Bruno neck reset...how do I get in there without removing the fretboard tongue?

[Fren Asken]

I'm working on a beautiful old Bruno that needs a neck reset. From all the documentation I've seen online, they have a short dovetail...they seem to end between the 12th and 13th fret. Anyone ever go diagonally from one of those frets, or do I need to remove the end of the fretboard to get in there? I'd really like to avoid doing that.

[Mark Swanson]

Don't get too hung up on drilling through a fret slot. If you have to, just drill a hole right through the fingerboard, between the fret slots- that would be better than removing the tongue. It's quite easy to fill and patch a small hole so you would never notice it.

[Mario Kessels]

i am doing a few neck resets on old yamahas. the dovetail also ends just short of the 13th fret, which I only found out after I got the neck off. Since I have 4 more of the same on the next one I will drill in an angle, see how that works out.

[Thomas Wentzel]

Fred, I'm late to the party, but the Bruno should have the pocket right below the 13th fret just like a Martin or Gibson. No need to pull the tongue, and before I would ever do that, my second option would be to hit the pocket through the neck block on the inside. Tom

[Mario Kessels]

I have drilled in an angle for the others and this works perfect. You will feel when you are in the pocket.

[Michael Lewis]

Thomas, I am curious to know how you would control the steam inside the guitar body. It takes several minutes to soften the glue in the neck joint, meanwhile the escaping steam inside the body will be effecting all the exposed joints and swelling the top, back, and sides. That isn't a risk I would like to take.

[Thomas Wentzel]

Michael, I have a valve in line where I can let the bulk of the steam 'blow off' and only allow a gentle puff into the steam hole. This is the main reason. Second is the steam inside the body is basically air borne and therefore mostly benign to the glue. I also typically do a very short steam event, then wiggle a bit, then apply more steam, which keeps the steam inside the body at a minimum. I guess if I were really clever, I could hook up my shop vac to suck out the errant steam, too, but have not found that necessary.

Plus, this method is not my plan A anyway. Plan A is to wiggle it out dry, (which works surprisingly well with old catalog guitars like this, plan B is steam in the 13th fret, plan C is through the block. I'll do this when I have a pearloid fingerboard so the steam does not melt the plastic. Last resort is remove finger board extension.

Hope this clarifies a bit...

...Tom

[Michael Lewis]

Tom, it sounds like you have control over your process. I go in through a fret slot or occasionally take the heel cap off and go up through there.

Fren, the usual method (standard practice) is to separate the 'tongue' of the fingerboard from the soundboard so it comes off with the neck. That part of the fingerboard is part of the structure of the neck joint, I prefer to keep it attached to the rest of the fingerboard.

A lot depends on the condition of the fingerboard though. Sometimes those older instruments have crumbly 'ebony' , in which case if it becomes too difficult I suggest replacing the board and re-fretting.