Maple Shims for Guild Neck Reset

The actual neck reset part of the project is almost done.  I spent more time getting the neck off and trying to fix the fingerboard extension (snapped off again...) and touching up the bubbled finish on the top than anything.

I carved/trimmed the heel to get the correct angle.  Now I'm going to do some preliminary fitting of the neck heel joint to the body.

To do this, I put some sign maker's tape on the body to protect it.  Then I pull some strips of 180 grit paper between the heel and the body.  Need to keep pressure down on the joint.

This will make the heel's contour the same as that of the body - and we'll get a nice looking, tight seam.

I did probably 15 pulls on each side.  I'll do it again with a finer grit paper if needed after I shim and fit the dovetail.

Since the neck is maple, I'm going to make some maple shims for the dovetail.

I have some maple bridge plate stock - probably about 5mm thick.  I want to thickness sand it some before it gets glued to the dovetail.

So I use some intérieur ruban pour tapis to hold the shim to a block of wood.  (That would be 'indoor carpet tape' to non-French speakers).

Over to the wonderful ROSS to thickness it a bit.

I started using good quality belts from Klingspor on the ROSS.  What a difference.  I also have a belt cleaning bar I've been using.  So much better than the old Home Despot belts I was using.

Here are the shims glued to the dovetail.  I'll need to thin and shape them more during the fitting process, but at least they're about half of their original thickness now.

You can see the date stamp on the dovetail - June 23, 1977.  I'd guess this was the day the neck was fitted to the body.

Glued up and clamped to dry overnight.  Note the waxed paper so the cauls don't get glued to the dovetail.

I used regular Titebond to glue the shims.  I'll use hide glue to glue the neck back on.