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After looking online at what these are going for, I'd like to do a good job on it because I'd like to get rid of it when I'm done. I don't much care for the tone but I guess others like them. Hopefully I can at least get enough to buy my materials for my first scratch build when I'm done. I've heard that these are some of the toughest resets to do so I'm going to take it slow. Any advice welcome.

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Hutch

Get the heck off the couch and go build a guitar!!!!

First, like Gibsons you'll have to score the finish between neck and body as they were finished together. That will prevent chunks of lacquer to break when you take the neck off.
Procedure is the same as Martins, drill a couple of holes at the 15th fret to access and steam the neck pocket. IME the major issues with some Guilds is that there is literally no space between neck block and dovetail for the steam to go. Those may require a long drill bit for the steam to access the bottom of the joint. Otherwise some others go off easily as IME the dovetail is really a triangular mortise and tenon, and not a French dovetail like Martins.

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Laurent Brondel
West Paris, Maine - USA
http://www.laurentbrondel.com/

I do recall doing one years ago and having some issues with it. You may need to remove the heal cap and inject steam through there as well.

BTW ditto on the tone. It sounded over built to me.

If I'm reading that right, there wasn't really enough room to get the needle in to the gap?

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Hutch

Get the heck off the couch and go build a guitar!!!!

So, last nights neck removal went about as bad as it could I think. If you read the Dufas thread, you know what I mean. The neck is still holding on with no sign of letting go and I crunched the upper bout on one side. I can fix that and make everthing work but I probably will have to give it away when I'm done. That's not a big deal either. I still need to remove the stubborn thing so I can reset it.

My next step will be to take the suggestion of removeng the heel cap and try to get some steam in from there or mabe through the strap pin hole. I really don't want to let this go on too long but my other idea is to saw it off and bolt it. Problem with that is, the heel isn't very deep and I don't think there's enough meat to hold a screw near the bottom.

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Hutch

Get the heck off the couch and go build a guitar!!!!

If it's an Ebony fretboard you can cut it off at the 14th fret to access the joint. I did that on an epoxied Alvarez neck and was able to repair it with a good cosmetic result.
I know a good repairperson that drills through the headblock into the joint and has great results but I've never done that. I know there are some tricks to it to prevent damage inside the box.
I can sneak guitars into a local clinic and X ray the joint to see where the gap is and that has proved very valuable in a few cases.

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It's not what you don't know that hurts you, it's what you do know that's wrong.

Yeah try the heal cap. I think that's what did it for me. That and the combination through the fret slot going back and forth. I remember once I was done with it the body joint had considerable damage to the finish with ghosting and the wood on the neck and head block was swollen out of proportion. It was a laminated neck if I remember correctly. But it all came together in the end. Good luck.

Success

I think I may have learned something in the process. I think by over clamping I may have been actually binding the dovetail and actually making it tighter. This morning I removed the heel cap and put some steam in there and then I flipped it over and did my normal setup but this time I just put a small amount of pressure on the clamp, enough to move the neck if it wasn't glued in. Then I waited, and waited and it just popped right off.

I feel pretty confident that I can repeat this on any neck down the road without issue. Not that I want to go into the neck reset business.

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Hutch

Get the heck off the couch and go build a guitar!!!!

OK, Irenes gone and my power is back. Started cleaning up the mess from steaming and I'm ready to start refitting the joint. The fretboard has a 1/16" mahogany shim under it where it attaches to the soundboard. Do I really need this shim or should I set the neck deeper and get rid of it? I'm curious if this is the way it came from the factory or did someone else reset this neck. I got the guitar when it was about 12 years old.

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Hutch

Get the heck off the couch and go build a guitar!!!!

I don't remember seeing a shim on the Guild I reset the neck of. If you set it deeper it may solve the high action issue but it will also lower the strings over the top. It's hard to know without looking but I think I would leave the shim and just reset the angle.

Seems strange to me. I don't understand what might be different about this guitar that would require a shim. I migh just taper it same as I remove from the heel.

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Hutch

Get the heck off the couch and go build a guitar!!!!

It's done as far as the reset and refret go. In hindsight, I wish I had removed the shim and dropped the neck in deeper to allow for a flat fretboard over the body. Maybe someday I'll do it again. Anyway, it plays great now but it still sounds like a Guild . Looks like . At least now I have a player while I prepare to start building one from scratch.

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Hutch

Get the heck off the couch and go build a guitar!!!!