1958-61 Harmony Sovereign H1260 - Neck Reset+

DAY 2 (1/28/23) – Removed the saddle, using the hair dryer to heat the glue holding it in, a tiny screw driver, and a toothpick. The saddle slot is only .065”/.070” deep. Used the saddle slotting jig to open/deepen the saddle slot, clamping it approximately central with the slot, used the setup plate and .132” gage pin to set it just to the right of the center of the existing slot (to take as little off of the front of the slot, adjusted the depth stop of the router to have the cutter just touch the top of the bridge, did a few visual checks with the router to verify and adjust the position, and took 2 passes to cut the slot .096” wide x .125” deep, using a .094” diameter downcutting carbide endmill.

Squirt fish glue into the back damage, and used the mini-scissors jack and external strap clamp to push/pull the back/piece back into position. It took MANY attempts to get the clamps in a position when I thought the piece might be pushed back into place, since once the strap clamp is in place I can’t see what it looks like under it. It was A LOT harder than I thought it would be!

Removed the truss rod cover. Removed the nut, using the hair drier to loosen the glue, which it didn’t, I attempted to cut under the nut and ended up tapping it from the fretboard side to remove it. Reinstalled the 15th fret, first bevelling the edges of the slot with the 3 corner file and cleaning out the slot with the .016” saw. Checked the fret level. Not bad for a 60+ year old guitar.

The tiny saddle.


It took a while of heating the bridge with the hair dryer to be able to get the tiny screwdriver under the saddle.


Followed by a toothpick.




A small chip pulled out.


The saddle slotting setup.  The very shallow first pass to check my position.


Second pass.


To depth!!


Done!




The mess!




The modified toy jack, with the back damage in the distance.


Clamping the outside.




I ended up adding a small piece of cork to be sure I was putting pressure on the damaged area.  I couldn't see how the clamping was flattening the damage.




Positioning the jack was a pain in the ass.  I couldn't see what I was doing.  Place it, check, move it, check, repeat what seemed to be forever.  Every time I though the placement was close to perfect, I made a minor adjustment and lose the position, and start again.






Removed the nut.  Normally I would heat it with the hair dryer and it would easily pop off.  Not this one!!  I had to hit it with a piece of wood and hammer from the fretboard end.

DAY 4 (1/31/23) – Made a new saddle, leaving it 1/4” long so I can shift it side to side if needed to change the bass/treble differential. It sticks out of the bridge .16”/.15”. Made the nut, .156” thick, 1.48” string spacing. Undercut the heel with the Dremel and 1/8” ball burr. Set the tape on the heel at .06”, filed & sanded to the tape. After removing about .020”, I checked the neck centering to find it still about .06” off center, filed some wood off the whole treble side, it is now centered. Continued pull sanding, it is going very slowly, the mahogany is very hard. FINALLY sanded to the tape. The neck is about centered, and projects .06” below the top of the bridge.

The number marked on the back of the dovetail does not match the number stamped inside the guitar.


The new saddle.  I left it long on both sides, just in case I need to shift it sideways to adjust the E to E action differential.


Making the nut.


Rough slotted.


Undercut the heel.  This happens MANY times, as I'm pull sanding the heel.


Filed to the tape.

DAY 6 (2/2/23) – Loosened the strings, filed the nut pocket, bevelled the inner corner of the nut more, fully stood up the nut. Finish the nut action, with the nut files (the G was the lowest at about .010”). Loosened the truss rod about ¼ turn and got a little more neck relief. The action is now a little over 3/32” both E. Tuned 4 of the 6 strings a little over normal, the action is now a little under 7/64” both E’s. Set the tape on the heel at .03”, filed & sanded to the tape. Put the guitar back in the neck jig, tuned 4 out of 6 normal, the action is 5/64” low E & a little over 1/16” high E. Polished the neck & body heel areas & top. Glued (2) .020” maple shims to both sides of the neck dovetail. Used the carbon paper strip in the neck pocket to transfer the tight spots to the neck dovetail, sanded the dark spots on the neck dovetail, repeated until the neck sits flush to the top. Touched up any bare wood with the mahogany marker. Polished again. Applied fish glue to both sides of the dovetail & top areas, first practicing the clamping, tighten the 4 outer strings to pull the neck in, clamped the fretboard in 2 places, loosened the strings.

Gluing shims to the dovetail.


The neck is glued on!!

DAY 8 (2/4/23) – I realized yesterday I used the sharp edge of the 3 corner file, vs. the dulled edge, to break the edges of the nut slots. That means I messed up the bottom of the slots. I added 2 layers of paper label to the bottom of the nut and used the nut files to fix the slots. For now, I may make another nut later, I need to get this guitar playing ASAP. Also, I’ll make a pickguard later.

The high E broke while adjusting the nut slot, I replaced it with one from a new Elixir Nanoweb PB Light set. Tuned to “E”, the action is a little under 5/64” low E & 1/16” high E. It sounds great!! Deep and clear!! Much better than the late 60’s H1260, although those strings are older.

DAY 10 (3/29/23) – Clamping the pickguard was a bad idea, the caul dug into the pickguard in 5 places, leaving dents. Then I wet sanded the pickguard with 2000 grit, but the dents are still very obvious. And there is a spotted texture, that could probably be sanded out. Remove it, sand it BEFORE installing, and DO NOT clamp it.

Dents and ripples.




I taped around the pickguard, in preparation for sanding.


After sanding with 2000 grit, with slightly soapy water for lubrication.  The dents and texture still show.  


While removing the pickguard with the spatula and hair dryer, I burned the tip of my thumb pretty good.  A 1/4" x 3/4" blister appeared pretty quickly!  And a 3/8" diameter spot on the tip of my index finger, although the skin is thicker and it doesn't seem to bother me.