Neck reset on S. Yairi 9110...issues.

[Fren Asken]

I'm trying to do a neck reset on one of these and I can't seem to find the dovetail pocket going in at the 15th fret. Is there something about these I don't know?

Thanks.

[Michael Lewis]

Do a web search for images of the neck joint. I think it is a very long dovetail, which makes a lot of gluing surface that has to let go. These things are not really made to take apart.

[Dave Anderson]

Yes,They are difficult to get apart. The one I did didn't have an open pocket below the dovetail to steam out and was a very tight fit. I ended up sawing the fingerboard extension off and drilled two holes into the dovetail to steam and heat until it finally came out.I had to rebuild the dovetail. They definitely built these guitars not to come apart!

[Fren Asken]

That's what I was afraid of. I'll show you the issue. It seems to be collapsing at the neck joint and has disfigured the sound hole.

[Barry Daniels]

That kind of damage is often associated with over-heating in a parked car. There are other issues involved than a neck reset, although a reset may also be required. The upper transverse brace has come loose from the top in the area under the fretboard and the top is cracked on either side of the fretboard which has allowed the neck block to tilt forward. I normally heat the area up and pull the neck back to get things realigned, and then add some reinforcements.

[Fren Asken]

Also, the binding is pulled away from the body, just at the heel of the neck. I tried to get a feeler gauge under the transverse brace under the fretboard but it didn't seem to do anything. Where did you heat it up in order to pull the neck back?

[Fren Asken]

My plan was to remove the neck, fix the neck block and realign the loose spruce, then reset the neck.

[Michael Lewis]

The neck is a handy lever for positioning the neck block, so I would think about leaving it in place until the body is repaired, and THEN remove the neck for resetting. After the body repair it may not need to be reset.