Official Luthiers Forum!

I have a friend who has an old Gibson bass, model EB-5, i believe he said . He asked me if i could replace the truss rod, which he snapped the nut off of several years ago.
If I am correct, this is a set neck instrument. I have removed the fretboard from necks with no finish(in the building stages), but have never done so to one that has a finish on it.
I typically use a clothes iron and a damp cloth laid atop the fret board. Once the glue softens, I work a putty knife underneath the board, and continue on down the fretboard until the board comes free.
What I'm worried about is the possibility of damage to the finish from the heat of the iron hanging over the edges of the board, and especially at the neck/body joint. Can anyone give me some tips on how to avoid this.
I'm quite confident I can remove the board, replace the rod, and re-attach with no problems, but I'm not certain I can do it without damage to the finish. I would like to step up my game a little, and do this repair. i have been doing tech and set up work for quite a while, but I have not done a lot of repair work. However, I will not do it if I cannot do it without damage. Not worth damage to the customer's guitar or my reputation.
Any and all advice on how to proceed is most welcome.

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Mike

The only thing nescessary for evil to thrive is for good men to do nothing.

Kinda scary working on an old instrument.
Anyway, I think you're gonna have to do some touch up,
at least on the edges of the fretboard,
and I think Gibson used nitro,
so as long as you don't have to match a stain color, shouldn't be too hard.
I might be wrong though.
Good luck, and go for it!
Ask your friend if he'd get mad if you made a boo-boo.
Happy new year, Mike Baker!

Touch-up of finishes is just part of the job in repair.
If you're worried about the body near the neck joint make a cardboard mask to deflect the heat.
Good luck, and have fun!

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"Act your age, not your shoe size" - Prince

Thanks, Chris and Alan.
Yeah, I'll definitely talk to the guy about the possibility of having to do a touch up to the finish. That's a given. I just want to do the best job I can. As I said, i'd like to branch out into repair.
There's a lot of info out there to help, but there's also nothing like asking questions to guys who know where all the problems can come from.

_________________
Mike

The only thing nescessary for evil to thrive is for good men to do nothing.