "moderated" and may take a while to show up...... it's normal. PITA but normal. :encouragement:
 

dreadnut

Gone But Not Forgotten
Gone But Not Forgotten
Joined
Jun 15, 2005
Messages
16,082
Reaction score
6,442
Location
Grand Rapids, MI
Guild Total
2
Welcome, and best of luck with your guitar, it is worth fixing when you can afford it. On a brighter note, at least the headstock didn't snap off or something worse.
 

richardp69

Enlightened Member
Gold Supporting
Joined
Aug 11, 2009
Messages
6,007
Reaction score
5,965
Location
Barton City, Michigan
I feel your pain. That's tough especially for a younger guy trying to put his way through school. (Good on you by the way. It will be well worth it in the end). It's usually not possible to financially justify a neck reset on a D 25. However, if you have a real positive connection to the guitar and you can swing it, go for it. I remember several times I've invested way more into a guitar than I knew I'd ever get out of it. But, some guitars are just special and repair cost be damned. I don't have the skills to attempt a neck reset myself but I'm sure others on this forum do and have and they will likely chime in with suggestions.

Good luck
 

The Guilds of Grot

Enlightened Member
Joined
Oct 10, 2006
Messages
9,547
Reaction score
4,716
Location
New Jersey Shore
Guild Total
117
if you can get it looked at by a Luthier they might come to find that the neck just came loose and just be re-glued as opposed to a complete neck reset.

My FS-46 came in a Goya Rangemaster case. The neck was not supported well and the neck joint came loose. My Luthier injected a little glue in the neck joint clamped it up and it was as good as new. I then built up the bottom of the case with towels so the neck was supported properly.
 

Guildedagain

Enlightened Member
Joined
Jun 8, 2016
Messages
8,999
Reaction score
7,160
Location
The Evergreen State
You took the tension off the strings right away I take it?

I think the neck separating may not be as a bad a thing as you think, there may be a silver lining, unless something cracked and broke (neck block?) rather than separating?

A) There's enough videos out there that if you are handy with wood, and meticulous, yes, you CAN do this.

B) Yes, if could be just a simple clean and reglue at this point, but, if I had a guitar that might have needed a neck reset, and it came loose like that, it would save you the trouble of having to separate the neck joint?

Maybe this one was underglued?
 

wileypickett

Senior Member
Joined
Jun 18, 2009
Messages
4,964
Reaction score
4,489
Location
Cambridge, MA
Since you've never done a neck reset, I don't recommend learning on a guitar that means so much to you. (All the experts say its best to learn repair techniques on cheapie guitars.)

A neck reset is one of the trickiest repairs to do and if you botch it you'll end up having to take it to a luthier anyway. And you might make matters worse.

I agree with the other posters here who say to have it looked at by a good repair person. It won't cost much -- if anything -- to have it evaluated, and at least then you'll know where you stand.

Good luck!
 

adorshki

Reverential Member
Joined
Aug 21, 2009
Messages
34,176
Reaction score
6,789
Location
Sillycon Valley CA
Maybe this one was underglued?
If so then it had to be the inevitable one-off that Guild is known for.
:glee:
(If anything they're notorious for being over-glued and difficult to separate.)
But along those lines, it's not always just a separate/cleanup/reglue:
One's gotta be able to calculate good angle and whether the dovetail needs to be re-shaped to accopmplish it; sometimes the heel's a bit thin and will deform during the separation; sometimes a replacement bridge will be required to match the height of the fresh neck angle; and sometimes a dovetail re-shape could result in a slightly shorter 12th fret-to-saddle length which necessitates re-setting the bridge in a new location in order to maintain proper scale length.
For those reasons I LIKE simply injecting some glue and reclamping, if possible.
Otherwise I'd rather leave all those delicate issues of angles and measurements to a real pro.
:friendly_wink:

Welcome aboard Tecumseh, and good luck, and at the risk of sounding cold and opportunistic, may I add your story to the list of examples of why I advocate storing one's guitar in one of only of 2 places, your lap or its case?
:blue:
 
Last edited:
Joined
Nov 11, 2019
Messages
2
Reaction score
0
Maybe I overreacted last night. I punched the back of the the neck and it popped back in. I put strings on it before I went to work. Now I’m home, the action is fine; it’s in tune. I think the old glue is almost gone, but mostly idk.

Thanks to every one who replied. I will take better care of this in the future. I feel pretty dumb lol.
 

Guildedagain

Enlightened Member
Joined
Jun 8, 2016
Messages
8,999
Reaction score
7,160
Location
The Evergreen State
To add to that I would say, the case has to be latched.

I only say this because someone I know who gets out and plays regularly was witness to an incident where a case got picked up that wasn't latched that left them marked for life.
 

