Neck resets, what's your experience?

[bruzmuse]

I have an nice old Guild D50 that is in excellent shape. (I also have a Westerly JF30-12 and D46) A guitar craftsman that I know looked at it and said "we could lower the action but it could really use a neck reset and you'll probably have to send it to the factory for that."
Older guitars and neck resets seem common but are scary. It seems like you'd never get the finish back to looking original once the neck was removed and reinstalled.
I'm posting this to get some feedback on anyone else's experience with having a neck reset done on their guitars. I've got a couple of well established guitar shops in town that I could check with and get their opinion too. I don't know what to do at this point so I'm gathering some feedback from all of you. The guitar would be worth every penny to get it done which also leads me to ask, if you've had a neck reset done, about how much did it cost you?

Play guitar! Play everyday.

 

[gilded]

I think the main problem with neck resets on Guilds is inconsistency in the exact dimensions and placement of the neck/neck-block dovetail join. Martin guitar 'dovetails' are always in the same place, but Gibson tend to vary a bit, too.

The key is to find a luthier who has re-set a few Guild necks. If your local guys have done that, you're in good shape.
If not, better keep looking.

If you do some searches on neck sets here on the forum, you ought to be able to dig up some Sad Tales of Bungled Neck Resets.

Good luck! A belated welcome to LTG, too.

 

[Punkybub]

I think the main problem with neck resets on Guilds is inconsistency in the exact dimensions and placement of the neck/neck-block dovetail join. Martin guitar 'dovetails' are always in the same place, but Gibson tend to vary a bit, too.

The key is to find a luthier who has re-set a few Guild necks. If your local guys have done that, you're in good shape.
If not, better keep looking.

+1 on all of the above. My local luthier has reset the necks on 3 or 4 Guild acoustics for me over the last few years. All came out at least good, most were very good/excellent. After the first one or two he actually made a jig specifically for resetting the neck on a Guild acoustic, and the last one he did was as good as it can get IMHO.

Another local luthier tried resetting a neck on a Guild but after much steam and time, the wood around the neck block gave way before the last of the glue in the neck block. Not pretty.

A neck reset here goes for $300-$400 or so. I wouldn't hesitate for a minute to reset a neck on a guitar if it needed it and was worth it to me, especially since Jim (luthier who did the resets) is available and knows his stuff.

On a couple of guitars where I didn't have the $ for a reset or the neck angle wasn't too far off, I had Jim shave the bridge a tad. Most Guild bridges are plenty thick enough to shave a small amount off of, and that with a new saddle can often bring an old guitar back into shape playing-wise. Not the best solution but much less invasive and it requires less Guild-specific experience to do. It can buy you time at least...

Good luck w/your D50 - let us know how you make out...!

 

[Frosty]

A neck reset is to be expected in the life of any acoustic guitar. When, and how much it will cost, are the variables. Guild guitar heels and joinery do provide some unique challenges and I would agree that it is best to fine someone who has had success with these guitars. I have had a well respected Martin/Gibson repair person refuse to work on a F-50, and I have had a heel on an F-30 broken by someone with experience with Guilds. So, it's not without risk, but it is part of life with an acoustic guitar. Good luck!

 

[gilded]

A neck reset is to be expected in the life of any acoustic guitar. When, and how much it will cost, are the variables. Guild guitar heels and joinery do provide some unique challenges and I would agree that it is best to fine someone who has had success with these guitars. Man, I agree!

I have had a well respected Martin/Gibson repair person refuse to work on a F-50, and I have had a heel on an F-30 broken by someone with experience with Guilds. I think neck cracks are gonna happen sometime with any luthier. The better the luthier, the less it happens. Guild dovetail are problematic because they change a lot, though in candor I I don't know if the change is from model to model, from factory to factory (i.e., the Hoboken dovetail dimensions, the Westerly dimensions, etc.), year to year, or what!

So, it's not without risk, but it is part of life with an acoustic guitar. Good luck!

