Workshop: Worst Neck Pocket Ever

This is that 60s Epiphone ES-125TC look-alike that I thought I'd have done weeks ago. I wanted to talk to the owner about how to fix this, though, so "heels" were a-dragging.

This, friends, is the absolute worst neck joint I've ever seen. Not only does it flex outward on the laminate neck block when you try to get a tight fit with the dovetail (who decided to cut the block in that direction?!?!) but I've had to reglue seams several times while trying to figure out how to get the neck shimmed and glued-up in a traditional fashion.

The worst part is that the dovetail is such a sloppy cut that it's curved on all surfaces just slightly and resists any attempt to fit it into the joint. It was so loose that I'm sure this neck popped forward right after it left the factory (as it's been for years and years). So, between the owner and I, we chose the "old Gretsch" solution...

...which is to sink a nice fat drywall screw into the heel, shim up the joint as best as possible to align it, and glue the whole sucker up in there at the same time. The clamp is for the glue in the joint and also for regluing the fretboard extension down.

Believe me, I hated doing this to this guitar, but like those old Gretsches with the dowel in the heel... what else was there to do? To really fix the problem correctly with just glue would've meant making a brand new neck block and fitting it. Suffice to say, we collectively didn't want to throw the $$/time into that and this will look just fine in the end and keep the guitar's neck joint in good health... hopefully... for the rest of its life.