1976 Gibson Dove neck reset, bridge and bridge-plate repairs

Assessment

Along with the obvious forward neck pull and top distortion which caused the high action and sharp intonation, the bridge had a large open split between all the string anchor pin holes.

An internal inspection revealed significant wear at the string anchor points on the bridge plate, but all internal bracing/joints were sound.

The first task was to gently score through the paintwork around the heel and fretboard edge which sits on the body front. This is done to prevent lacquer cracking. Fret 15 was removed and an acess hole drilled for the heat stick. The fretboard tongue was heated carefully to avoid melting the binding. Once de-bonded from the body top, we fittied the neck removal jig and applied heat deep into the heel joint with the heatstick. This is a much cleaner and safer method than the traditional steam method.

Reworking the tenon and refitting the neck

With the neck removed, the new angle was calculated and the tenon was recut and its housing cleaned and shimmed.

The body distortion along with the new neck angle meant that a thin tapered shim would be required under the fretboard tonge that sits over the body. As this is a bound fingerboard it wouldn't look right if this was made in matching fretboard wood so some old spruce was chosen and the tapered shim was made to fit exactly. The edges were dyed cherry.

With the neck and fretboard shim fitted, an ebony plug was fitted into the access hole, fret 15 was reinstalled and the whole fingerboard checked for 'true'.

Inner bridge plate and ebony bridge split repairs

We drilled the underside of the bridgeplate holes to fit some custom made maple inserts. These were glued into position and drilled through with no tear-out.

We glued ebony veneers into the bridge cracks and once dry, sanded and smoothed the surfacel back flush. We also made a new intonated bone saddle.

Restringing and final set up adjustments.

Strung and setup, the action is low and it plays very nicely with good intonation The increased down tension on the new saddle has also improved the tone.