GardMan

Enlightened Member
Joined
Jun 5, 2006
Messages
5,359
Reaction score
959
Location
Utah
Guild Total
5
Maybe I overreacted last night. I punched the back of the the neck and it popped back in. I put strings on it before I went to work. Now I’m home, the action is fine; it’s in tune.
I still recommend taking it to a good luthier/tech. You should not be able to pop the neck in and out of its joint...
 

Opsimath

Senior Member
Joined
Apr 20, 2015
Messages
4,524
Reaction score
4,056
Location
North Florida
To add to that I would say, the case has to be latched.

I only say this because someone I know who gets out and plays regularly was witness to an incident where a case got picked up that wasn't latched that left them marked for life.

I had heard those stories before I ever started guitar lessons. When my guitar comes out of the case, I close the case and latch it with at least one latch. I figure if I'm in the habit of doing that then maybe I won't ever have one of those stories. So far so good.
 

dreadnut

Gone But Not Forgotten
Gone But Not Forgotten
Joined
Jun 15, 2005
Messages
16,082
Reaction score
6,442
Location
Grand Rapids, MI
Guild Total
2
I still recommend taking it to a good luthier/tech. You should not be able to pop the neck in and out of its joint...

Agreed. It won't cost you anything to have them look at it and tell you what needs to be done, and maybe it will be an easy glue job instead of a whole neck reset.
 

Charlie Bernstein

Senior Member
Joined
Nov 8, 2017
Messages
1,572
Reaction score
1,169
Location
Augusta, Maine, USA
Maybe I overreacted last night. I punched the back of the the neck and it popped back in. I put strings on it before I went to work. Now I’m home, the action is fine; it’s in tune. I think the old glue is almost gone, but mostly idk.

Thanks to every one who replied. I will take better care of this in the future. I feel pretty dumb lol.
Not dumb. Lucky!

The old punch-it process, eh? As an engineer buddy likes to say: Never force it. Use a bigger hammer.

Welcome!
 

adorshki

Reverential Member
Joined
Aug 21, 2009
Messages
34,176
Reaction score
6,789
Location
Sillycon Valley CA
To add to that I would say, the case has to be latched.

I only say this because someone I know who gets out and plays regularly was witness to an incident where a case got picked up that wasn't latched that left them marked for life.

There're 2 dings on the top of my D25 from that very same careless act.
I was fortunate enough to see it beginning to happen and got the case to ground before the guitar could fall all the way out, but it still came out onto the lid and a couple of the latch tongues dug in.....
:blue:
And let me add my agreement with all those who say T.'s guitar should still see a luthier.
An unglued neck simply will not stay stable.
 
Last edited:

chazmo

Super Moderator
Joined
Nov 7, 2007
Messages
25,443
Reaction score
7,104
Location
Central Massachusetts
I had heard those stories before I ever started guitar lessons. When my guitar comes out of the case, I close the case and latch it with at least one latch. I figure if I'm in the habit of doing that then maybe I won't ever have one of those stories. So far so good.

Cases are dangerous, hungry beasts... I damaged a friend's guitar once by taking it out of the case while not holding the lid. I.e, hold the case open while you extract the guitar with your other hand or it could bite you.
 

Guildedagain

Enlightened Member
Joined
Jun 8, 2016
Messages
8,999
Reaction score
7,160
Location
The Evergreen State
Cases are dangerous, hungry beasts...

So well said.

I'm a lefty so I usually carry the case with my left hand (when the arm still works) and lo and behold a first for lefties everywhere where something actually works better in your left hand than the right, but the case top is facing your left leg, instead of who knows what from your other hand, and if the lid was to suddenly open - for any reason (Murphy?) - it would only open against your leg and your guitar would be safe. I have seen a case open while being carried in the right hand, back in the old roadie days, crash! That's when you hope it's a Tele and the guitar is fine, but there's a dent in the pavement ;)
 
Last edited:

chazmo

Super Moderator
Joined
Nov 7, 2007
Messages
25,443
Reaction score
7,104
Location
Central Massachusetts
So well said.

I'm a lefty so I usually carry the case with my left hand (when the arm still works) and lo and behold a first for lefties everywhere where something actually works better in your left hand than the right, but the case top is facing your left leg, instead of who knows what from your other hand, and if the lid was to suddenly open - for any reason (Murphy?) - it would only open against your leg and your guitar would be safe. I have seen a case open while being carried in the right hand, back in the old roadie days, crash! That's when you hope it's a Tele and the guitar is fine, but there's a dent in the pavement ;)
I forgot to mention that my friend's guitar was a Taylor, so in the grand scheme of things I didn't feel too badly.

(I'm joking of course)

(sort of)

( :) )
 
Top