Hofner neck removal / reset.

musicalstash

Any ideas on the best method for an. Amateur to release / remove this neck from a old hofner president? 

Not  too sure if it's the original glue has given way or it's an  attempted repair. 

It's currently stuck in its current position with no movement.

Any advice will be much appreciated. 

https://ibb.co/V3yYr7c

https://ibb.co/0mkbV87

https://ibb.co/GCfK9qR

Roland

I can’t see your pictures 

prowla

I'd try taking the strings off.

WezV

that's going to be really easy with steam.

if you cant do that, inject boiled water repeatedly over a few days.  Squirt it in with a syringe, then use the same tool for sucking the dirty water back out.   Gently rock it.  eventually it will move, its almost there already

musicalstash

Thanks will attempt it on the weekend and post an update. 

ICBM

Yes, that looks like a PVA bodge job and is a perfect illustration of why it isn't suitable for guitar neck repairs - either this type, or broken headstocks - because it 'creeps' under load. (Despite the manufacturer's claim that it's "stronger than the wood itself" - that's only true under normal carpentry-joint conditions.) The good news is that it's water-soluble, so as WezV said steam or hot water will soften it.

The bad news is that you'll have to spend a lot of time with more hot water cleaning it *all* off before you can successfully re-glue it, since the correct glue - Titebond Original - won't stick to it and if the joint isn't clean it will fail again. If you have doubts about how clean you can get it, I might be inclined to use epoxy, but that's a one-shot solution since if it still doesn't bond properly you're in even deeper trouble...

WezV

Given its a relatively high end Hofner I would not go for epoxy.   I have done on cheaper old archtops, but wouldn't want to here.

Well worth spending the time cleaning out any old glue, whether its original or PVA from a previous repair attempt.  I would scrape right back to wood even if it meant having to shim the join for best fit.


The original glue on these does always give way eventually, and the necks tend to be quite easy to remove.   I would take strings off and try and push heel back in as a first step, or after the joint has been washed out.   

You want to push it back into place, then apply pressure on the heel cap to push the neck up away from the body.   It may have simply wedged itself into place now and might come loose as soon as you push the heel back into place

impmann

I had a Hofner that someone epoxy'd some time ago - either the joint wasn't right or the guitar had 'moved' since because it had a dreadful action and the luthier I took it to said it was effectively scrap...

musicalstash

WezV said:

Given its a relatively high end Hofner I would not go for epoxy.   I have done on cheaper old archtops, but wouldn't want to here.

Well worth spending the time cleaning out any old glue, whether its original or PVA from a previous repair attempt.  I would scrape right back to wood even if it meant having to shim the join for best fit.


The original glue on these does always give way eventually, and the necks tend to be quite easy to remove.   I would take strings off and try and push heel back in as a first step, or after the joint has been washed out.   

You want to push it back into place, then apply pressure on the heel cap to push the neck up away from the body.   It may have simply wedged itself into place now and might come loose as soon as you push the heel back into place

Finally got around to the hofner, spent the lay few hours with an steamer abs finally the neck came out. 


. I have scraped the residue of the glue and got it sitting at the right angle but not too sure how to Clamp it.

Would a Clamp to the fingerboard to the back do the job?

https://ibb.co/n0qSWLk

WezV

yes, but you need some clamping cauls to spread teh pressure and prevent damage.  A couple of flat pieces of wood will work well,  adding a bit of extra padding is good too, even if its just some cardboard


like this.   either 1 big clamp, or a couple of light duty ones right over the join.   You won't need to worry about the extra clamps at the end of the fretboard though




Just make sure you dry clamp everything first as its a 3 handed job sometimes

musicalstash

WezV said:

yes, but you need some clamping cauls to spread teh pressure and prevent damage.  A couple of flat pieces of wood will work well,  adding a bit of extra padding is good too, even if its just some cardboard


like this.   either 1 big clamp, or a couple of light duty ones right over the join.   You won't need to worry about the extra clamps at the end of the fretboard though




Just make sure you dry clamp everything first as its a 3 handed job sometimes

Thanks, there is no soundhole, would this do the job? 

https://ibb.co/0s2JCBs

I used a clamp with some foam padding to protect to wood. 

WezV

I know it won't have a sound hole, just couldn't find a pic of an archtop being glued so found the next best thing...that's why i said you don't need to worry about the end of the fretboard 

Just make sure the clamp isn't tearing through that foam and try not to cover the join on teh back as you will need to be able to clean up the squeeze out.   If you have one you can put either side, even better, but you should get by with one


what glue are you using?

musicalstash

WezV said:

I know it won't have a sound hole, just couldn't find a pic of an archtop being glued so found the next best thing...that's why i said you don't need to worry about the end of the fretboard 

Just make sure the clamp isn't tearing through that foam and try not to cover the join on teh back as you will need to be able to clean up the squeeze out.   If you have one you can put either side, even better, but you should get by with one


what glue are you using?

Thanks, decided in the end to get a luthier to do the job as didn't want to mess  it up especially as I am looking to sell it on. 

Thanks for the advice and will definitely  attempted it on a lower price guitar.