Larry Parker's Page

Larry -

Well, I don't know of any such reference or resource for neck joints on imported guitars. Sometimes about all you can do is try asking in forums to find somebody who has worked on the exact vintage and model. Often enough you just have to dig in to see what's up. Asian guitars may have dovetail, epoxy, bolts or dowels.

Well, there's no question about the bridge - it has to go. Bridgeplate should get a nice solid maple overlay - it looks like the original is spruce. (I prefer to have the grain parallel to t he top grain and the pull of the strings for extra rigidity.) Clearly all loose braces should be reglued.

Frets are a matter of playability. If they are worn or the neck is uneven, then refretting sounds like best option.

Finish is a cosmetic issue, and for some, refinishing is less desirable than "maintaining" the original. I don't take a hard line on that, except to say that for marketability, refinishing hardly ever is a good idea these days. I'd talk it over with the owner.

As a rule, we set it to be exact when fretted at the 12th, but for some instruments and players it can work a bit better if set a tiny bit flat. It's almost always better to be flat when out of tune rather than sharp, so if there are seriously sharp notes in other places or if the player tends to stretch the string sideways a bit, then it may be simplest to set the bridge flat on one or more strings.

I use cyanoacrylate as a finish fill for touchup on polyester finishes. Don't use any accelerator - just let it harden slowly.

Larry - Mandolin nex are usually dovetailed, except bowl backs which are usually big fat dowels. That said, the imported ones can have just about any neck attachment. There's so much tension and so little joint area, most of the time, we just send a warped one off to a quiet retirement. . .