Official Luthiers Forum!

Hey folks,
I have a rookie question for you. I had a fretboard and pre-carved neck from lmi. I am about to cut the board to the width of the neck. When I line up the neck to the slot above the first fret on the fretboard (where the nut will sit) I notice that the the 12 fret doesnt precisely meet with the body. It's off by a very small amount.. Not much.. But it makes me want to know: is it more important that I line up the neck to the exact spot where the headstock begins to angle back, or is more important to have 12th fret directly over top of where the neck intersects with the body. I do believe that i have the correct scale length of fretboard for the particular neck in question. Thanks for your input!
-Nik

How far off is it ? I think if you are off a little bit at the 12th fret vs body - it is not a big deal - the most important part is the distance to the saddle from the nut - can you post a picture ?

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It's this new idea from recent decades that everyone gets a participation award. - MUX

Maybe they left a little extra on the neck for final fitting to the body. I probably remove ~ 1/32" from the neck while adjusting the neck angle and fitting to the body.
If you're happy with the joint as is...leave it alone! I'd rather have the 12th fret joint off the body a bit than a big wide nut to fill the gap.