Kay neck construction

[m_Glanton]

Hello, I'm new to the board and have a question about the construction of Kay mandolins. Is anyone familiar with the neck block on Kays? I need to reset the neck on one. I have reset necks on guitars but always take a cautious approach to some thing new. I'm trying to avoid pulling the fret board to see what the neck attach looks like but may have to if I can't get any good advice.

[Paul Hostetter]

They are usually simple dovetails, at least the older Chicago-made ones were. They are also born to die because the necks and/or blocks are basswood, which compresses quite a bit and makes for a poor joint. When you refit the neck, make sure it is very tight.

[m_Glanton]

Paul, thanks for the response. On the Kay archtop guitars I have done neck resets on, the dovetail cavity was located under the second fret from where the neck meets the body. Is this true on the mandolin also? The mandolin I have is, I'm going to say, a mid 50's, solid spruce top, solid mahogany back and sides, triple bound and the finish is excellant. Definately worth the effort if its done right. Unfortuntely, the neck is bass. I plan on planing and refretting after the neck reset.

[DerTiefster]

For future reference for anyone who finds this thread, a "Kay" mandolin (Stromberg-Voisinet) Venetian style with the fingerboard off and neck joint exposed is shown by eastmountain in this thread. (http://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/showthread.php?70781-Stromberg-Voisinet-mandolin-repair-questions) I'd been looking for a Kay neck joint photo to guide my feeble attempts at disassembly and repair of an old "ice cream cone" headstock Kay mandolin with split top, as shown in this thread (http://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/showthread.php?77734-Unlabeled-(Kay-)-A-style-with-beautiful-wood-and-a-binding) and this thread (http://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/showthread.php?78001-Repairing-old-solid-wood-Kay-A-style). I expect to put more pics as I progress ("plan for success," they say) into the "Unlabeled (Kay)" thread, as I push it toward playable condition. I hope these links are useful to someone. The phrases "neck block" and "neck contruction" paired with Stromberg-Voisinet may let someone find this thread when "Kay" is deleted by the cafe search's "ignore three-letter words" search feature.