Removing Neck from Body

Hey, I need a little help from the experts out there. I got a "Decca" brand uke (60's made in Japan) for a couple of dollars on a trip with my wife. It had been sitting in a window and obviously heated up and the glue began to slip. Seems like the tension of the strings pulled the heel up off the body along with the sides up past the bottom. Thus, the back was short just under the heel. Just for fun, the soundboard had also moved a bit. The fun result was that the whole neck leans forward, making high action and bad intonation. I took it on as a project....with nothing to lose.

I want to reset the top and back as well as the neck. I was able to carefully remove the soundboard and the back of the uke with steam and a putty knife. Took a while but I learned along the way. The steam softened the glue really well. Now, with the top and back off, the tip of the heel is still sitting about a sixteenth of an inch above the surface of the sides where it should be flush. There does not appear to be a dowel as the neck block doesn't show one on the inside but as much steam as I apply, it doesn't seem to soften.

So, how would you go about getting the neck off? I want to reinstall the back and front properly and than reset the neck so I have some chance to make it playable. How would you get that neck off? If I ruin the uke my total investment is only about five dollars....so no big loss.

Thanks!
Ryan

Here are a couple of pics....I wish they weren't so blurry!

Taking the fretboard off might help to see the joint. I did that on an old guitar and the dovetail joint was clearly visible.

If it's a dovetail then it is likely that you'd need to direct steam into the dovetail from above rather than just into the seam between neck and body otherwise it can't reach all areas where there might be glue.

I've seen this done with the fretboard on, but I'm not sure how. I think a fret came out and maybe he drilled in. I really wasn't paying close enough attention. On a project like this, if it were me I'd have the fretboard off.

Can you get a shot showing the neck block from inside?

Also, you might like to ask in the building/luthier section of the forum. I wouldn't normally encourage posting in more than one place, but this is relevant to both sections and there are some real experts there.

When we see where you get the best response I can move or merge threads to tidy up if necessary.

Interesting job you have there!

Thanks Rick!
The fretboard is off already (it is a plastic screw on fretboard like an old Harmony). It is clear that there is no dovetail. If I were to guess there may be a dowel in there but it is basically butted up against the top of the sides.

Out of respect for everyone, I wouldn't post in two places, I couldn't decide which section to put this in, but perhaps I would get better responses in that section? Would you like to move this or shall I post again?

Best to you friend!
Ryan

No probs, mate. Moved.

Anyone????

Just for diagnostics: When you say it doesn't seem to soften, I take it you have tried to push the putty knife in.

a) If it goes in up to a point but stops and won't to any further that probably means there is some kind of dowel or somethin in the way. In this case you may have a chance to pull the neck off if you get enough heat/steam into the joint and then use several levers to pull from different sides at once (which means you may need one or two other people to help). If the heat is sufficient and you manage to pull/push straight away from the body you could be in luck.

Another possibility (if the pull/push method doesn't work) is to carefully saw the neck off with a dowel saw - but see below...

b) If the putty knife won't go in at all, then I would guess that some other kind of glue was used to mount the neck - who knows. In this case, you might be able to saw the neck off with a dowel saw, but...

Be careful, and take it slow. You never know what is holding out inside that joint, like screws that could ruin your saw.

I'd leave the neck fixed at that point with the front and back and fret board off...the front can be refitted and glued..place it face down on a flat solera then the heel will move slightly inwards correcting the neck angle.... then reglue the back and clamp down and the uke will be fixed.

+1 :agree: I like Timbuck's idea - just leave the neck on and fix things up around it.

Actually I was wondering earlier why the neck needed to come off, but I forgot all about that - thinking too hard about how isn't always good, sometimes you have to ask why, I guess.

Timbuck said:

I'd leave the neck fixed at that point with the front and back and fret board off...the front can be refitted and glued..place it face down on a flat solera then the heel will move slightly inwards correcting the neck angle.... then reglue the back and clamp down and the uke will be fixed.

Click to expand...

Are you saying lay it on a flat barrel of beer? (What's a solera?)

Solera would be the form used for clamping when you glue the front and/or back on. A flat solera would be exactly that, but often you will have a slight curve in the solera which gives some curve especially to the back.

These suggestions are very helpful indeed! I'm not quite sure how I could correct the neck angle by gluing the top on first, then putting the back on. If you could explain that agin, it would really help. I am going to give another try with steam and another helper as was suggested.

What a great community this is....getting help from the the U.K, Germany, and the U.S.! With all your help, this ukulele will sing again! I will try again on Friday. Any other thoughts are most welcome!
Ryan

With the top and back off, the neck is very flexible against the sides. You can more easily correct the angle just by creating pressure with your hands. When you have the correct angle set and glued, you can glue the top and back back on. At least, that's how I understand it.

You only have to release the top section on the Back of the upper bout to aquire some adjustment in the neck block... on a Soprano 1mm of movement at the heel will move the nut part of the neck about 5mm =1.5 degrees approx: