I have seen other luthiers remove the fret at the body joint and insert foam cutters through small hole that are drilled about 1/4 to 3/8 inch from each edge the fingerboard into the neck joint pocket or dovetail joint to soften the glue there also. Others use steam but Ted Woodford who is a master luthier from Canada uses foam cutter. I think he said he got the idea from another luthier named Ethan Davin. I am not sure on that spelling.

This video inspired me to try over any other. Love it

Hey you bring back to life another old guitar learning new things, a true victory my friend.

Great job Zimm.

I just bought a late 50s Stella for $20 that definitely needs this- love your approach and attitude here- I’m glad I found this video- will be using your approach.

Cool vid Dane, nice to see someone honestly tackling this job for the first time, that's the only way you learn.

I'm impressed you got that dovetail out without more damage! Good, patient work pays off.

Excellent!

I'm a fan of the old Harmony guitars. Once you declared this one to be playable, then the video was a success. If the owner likes the playability of the old instrument, then the work has to be cast as a success. Thanks for sharing!

I stopped by the shop and played this guitar. It plays very nice and has a really rich tone.

That’s why I watch your channel, it’s the real deal! Good job buddy!

Zimm-My First guitar in 1964 was a Harmony guitar! Still playing on a strat!

You did great man! Congratulations..

Impressive!

You brought an unplayable guitar back to life, hard to complain about that! Good job man

Cool video

Awesome one of the hard jobs that Luthers do

Great job Zimm! Really interesting to watch. I like your attitude and share your go for it philosophy (scientific) lol. Cool vid Dane.

Nice job

You can heat up the 13th fret and remove it, then you can drill a small hole straight down at 1st then you may need to re drill on a slight angle to gain access to the glued joint then you can use a soldering iron tip to heat it up some or some steam also. Do both sides and alternate working each hole until you slowly work it loose. I have done 4 resets this way, and it is what works best for me. Hopefully it will be a while before I have to do another, so I'm going to make a customized double tipped soldering iron for the next time,as well as steam tubes too.

if iam right dane i think they steam the necks off when they go through either the dot inlay or threw the fret area.

This guy made the best neck reset video ever! lol

Great job! I was screaming and jumping up and down when you were working the neck glue apart but you had success!! Thank you for posting.

Verry good

Thanks!

I'm another fan of old Harmony's (or does 8 make me obsessed?) I just acquired a late 60's Sovereign with 12th fret action of .50 in . I came across your video and identified with your "nothin' to it but to do it" attitude and decided to take the plunge on mine. I basically followed your approach in real time, step by step and , Voila!" off popped the neck with no damage to the heel. It's all downhill from here. Thanks for giving me the courage to go for it and check another box on my guitar bucket list.---Gary, Maple Park, IL

That's the work I'm afraid to do but watching you tackle this nightmare job that luthier use to call it. I will try it on my Aria Dove acoustic guitar (Made in Japan). Good job & thanks for sharing.

I'm about to attempt my first neck reset on a Silvertone made in around 1975.I found out that it has a non adjustable truss rod inside it.

Steam my friend steam! I would have put a thin shim under the end of the fret board at the body where it was lifted

I did like how you used a mallet to free up the dovetail. I wonder if you did this exact thing on a couple other necks, if it would work??

9:00 --> you're prying the fingerboard off the neck. I don't think that's the way to do it, unless you plan on planing the neck or something.. Also, you're just mashing glue with that putty knife. I see you're being careful, but this is not recommended. HOWEVER, I really was amazed how you tapped the neck off with the rolls of tape and the hammer. That was not something I would have predicted. Of course those chunks of wood in the pocket would not have broken off if you had applied steam or direct heat. Also, the handy dandy yard stick is not a precision tool. A metal rule is not expensive... get one. AND... you say you have Titebond... and then you apply Gorilla Glue. NO. Did I cringe? YES. But you cleaned up well afterward and you were honest in your assessments. Rock on, fella.

SCIENTIFIC GEOMETRY

gotta love common screws lol . no place for them on a guitar the screwdriver slide off to easly.

I'm not a luthier, but Would heating up the putty knife have worked? I would have used titebond green label glue. Clamping directly on the finish crack on the top made me cringe! Maybe clamp onto a thin piece of wood or plastic ,or clamp the sides instead? I noticed you had a metal level hanging on your background wall. I guess a new wooden home Depot yard stick will work. Lastly, nice guitar and neck reset!

Bro I love you to death and have binge watched all your videos but me being a guitar builder this video was like a knife in my eyes lol to watch.i mean how you hacked on that neck pocket was some Friday the 13th type stuff or Michael Myers kinda stuff.Bro it was scary and the whole time I was wishing I was there to help you so you wouldn't have to fake it lmao.at least you tried though bro.love your channel bro and I hope you much success on KZfaq and that is for sure a video on what not to do lmao.cheers buddy from Tennessee.

Dude is that tool box tray from one you made in metal shop in high school??

Did you check for belly budge? I fix that first. That's how I fix these without a neck reset.

Good job! Good karma. I like that we all learned dos and do nots. It sounded good and was acceptable. It did not cost $500. Zimm did it at the cost of his time only.

is this guitar for sale?

What clamp 🗜 are you using

Next time I recommend using shims on dovetail joint so the neck is tight Harmony necks were cut to loose from the factory most Harmony's always need neck resets. Harmony used hide glue on most of there guitars so usually they come apart easy hide glue becomes loose when heated. Also next time recommend tight bond or Elmers wood glue or liquid hide glue because if you make a mistake those glues can be loosened with heat. Not recommended using gorilla glue on a guitar because if it needs to be repaired again in the future its going to be a pain to loosen the joints Gorilla glue does not respond to heat and is not water soluble glue. The guitar is better at least it play some what know. Harmony's are good for learning how to repair. Harmony neck is made from poplar. Usually a steamer is used to remove necks. You can heat press necks also instead of a full reset.

Not bad

Felt like I was watching twoodford at work here Dane, nice job man.

Nice job. I don't have the guts to try resetting a neck.

The Iron works everytime! lol

"Cotton.. wool.. synthetic..." Hahaha

should have heated the blade ( so I have heard) but thank you for this video

Check out the videos on using electricity instead of steam. I am NOT a fan of steam. It is too easy to destroy a guitar.

you atackleing the acustic

Asta La vista!

You need some really sharp narrow and mid width wood chisels for degluing, you’ll have a better joint. It’ll be cleaner, and your professionalism will have been improved.

It,s allmost fantastic how much some people can talk, about what they are up to.There seems more talk than the actual repair. Rather tiredsome to speak the truth. Talking doesent help the repair, the silent does and much more exiting that way. Damn it! One have eyes, self to see what,s going on, we are not blind. Right? We are not kids on some farytail party. Most of us are grown up.

This is painful to watch...

Really tired of disingenuous and melodramatic crap videos. Could have been a good and informative video.