What is the correct glue to use when re-setting a neck?

[olddawg]

I know a lot of shops use Titebond. Purist scream that hide glue is the only way to go. I don't do it enough to trust my preparation/application of hide glue. Any thoughts?

[rjb]

I know a lot of shops use Titebond. Purist scream that hide glue is the only way to go. I don't do it enough to trust my preparation/application of hide glue. Any thoughts?

I think you've answered your own question.
Hot hide glue is the "correct" glue, but you don't trust your ability to apply it.
So- either get a bunch of junk guitars to practice on, or use (original formula) Titebond and be done with it.

PS- Since I've never re-set a neck, take this with a pound of salt.

[the great waldo]

Hi Olddawg

I think the answer to your question lies in what kind of guitar you want to do the neck reset. I started using hide glue 30 years ago when I learnt guitar making and then stopped using it and went over to titebond original for pretty much everything. I have recently reverted to hide glue for headstock and neck breaks mainly because the glue line does not show up under laquer with hide glue which it tends to with titebond for some reason. For a reset if itīs a crappy guitar you could use a 24 hour epoxy (i'll duck while all the purists throw their bottles of shellac at me) Which gives plenty of time for alignment but it won't come apart again. With a good fitting neck titebond original will hold up fine unless someone intends to leave the guitar in a car in the desert midday. Hide glue will also hold up fine, providing the neck fits well. The hardest part of a neck reset is to get the neck out. Probably the most important rule is that your woodworking should be good and everything fits well. A good dovetail will pretty much hold itself together with the glue to stop it slipping apart. On something expensive hide or titebond will be fine (both will come apart if you go wrong) hide glue needs everything warmed up and fresh glue and fast assembly. Good luck.

Cheers

Andrew

[olddawg]

Thanks Andrew,
I'm actually removing a neck off of a ruined early 60s SG and attempting to mount it on a Custom Shop 61 re-issue Epiphone body. I posted pictures in an earlier post. It looks like tight bond will be the way to go and l make sure everything is a tight and accurate fit. What is the best way to deal with any gouges in the neck pocket? Can they be filled with a wood filler or should they be patched with scraps? If wood filler is acceptable, what is normally used? Thanks again for your advice.

[the great waldo]

Hi Olddawg

I wouldnt worry to much about gouges in the neck pocket unless they are really deep, in which case I would make a a fairly thick filler with titebond and wood powder. What I would look out for is to see how hard the body wood is as some of the epiphones especially the new ones are made from very soft wood and there is a fair amount of wood routed out on an sg (they were never structurally very sound) It might be an idea to splice some hard maple in to the body to strengthen it. Sometimes it's easier to fill the body with a stable piece of wood and then rerout the mortice/tenon taking care to leave enough for a strong joint.

Good luck

Cheers

Andrew

[olddawg]

Yeah, I didn't realize the damn thing is Chinese. It is mahogany, but I believe it is Philipine Mahgany so it is softer and more likely to split. I am thinking that I might rout the neck pocket a little bigger and since the neck joint is solid on the old guitar, transfer a chunk of the old body with it. It will give more surface area that way and probably make it stronger.

[olddawg]

Here are the 2 beasts side by side.
Like I said, If I can get the neck swapped and paint whole whole thing white with a gold Gibson waterslide on the headstock it will at least look nice. I will probably put a tennon cover on it too. And of course, the electronics are cheap crap to be replaced. Although I hear these G-400 pickups aren't that bad really. I'm still thinking of using the vintage bridge. The one on it feels cheap. I would set it up as is first though.