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I cut the 15 degree angle the wrong way. The top of the joint ends under the fingerboard instead of the headstock veneer. I guess I fell asleep....

Is there anything structurally wrong with this??

Thanks,

Doug

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Guitars...One's too many...Twenty is not enough.

I'm not quite sure I understand... but unless you have the truss rod channel routed out or the heel already attached, can't you just turn it upside-down?

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I'd like to be able to prove, just for once, that money wouldn't make me happy...

I just started the neck. I started with a 3" x 24" piece of Mahogany. From one end, I measured down 8 inches and drew a square line across the neck.

I then drew a 15 degree angle on the side starting at the square line and continuing futher down the neck (away from the end that I initally measure down 8").

This is where I went wrong. I should have drawn the 15 degree line toward the end where I measure down 8".

The top end of the joint ends underneath the fingerboard and not the usual headstock. If I flip it, I don't have enough length for the neck shaft.

Is this structually unsound?

Thanks,

Dougdubell38752.5997106481

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Guitars...One's too many...Twenty is not enough.

My first 5 necks were done like that, if I'm understanding you correctly; essentially, the entire headstock is one piece. Haven't moved an inch, work fine, is a perfectly accepted 'alternative' way of jointing the headstock. The only 'downside', if you glue it with a glue that creeps, is that it could theoretically creep and cause some odd humps in the fingerboard, as the joint's slightly more in 'shear'.

This said, there are thousands of instruments out there with this kind of scarf joint.

What about the glue line? It will now appear on the neck shaft.......is it very noticable or unattractive?

Thanks,

Doug

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Guitars...One's too many...Twenty is not enough.

[QUOTE=dubell] What about the glue line? It will now appear on the neck shaft.......is it very noticable or unattractive?

Thanks,

Doug[/QUOTE]

I don't find it all that noticeable, or unattractive. I don't actually have any pictures of necks I've done that way (those were my pre-digital camera days, and the ones I've got lying around here have tinted finishes on the necks). In mahogany, particuarly, it's quite invisible. Searching the net only showed up a few maple examples, though:

http://www.warmoth.com/guitar/necks/anatomy_content.cfm?fuse action=13deg

http://www.jemsite.com/tech/img/neck_onepiece_scarf.jpg

Noticable, yes. Unattractive or not is up to you, but I'm not crazy about the look of scarf joint in the first place, especially this one.

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Rian Gitar og Mandolin

Doug, all should be well structurally...this way just moves the glue line down as has already been discussed...I've seen both sides argued and have never heard of any problems either way...

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Thanks everyone. I'll try it out. I appreciate the advise.

Doug

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Guitars...One's too many...Twenty is not enough.

I made this mistake more than once and never had any structural problem. I think the slight difference in gluing surfaces doesn't affect seriously the strenght of the neck.
Gg

I've seen a few Gibsons with the scarf joint in a similar position. In fact I've got a '72 SG that's that way.

[QUOTE=dubell]

The top end of the joint ends underneath the fingerboard and not the usual headstock. If I flip it, I don't have enough length for the neck shaft.

Doug[/QUOTE]

Been there done that. Makes a great argument for making a 12 fret neck on your next guitar and using this neck for that.

BTW, I'm currently building a 12 fretter

I have done that intentionally on some koa necks where there was no other way to make the koa long enough for a complete neck. It looked essentially unnoticable and worked well structurally.

Might be worth adding that this 'odd' method of scarf jointing seems to be the standard for electrics. I find a line along the back of the headstock (if you don't veneer it) more obvious than a curved one along the neck shaft.

[QUOTE=dubell] What about the glue line? It will now appear on the neck shaft.......is it very noticable or unattractive?[/QUOTE]


Someone posted some photos a few months ago which they had enhanced the joint with thin slice of darker wood. I thought it was a good alternative instead of trying to hide the joint. Looked good to me.

[QUOTE=D.L.Huskey] [QUOTE=dubell] What about the glue line? It will now appear on the neck shaft.......is it very noticable or unattractive?[/QUOTE]


Someone posted some photos a few months ago which they had enhanced the joint with thin slice of darker wood. I thought it was a good alternative instead of trying to hide the joint. Looked good to me.[/QUOTE]

Ah yes! I'd forgotten about that. That was Jimmy Caldwell's site, found the link in the archives:

http://caldwellguitars.com/html/neckbuild.html