Stick Glue - Neck Reset

[E Michael Johnson]

A friend of mine who happens to be blind asked me to adjust his old Alvarez.  The action was pretty high and the saddle was almost depleted so I thought I might try to do a neck reset.  As I examined it I realized that at some point hot stick (plastic) glue had been used to fill a gap between the back and the neck block.  I fear that the whole thing was attached with this same messy stuff.

What is the best way to dissolve this stuff?  I explained to my friend that his instrument may end up being sacrificial because of the process so he bought himself a new guitar and gave me the freedom to give it a try and to give the guitar to someone who needs one if it turns out playable.

I mostly build ukes and have only done one neck removal as a practice project from a clunker someone found in the trash.  Got it off ok, but the guitar went back into the trash!

Any ideas/advice? 

[Demetry Merkuloff]

There are a few types of thermoplastic stick glue, many of them can be removed with alcohol.

[E Michael Johnson]

Thanks, I'll give it a try.  What could possibly go wrong?

[Matt Dreher]

I have never run into this before but i would speculate that the traditional method of steaming the joint would still remove it since it is a heat sensitive glue. I don't know how runny it becomes with alcohol but you might try doing the steam first to soften and remove the neck and then use the alcohol to clean it up. I am just wondering if the alcohol would cause it to be runny and make clean up on the finished surface a bit more difficult. If you could post your results of what worked and how things turned out that would be great.