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Hi everyone-- another question from an aspiring someday newbie builder.

I've been reading with great enthusiasm the discussions on necks and seeing the great results everyone has with laminated necks.

My question rests more in the 20-30 years from completion of construction realm. When doing a neck reset on a traditional glued dovetail joint and a laminated neck, have you all seen any issues with the laminations separating due to heat/steam? If so, how do you work around it?

Please don't get me wrong-- I am *certainly* not questioning any methods. There are so many people using it that there must not be too much of an issue with it, but me being the inquisitive one, I'm honestly just extremely curious as to how it works.

Thank you in advance (yet again) to this wonderful group of folks!

John Creech

I avoid the issue by using the bolt on M&T neck joint. Most builders use bolts.

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JJ
Napa, CA
http://www.DonohueGuitars.com

Hi John, i'm not a repair guy but i had the same question in mind when i started building almost 2 years ago now and with all the information that was given to me, i've come to believe that if a repair would be necessary on any of my guitars, it would be easier to repair a bolt on neck but well made dovetail necks are just as strong, if the joints have been well made, there shouldn't be any problems with heat or steam.

I'll let the pros give you more input on this though!

John,

I think you raise a valid concern when talking glued dovetail, but a lot of builders now use a bolt on neck joint and FB extension, making the use of steam a thing of the past for a neck re-set.

Cheers

Kim

John,

It's not a problem at all. I have removed numerous laminated necks using steam. It has no effect whatsoever on the neck lamination.

Keep in mind that the steam/heat is not getting meaningfully past the 3/4" dovetail --- before the steam/heat has a chance to work its way any further up the neck, the dovetail joint will let go.

I don't knock the bolt-on method at all, but I think people tend to exaggerate the challenges associated with the dovetail neck joint.

I've just taken the fingerboard of a lammed neck that's on a guitar I'm building and had exactlty there concerns.

The good folk here (and other places) reassured me that the heat wouldn't travel through the wood far enough to loosen the glue holding the lams on the neck.

It didn't!! the neck now has a new trussrod and there are now two coats of varnish on the guitar.

Hopefully it'll be strung up well before Easter

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