The neck pieces fit together perfectly, but when I laid them on the plywood there was a slight gap at the fretboard side, careful examination showed that the neck was slightly bowed. If I didn't know better, I would say that it was neck relief, the slight bowing in a regular guitar neck to compensate for the fact that the greatest amplitude of vibration of a string is at it's center. I suppose the bowing is caused by "creep," deformation caused by 60 years of string tension.

I discovered that if I held the peg head and pushed on the tail end of the neck, the pieces would line up perfectly. I built the gizmo with a loose piece at the tail end and two half-inch threaded rods with wing nuts to apply pressure.

This worked fine except that the neck wasn't perfectly straight. I added two strips of wood on either side of the neck. the neck is a perfect taper from tail end of the fretboard to the nut, so pressure from the wing nuts would actually force it into alighnment. I also added to more strips of wood to keep the threaded rod in alignment. I made a groove underneath the joint and lined it with aluminum tape, so that any drips wouldn't glue the neck to the gizmo.

This worked fine so I mixed up the epoxy, which is mixed 4 to 1 epoxy to hardener. I have two matching sets of stainless steel measuring spoons, so I used one 1/4-teaspoon to scoop out 4 spoonfuls of epoxy resin and the other to measure out one 1/4-teaspoon of hardener. I poured them into a stainless steel measuring cup and stirred for 2 minutes. I then put in 2 drops of black colorant and contued stirring for 2 more minutes. I brushed it on both pieces with a throwaway brush, stuck them together and put the neck into the gizmo, and snugged up the wing nuts. I then turned the wing nuts until it was solid and hard to turn, but I didn't overdo it.

The instructions say that the epoxy reaches full strength after 2-1/2 days, so I left it in for 3 days.

I'll be able to sand down the excess to match the other frets. There is plenty of resin left to fill the low spots where chips popped out.

I strung it up this evening, it sounds wonderful!

Howie Clark

[This message was edited by Howard Clark on 01 June 2005 at 11:57 PM.]

Thanks a million. Your photo illustrations are wonderful. I hope I never have to use this information, but if i do this sounds like the method.

Hats off to Wayne Tanner too.

Incredible!! Beautiful work. Well thought out, not rushed and thorough.

You, Wayne Tanner, Bill Creller and Rick Aiello have done a great deal and added to the knowledge base that keeps these old instruments alive and well. Thank you.

See you at the Winchester Aloha convention next month?

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Gerald Ross
'Northwest Ann Arbor, Michigan's King Of The Hawaiian Steel Guitar'

Gerald's Fingerstyle Guitar Website
Board of Directors Hawaiian Steel Guitar Association

[This message was edited by Gerald Ross on 02 June 2005 at 07:53 AM.]

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Aiello's House of Gauss

My wife and I don't think alike. She donates money to the homeless and I donate money to the topless! ... R. Dangerfield