Re: repair or replace neck block
I give complete deference to John and the other real luthiers here, who all have a lot more experience and ability and smarts than I do. I'm only chiming in because I just replaced a disintegrated neck block ... only I had to replace about 75% of the block, i.e. the area all the way around the mortise. So a few things I learned: You need to use form to secure the whole body not only to keep everything steady, but to be sure that (1) the ribs don't flex when you remove part of that block and (2) when you go to put it back together, you can get the peghead-to-neck-to-tailpiece all aligned.
On #1: I found that the ribs, which should have been at 90 degrees relative to the table, were at 89 to 91 or so when I went to put everything back together. That meant dry fitting the back (which I had to remove) didn't fit and will have to be molding-ed some way. It's possible that I screwed it up when I built it--there is some empirical evidence for this conclusion. However--and remember I'm replacing a lot more than you are--remember that the neck block is one major cross-body structural support, so when it's less stable, there may be some torque on the ribs. I thought about this and that I probably should secure the whole thing in braces of some sort before I sawed it out, but I didn't take action.
On #2: I did smartly take counsel of my fears of losing the peghead-neckblock-tailpiece line. My fix was rather gross and sort of embarrassing and I won't confess to it, but a finer fix would be what others suggest. That's what I'll do if there's ever a next time. I kinda felt like a surgeon doing experimental surgery: I was successful in my main experimental effort, so who cares if the patient died?
I don't think this is a particularly difficult repair, but then that's because I tried it and so far it's working. I'm willing to try anything and learn from it. I figure (and this is a piece of advice, by the way): once there's a major problem, the instrument is throw-away-able. And throw-away-able instruments are great opportunities to push the envelope and learn some skills. Because, hey, it's already consigned to the dust heap. If the repair doesn't work, it's the only failure in life where you won't make things worse. (Of course the other side of the coin is that if it works, it will be invisible, and we're the only people you can brag to. But your band of brothers will appreciate your efforts.)
Go for it. Post pictures as you do it. Inquiring minds ...
belbein
The bad news is that what doesn't kill us makes us stronger. The good news is that what kills us makes it no longer our problem
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