Help! Broken neck here.

[Snailhand]

Does anyone know a luthier in Illinois who can re-attach an acoustic neck. My son dropped his guitar and now the neck joint is broken and in danger. I know the fretboard has to be removed first before the neck can be re-glued. Has anyone ever had this done, and about how much money are we talking? The guitar was fairly cheap to begin with (Galveston brand), but it is brand new and he is just sick about it.

[Teletwang]

Unfortunatly, if the guitar was inexpensive, the
cost of labor would be greater than what the guitar
is worth. In that case you may want to do some research about doing it yourself. I'll be glad to help
if I knew exactly where the damage is.Pics?

[Snailhand]

Sorry, no pics to go by. The neck is glued on, and does not protrude into the body shell. It's basically the heel has separated near the back causing the action to raise about three quarters of an inch. Of course I took the strings off to keep it from getting any worse. I think if I could remove the fretboard first, this would be a fairly simple fix. Do you know how to remove a fretboard with a heat gun? The Red Green fix might be to tap a couple screws through the heel, down into the inner body block and try to pull it back and secure it.

[Teletwang]

Originally Posted by Snailhand

Sorry, no pics to go by. The neck is glued on, and does not protrude into the body shell. It's basically the heel has separated near the back causing the action to raise about three quarters of an inch. Of course I took the strings off to keep it from getting any worse. I think if I could remove the fretboard first, this would be a fairly simple fix. Do you know how to remove a fretboard with a heat gun? The Red Green fix might be to tap a couple screws through the heel, down into the inner body block and try to pull it back and secure it.

I've heated many fingerboards off but I guess I'm not sure what
this buys.You say the neck is glued on but doesnt protrude into
the body? No dovetail? If its a somewhat clean break & some force
can bring it back together then I would use epoxy( being a less expensive
guitar) & clamp it shut.It's really hard to absolutely diagnose this
w/out seeing it.If you still feel removing the fingerboard(extension
over the top I assume) will help....I use a heat lamp, hovered directly over
the area,protect the top of the guitar w/ a cardboard shield & watch
closely. Heating it too long willl cause finish to bubble up or worst case
start to smoke(I've seen it happen).Get yourself a thin putty knife-like
or spatula like tool & pry up the between the f.b.& top when it feels the glue has begun to soften.This may take some elbow grease & its assuming glue was used & not epoxy.Reglue w/white glue.I hesitate to tell you this because it should go to someone w/ experience & maybe you are.Not a huge job
in the right hands.

[Snailhand]

I will try to post some pictures tonight, and I appreciate your help with this. It does not appear to have any dovetail at all, just glued to the outside of the guitar shell?
my son is home today, and I'll have him e-mail some pictures to me, and post them later. Thanks again.

[Snailhand]

http://www.gridley.org/~morgan5/gui1.jpg
http://www.gridley.org/~morgan5/gui2.jpg
http://www.gridley.org/~morgan5/gui3.jpg
http://www.gridley.org/~morgan5/gui4.jpg
http://www.gridley.org/~morgan5/gui5.jpg
http://www.gridley.org/~morgan5/gui6.jpg
http://www.gridley.org/~morgan5/gui7.jpg
http://www.gridley.org/~morgan5/gui8.jpg
http://www.gridley.org/~morgan5/gui9.jpg
http://www.gridley.org/~morgan5/gui10.jpg
http://www.gridley.org/~morgan5/gui11.jpg

[Teletwang]

Wow, that is a clean break....for whatever reason.
I'm sure there's dovetail in there(remember it wouldnt
be the entire length of the heel).Again, w/ some
pressure does the gap close up?If so it's an easier
fix than you might think.

[Snailhand]

The crack will close up very nicely when the neck is pulled back into place. What ideas have you got?

[Teletwang]

You can do it a couple of ways;
1)Using a clamp the length of the body,a couple
of cauls & some glue(I said epoxy before but the
guitar looks better than I had imagined & someone may want to re-set the neck in the distant future).
1 caul at the end block & the other caul at the heel.
Sparingly use white glue, forcing it into the gap w/
something thinner than the gap itself & clamp it tight
but not overly.There should be some squeeze-out.
Clean this well w/ a damp rag.You dont want any
dried beads of glue to deal w/.Let set for 24 hrs.
Cauls should have a thin(rubber?) material between it &
the body to protect the finish.

2) A "Bessie" clamp & two cauls.I'll explain this
one later if needed.

[Snailhand]

Thanks for stickin with me on this, and the good advice. We'll go with clamps and glue like you said. Got nothin to lose and sounds really easy. I'll let you know how it turns out!

[Teletwang]

Originally Posted by Snailhand

Thanks for stickin with me on this, and the good advice. We'll go with clamps and glue like you said. Got nothin to lose and sounds really easy. I'll let you know how it turns out!

Yep, just a good carpenter's glue...
just remember to really work that glue in as far as
you can but don't slop it in.When its all said & done
it should look fine.Good luck!