My local luthier has reset the necks on 3 or 4 Guild acoustics for me over the last few years. All came out at least good, most were very good/excellent. After the first one or two he actually made a jig specifically for resetting the neck on a Guild acoustic, and the last one he did was as good as it can get IMHO. Cool, I'd like to get a picture or two of the jig!

Another local luthier tried resetting a neck on a Guild but after much steam and time, the wood around the neck block gave way before the last of the glue in the neck block. Not pretty. I bet not. Sounds like, despite his best efforts, he never hit the correct place to steam the dovetail out and wound up superheating relatively small pockets into the side of the join. A friend of mine with 30 years of experience did just that. He cracked the neck block and the bass side of the guitar for 4 or 5 inches! Embarrassing!

bruzmuse, the luthier who is saying 'send it back to the factory', doesn't want to do the job. If your other local guys don't have the experience, then let us LTGers know where you live and we'll try and help find you a competent & experienced repair-person. There is certainly no guarantee that your neck won't crack during a reset, but as Frosty says, that's part of the game. Again, good luck. Where do you live, anyway??

 

[Frosty]

I think neck cracks are gonna happen sometime with any luthier. The better the luthier, the less it happens. Guild dovetail are problematic because they change a lot, though in candor I I don't know if the change is from

The unique challenge with some Guild models is the relatively small heels - look at an F-50, for example, compared to a Martin. The thinner F-50 heal is more likely to crack.

 

[gilded]

Frosty, I believe you're right. Another thing that happens is that the dovetail cutouts on some Guilds and Gibsons are relatively short and stop well short of the bottom of the guitar; maybe an inch and a half (1.5") short.

Accordingly, the flat inner surface of that relatively thin heel is glued to the body under the dovetail. When you're steaming the neck out, if you haven't had the experience to anticipate a problem like that, your probably gonna crack something.....

To me, after talking with luthiers for 30+ years, a routine neck reset can turn into 'Fubar' in seconds. Once you've had the steam going for a while, you're 'committed to thrust' as they say at NASA. If the neck doesn't want to come loose, steam is still pouring into the join (or close to it, if you've missed the 'right spot'. Sides can blister, or come loose from the back, heck, everything can start coming loose, except the neck join!!

It ain't like changing some tuners out; no Sir!!

 

[Darryl Hattenhauer]

Bruz,

A lot of great advice here. The only thing I can add is that a Guilder who is more than 50 miles or so from an ace luthier might consider shipping the guitar to an expert. Shipping the guitar thousands of kilometers both ways would cost less than driving it 50 miles, driving back home, driving to pick it up, and driving back home again. And think of the time it takes to drive 200 miles.

Jay Pilzer at New Hope Guitar Traders has a guy near him that resets Guilds. You can email him at jpilzer@guildguy.com but please don't call him just for info because the phone is an interruption. No matter what job you have, imagine getting calls from people everywhere wanting a free consultation.

 

[West R Lee]

Oh and Bruz, Punky's suggestion of shaving the bridge is a great one. Once the bridge is shaved, the saddle slot is the routed to address the diminished saddle slot depth and in pops your old saddle if you choose.

Lot's of knowlegable folks around here, aren't there? These guys know their stuff.

West

 

[AlohaJoe]

I had the saddle shaved 10 years ago on my Brazilian '65 D-50 (bought new) and that helped for a while, but I believe it contributed to the appearance of a crack between the bridge-pin holes, leading to another repair. Ultimately the problem came back anyway and the neck was re-set recently with good results (about $400). The saddle shave can't be undone and I now regret having done it. The important lesson to learn from this thread is to find a luthier/repairman who has done more than just one or two Guilds. They are difficult and risky, but the net gain is well worth the risk. Mine had become almost unplayable and now we're good old friends again, and no other guitar I've ever played sounds as big and rich.

My wife asked me one time if we were in a rowboat with the Guild and it turned over, would I save her or the Guild. Of course, I would save her, but there might be be a moment of hesitation. :lol: