Martin D-2832 Shenandoah 1983

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  • Martin D-2832 Shenandoah 1983

    Posted by Jay Daniels on August 8, 2023 at 10:07 am

    This is a 1983 Martin Shenandoah D-2832. From what I’ve found, this joint continues to be used on similar models until at least 1987, after which I don’t know.

    It has a single bolt accessed inside the body behind a wood cover. The face of the heel is inset a mm or two and is glued fully at the face of the body joint. Drill holes under the 14th fret right at the joint to loosen the glue.The neck is removed laterally rather than vertically.

    They also used some unknown glue which is really tough to loosen so go slow with the fretboard extension removal. And be careful not to release the extension where the dovetail is, which holds the truss rod.

    There appears to be a little bit of glue in that dovetail, so I used a pin vise to drill holes through the upper cross brace to the joint, and inserted heat sticks to help with the removal. I don’t know if this was necessary, as there wasn’t much glue and it didn’t cause much trouble, but if you’re having trouble maybe try that. They definitely helped with the fretboard extension removal as the heat lamp I was using wasn’t enough to loosen whatever glue they used.

    This was a complicated removal but wasn’t overly difficult once I knew what I was dealing with.

    Hope it helps!

  • 3 Replies
  • Peter Meyer Peter Meyer Stringed Instrument Repair

    Member
    December 6, 2024 at 3:23 pm

    Hey Jay

    i was looking for a Shenanadoah neck reset and found yours .Ive been trying to pull this neck today ive done lots of resets before but this one is a Bear! i still cant get it to release it seems to be stuck around the truss area i started with heats sticks then moved on to steam everything is free except that mentioned area im going to back off for the moment as not to create any damage any ideas? ps . i also drilled a hole under the neck block area up into the bottom of that dovetalled area to get heat and steam up there to get it to release so for no go

    • Ian Davlin The Looth Group

      Administrator
      December 7, 2024 at 6:23 am

      Hey, how are you pulling on the neck ? It looks like the regular neck popper jig isn’t going to cut the mustard.

    • Peter Meyer Peter Meyer Stringed Instrument Repair

      Member
      December 9, 2024 at 12:51 pm

      Well” here’s the update

      I finally got that neck to release just as the old saying goes “perseverance furthers” this had to have been one of the most difficullt neck pulls ever encountered and yes that glue is some weird stuff the source of the issue was the dovetailed insert around the truss rod was loaded with glue and very stubborn .I worked a good chunk of Friday trying to get this neck free this was the first time i encountered the particular joint style proving to be a real bear! Thinking the better of it i knew to was time to stop and rethink my approach.as i walk way from the bench i Knew i was going to have to go old school on this neck i decided i was going to have to cut the to the fretboard off at the 12th fret to reveal the joint i didn’t relish the thought but couldn’t figure any other way to do it .So with a weekend break to clear my head the help of heat sticks,a hot knife water and steam and about 2 hours! it came free Tough stuff !! I’m now officially relieved. Thanks for the post Jay and Ian’s response yes i did pull the neck horizontally and not vertically,, so in the end this one was a tough one and the worst is behind me. I hope that this post will be useful to someone down the road who may encounter a similar problem

      All the best from a fella wrestling with guitar problems somewhere in a basement in Maine

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