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A guitar student of mine brought me this guitar he had because the action was too high.

The neck needs to come off, but it seems like more than a reset is necessary. The side has come away from the kerfing, and if I flex the break open it seems the neck block is loose as well. I wonder about removing the neck, first with so much already loose will the dovetail release as usual with steam in the pocket, and my second hesitation is all the cloudy white goop, there's a lot of old glue under the fingerboard extension, and around the cheeks of the dovetail. It looks to me like someone else has already been in there, and perhaps gluing the cheeks onto the body is what caused the side to pull away from the kerfing?

I realize I haven't asked very clear questions, I suppose I'm interested in the initial reactions of some more experienced eyes...

Is this much glue normal in an old Harmony neck joint? It was all over the cheeks too, and it's white, and not "crystally" brown like the rest of the squeeze out on the inside of this guitar.

The neck block was broken like I initially thought. This was a pain to get apart.

Looks like someone else tried to fix it once, but it could be original. I did a reset on a Gibson once that had enough glue for two guitars in one joint.

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"Act your age, not your shoe size" - Prince

Am I wrong in assuming the tenon of a dovetail should be centered on the heel of the neck?

That guitar is a mess. Yes, the tenon should be centered. Never seen one like that.

I've seen old Gibsons with off-center tenons, but none as far off as that one.

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formerly known around here as burbank
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http://www.patfosterguitars.com

Yes - have worked on Les Pauls with offset tenons. No big deal, just pay attention.

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"Act your age, not your shoe size" - Prince

So, in repairing the neck block would it be best to use a glue that is heat/moisture resistant so that any future normal work around the neck pocket won't dissolve the whole thing?

Use Titebond, or I won't respect you.

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"Act your age, not your shoe size" - Prince

Haha, well I always do. Just thought in this case there's parts a person may want to take apart in the future, and parts they'd probably hope never come apart sitting next to each other.

I may just wrap it all in duct tape and call it done...

Nothing wrong with using using a good epoxy like West System to just repair the busted off part of the neck block back to itself. I have done this before piecing broken dovetail parts back together for the same reason Conner is asking about, to not have mended pieces come apart if the joint is ever worked on again. Use Original Titebond or hot hide glue for the rest of the repair.

I am new here...so hello everyone. I am recuperating from symptoms due to my COVID vaccine and was bored, so I found you all on the Internet. I was just reading up on a recent post from "KOA" about an H-62. My new website is in process, and my designer, Andy Lackow included some photos of a complete restoration I did on a Silvertone Espanada. I have restored at least a couple dozen of the "Artist Jazz" series including the Espanada, the H-61/62/63/64 and my favorite, the model 1427. I have encountered three of these guitars so far that had dovetails that were not centered with the body, including the Espanada, but that fit perfectly with the body...we can only speculate what went on at the Harmony factory. It is also not uncommon for the neck blocks to come loose, and the tops to warp and cave it. Some trivia: Gibson did manufacture early bodies and necks for this model under contract with Harmony, and later sold Harmony their P-13 Pickups when the P-90 was introduced. The wiring harnesses also contain the coveted 50's controls and parts that were used in vintage Gibson guitars. I have a 56 Kay 152-B in the shop now that I'm patiently bringing back to life. It's the Kantilever model which is also a nightmare. We'll post photos once the website if fully operational. Here's my site for right now: https://studio3d21.wixsite.com/george-goumas/ . Wishing you all the very best during these difficult times. George Goumas