Official Luthiers Forum!

Hello
I have a 1955 Gretsch Convertible
It had a neck 'reset' a fretjob and fretboard extension planing in 2012.
It plays very well and the neck is straight
The neck angle looks good and the break angle over the bridge is very good.
The neck was rebound and the fretboard extension was taken down alot!

The only weird thing is that there is a gap at the heel of the heel of the neck
As much as .6 mm (or .025") at the base tapering out to nothing about 1.6" inches up.
You can see through this gap. However it seems to be perfectly solid and has been for at least 7 months and supposedly for the past 5 years. It had 11-49s on it and I tried loosening then and measuring, then tighten it back up to pitch. It stayed the same. I put heavier 12-52 strings on it and measured and it stayed the same regardless of tension or no tension.
Since it seems to be solid and the guitar plays well with a good angle I was thinking of filling the gap and touching up the paint (copper mist) I have a few ideas but I would be very interested in what the pros would recommend.
Thanks!

It's perfectly acceptable to do what ever it takes to keep a vintage instrument playing provided that the repair and/or action is appropriate for the instrument.

In this case although this is a vintage instrument maintaining functionality won't hurt it's value and IME may even enhance it's value since it's currently not important enough to be more valuable as a wall hanger than a player.

More specifically if the fret plane needs to be redone carefully remove frets, level the board and refret and EVO is not only fine it's a great choice IME. The work should be done by a professional though if you are really concerned with not harming the value. A new nut will likely need to be fashioned as well since fret height may increase if not and if the old nut is working well that's OK too. Of course a precision set-up follows, servicing the electronics, etc.

Regarding the heel separation I would not use any filler or attempt any "masking" repair. There is WAY too much of that in the vintage guitar world and these repairs only serve to attempt, often very poorly.... to cover-up an issue actually making the issue seem possibly more serious than it actually is. If the neck is stable, angle OK the separation should be either properly repaired with a full-on, professional neck reset or left alone. My vote is if it ain't broke, and it's really not, leave it alone.

Check out our home page for some pics of a 50's Gretch that Dave just finished removing the frets and refretting with EVO and he made a new Bixsby tail piece bracket and saddle as well. A killer cool guitar it is and one of the few that come our way that I actually would like to have.

Regarding my comments on who does the work. First no offense intended, I have no idea what your experience level is. If you are a pro go for it but most pros would not be asking these questions. Second don't look at us my comments are generic in nature, intended to help you and we don't accept shipped in work, ever. We are far too busy to be in the slipping and deceiving business...

Lastly if protecting the value of the instrument is high on your list who does the repair can play into that. We are often asked up front if once we do the work if our name can be referenced as the ones who did the work to prospective buyers. Although we hate getting involved in private sales it happens from time to time especially with pre-war Martins and occasionally Les Paul's, original ones or instruments that were owned by someone famous. Having a pro do the work brings some level of comfort to prospective buyers at times, not always.

Good luck to ya.

Ann Arbor Guitars Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/a2guitars/photos/pcb.1429346510505764/1429343957172686/?type=3&theater

My guess is that the dovetail was not shimmed or not shimmed correctly to pull the cheeks in tight to the body but that it is in fact locked in place as it should be. It's kind of a bummer but structurally it's probably ok. There is a product called 'Color Putty' which apparently is something that Taylor guitars used on their NT neck joints (even though it really isn't necessary because the joints are tight). But anyway it's not something that will harden and can be easily removed. It's definitely not used for big openings like that but it might be worth looking into if the gap drives you crazy, it also might make it look worse But I don't think it will ruin anything. IT comes in various colors including mahogany.