One of the repairs on my bench this week is a 1954 Gibson J-50 in for a neck reset and new frets. Every Gibson (and Guilds) that I come across seem to be a little different every time. They always need the lacquer scribed around the neck as the neck and body are finished together, that is unless previously reset. The variations seem to come with the dovetail geometry as it tends to vary slightly from guitar to guitar. Many times I find odd shims on the heel-to-body surface. This is in contrast to Martin neck joints, as the neck and body are finished separately and the dovetails seem to be very consistent. Often Gibsons and Guilds require some kind of finish touchup around the the heel where it meets the body due to the scoring of the lacquer. I lucked out on this one as the fit is nice and clean to the body.
Next up is planing the fingerboard for frets. As with any fret job, it all starts with the trueness of the finger board. It is this crucial sanding of the board that dictates how level each fret seats relative to one another. If done properly, the subsequent leveling of the frets will result in minimal milling and leave enough material for future resurfacing.
