Loose Neck Joint - Gibson ES125T

[onewent]

Greetings, I have a '64 ES 125T and the neck joint is slightly loose.  You can see the heel gap in the photo, but it's not wide enough to insert the steam needle cleanly.  I guess it's pull the fret above the joint.  Wouldn't be surprised if the block is cracked.  My questions are:

1.  tips for separating the fb extension?  heat or try it dry with thin spatula?

2.  Upon reassembly, where should I expect my straight edge to meet at the original bridge to determine proper neck angle?  May need to adjust the angle while the neck is off..

..thanks, Tom

[William F.Eden]

 I would try it dry first and mybe put a little heat on the spatula first. I always have my strait edge clearing the bridge by 1/16th"     NOT THE SADLE. GOOD LUCK BILL.''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

[Jeff Highland]

Well the traditional method of fixing this would be a couple of screws through the heel like on my '67 es125tdc.

Done before I got it.

With neck angle on these, I presume you still have the original timber adjustable floating bridge.

Evaluate the string height above the fretboard and above the dogear pickup. I presume this has just the single neck pickup

Is there adequate string break angle over the saddle? Is there still adjustment available

You may just need to shim the pocket to get it tight.rather than cut away the heel

 

 

[Howard Klepper]

It may not be a dovetail joint.  IIRC, those could be straight mortise and tenon. 

[onewent]

Thanks for the tips..  Jeff:  Yes, I've seen enough of the 'screw through the heel' jobs on old guitars.  And, yes, the ES125 has the two-piece floating bridge, and single pu.  So you're suggesting if the angle is good, only shims to tighten the joint and reglue, correct?

Howard, I'm pretty sure this is a dt joint, I've seen photos of some repairs of 60s 125s on the net.  I believe the m & t appears later, or on other Gibson ES guitars.  Can anyone in the know clarify?   Tom

[Jeff Highland]

Yes that is what I am suggesting.Just get it back to original unless there is a problem with action or break angle over the bridge.

I too suspect that this will be a dovetail rather than a mortice and tennon which would have been used on the later es335 models with a full centreblock rather than the hollowbody es125 models