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I’m debating painting the neck and body separate so I can do a matte on the neck and gloss on the body. Does anyone do this or do you guys normally paint them together?

If by paint you mean the finish topcoat, then yes. I do Osmo on the neck and poly on the bodies. That being said, even if I’m using the same finish on both they are finished before the neck is bolted on and extension glued in place.




Brad


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Same as Brad.

Every time for near 30 years…

I spray them, finish sand them then buff them, separately.

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Measure Twice,

Karl Borum

Yep. I even do them separately when finishing them in the same material.

Nice.

When sanding the neck, how do you avoid rounding over the edges of the neck where they meet the body?

Sanding blocks and awareness.

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Peter Havriluk

Every one I make.

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Peter Havriluk

I only sand with blocks. I learned that painting cars.

I've been putting the neck back on the body before sanding the end of the neck. I'm terrified that one errant sanding stroke will give me a gap between the neck and body. It seems like there is a lot of opportunity to mess up.

There is, but that’s where skill and practice come into play. I never sand from the joint to the heel cap, but rather always the opposite way, careful to not crest the ridge, if you know what I mean.

Usually there will be finish on the cheeks that would get between the neck and the body, but usually, with careful chisel work and flossing you can get that joint mint.

Doing them separately makes life simpler in so many ways, from buffing to repairability.

Always separately, very light touch at the heel end usually using an shaped eraser at the heel end of the neck.

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The name catgut is confusing. There are two explanations for the mix up.

Catgut is an abbreviation of the word cattle gut. Gut strings are made from sheep or goat intestines, in the past even from horse, mule or donkey intestines.

Otherwise it could be from the word kitgut or kitstring. Kit meant fiddle, not kitten.

Every time, as I generally use a M & T neck joint. And, assuming the neck angle and fit are ok, I will floss the end of the neck where it meets the body. I'll use a fine sandpaper such as p320 to remove any laquer excess.

I would bet that no one here finishes the neck and body together. That would create a lot of inside corners that are difficult or impossible to sand and buff evenly.

If a person were worried about rounding over the edges of the heel where it meets up with the body (a reasonable fear), they could temporarily attach the heel to a block of wood slightly larger than the heel, so that files or sandpaper would not easily be capable of such mayhem. Take off the wooden block when done with shaping/sanding. Just an idea. Those edges are definitely places to be careful.

In the Spanish tradition the guitar is made on a solera; essentially it's built around the neck. This facilitates getting the neck angle right, but usually makes it difficult to re-set the angle. And, of course, you have to finish the neck and body together. A person buying a Classical guitar may well reject it if there is no build-up of finish at the base of the neck, and steel string buyers may reject a guitar if there is, since it would imply some difficulty in re-setting the neck.

Thanks for the feedback. I am using a dovetail joint, so I don’t think I can floss the joint. At least, I haven’t had any luck in trying that so far.

I think I’m going to make a female joint to accept the neck and do my same that way.

Thomas, assuming your fit is ok, I don't see any reason you couldn't floss. Just hold the neck and body together loosely enough to insert some sandpaper and use a couple of strokes. All you're trying to do is flatten the points of contact, and it doesn't take much to remove the laquer. Good luck, Mike.