Workshop: ES-345 Neck Reset, Uke Neck Reset, Etc.

So here's how I approach getting at the "short" Gibson tenon joint on an ES-345/ES-335 -- this one's a late-'60s model. I drill a couple of holes into the joint from the humbucker route (trying approximately to hit the edges of the joint) for my "heatstick" iron attached to my soldering station, then let it heat at max heat in each hole for about 5-10 minutes. There's no steam here -- all I'm trying to do is heat the joint up.

This joint was ready in about 10 minutes and was loose with just the first drilled hole because I managed to land that one directly on-target right at the joint between the tenon and the pocket. After this I just needed to clean it all up and reset at the factory angle.

Here's another bridge reglue repair -- but this one's more of a bemused observation -- am I really bothering to put on a custom rosewood bridge I made-up for this all-birch '60s Harmony Stella? Guess I am!

Here's a '30s Harmony uke getting its neck reset. To do this job (just like on a Martin uke), the best way is to yank the decorative extension plate of rosewood off the top and just heat the joint itself.

OK, so last is just for fun -- this is a 14 3/8" banjo rim for a guitar-banjo from 1917 (it's dated)...

...but the dang thing is a 12-string guitar banjo. I mean -- as I said to the buddy of mine who bought it when he told me he'd snagged it on eBay -- this thing has probably never been in tune in its entire life. I shudder at the idea. By the way -- in the previous shot of the head -- judging by the scale the bridge should actually be under the tailpiece, hee hee.

Now that's some hardware!