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Hello everyone, very cold but sunny day here in Canberra Australia this morning. Think I will wait for things to warm up a bit before I head on down to the workshop. Gotta get a heater. No freezing.

Anyway, I have been searching through the archives looking for discussions on the design options there are for the area where the neck joins the body on a cutaway. I must be asking the wrong question because I can't find anything but it must be there somewhere. Anyone seen topics on this somewhere or have any thoughts?
Cheers
Dom

Hi Dom,
what exactly are you trying to find out?

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Peter M.
Cornerstone Guitars
http://www.cornerstoneukes.com

hi dominic! what part of canberra are you in. i lived here for a long while.

like the others, it really will help to be more specific about your question. then you will receive more advice than you can absorb, no doubt accompanied by photos to illustrate.

Thanks guys. Michael, I live on the side of Mount Rogers overlooking what were the frozen fields of NSW this morning.

Ok, I am interested in the different methods people use to bring the side on the cutaway to the neck joint area and the design of the neck heal and how they relate to each other. Some seem to form a square neck block and the tapered heal of the neck leaves a triangle of the block exposed at the heal end. Others seem to use a more parallel heal on their necks which meets the neck block area square.

I was also wondering if anyone tried a combination of the two by twisting the side as it approaches the neck block slightly to eliminate the exposed area and make the neck flow smoothly into the body.
Cheers
Dom

I go the square heel route

some are neater than others, first the pay it forward Walnut sitka mini jumbo.....


And a walnut Sitka Mandonaught mandolin from a while back

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My soundclick xx luthier blog xx luthier soundclick

First let me say that I don't do cutaways, never found the need for one. But I think to really make them look right and function as intended, the neck must seemlessly flow into the body. I was hunting the archives but can't find the thread I was looking for but this is the look that I mean. This one is by Wade Sylvester, a builder whose take on design I really like. I hope he'll come in here and give more details.



Colin

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I don't believe in anything, I simply make use of a set of reasonable working hypotheses.

[QUOTE=Colin S] First let me say that I don't do cutaways, never found the need for one.[/QUOTE]

Colin thou art a wise man.

In all the years I've played guitar, I've never needed a cutaway...and since adopting Dave White's 16 fret body join idea onto the Cittern, there's no going back for me!!!

I really like cutaways... Especially with a 12 fret guitar.
Old, hard working hands & carpal tunnel syndrome make playing most fourteen fretters a hand numbing experience for me, so last year I completed a 12 fret cutaway with a mid sized body. I like it so much I decided to keep it. It's a very popular guitar & I have two more on the go (one pre-sold) and another has just been commissioned.
Lots of builders make a generous pad for the heel to bear against & make no effort to fair the body into the heel. Aesthetically, I prefer a smooth blend into the heel.
It's WAY easier to leave a ledge on the treble side of the heel And most players don't seem to mind this design.
If you are going to make a smooth transition, you have to be very accurate with mold & the mortise placement.
I build my heels square, but I've been thinking about having them square on the treble side & tapered on the bass side.
Check our C.Fox's site... There used to be a few pics of one of his cutaways where the heel has a traditional tapered shape & the body is contoured to match. Very cool... And very challenging to get right.
As always... There's more than one way to skin that poor old cat.
Whichever way you decide to go, Have fun with it!
Cheers,   Dan

Thanks, I suppose the critical bit is getting the exact width as the side approaches the fretboard edge because once the neck joint is cut, everything else can be blended while the heal is being shaped.

I do like the idea of twisting the side slightly to meet a tapered neck. I will check out C.Fox's web site.
Thanks again.
Dom

Is this what you mean?

http://www.truenorthguitars.com/Cutaway.html

This site has some nice pics though not a lot of "how to"'s.

Rob