Official Luthiers Forum!

so with everyones help (especially john from blue creek) i have now completed the body complete with bindings. i must open up the dovetail, then fit in the neck joint.   should i spray finish the guitar body now or wait till later stages of building? if i do it now what areas must i cover with tape before spraying the body?   

Good Job!
I would recommend routing the dove tail first, that way you can dry fit and adjust your neck without worrying about damaging the finish! After the neck fits properly ( or close to it) you can use the dove tail area to attach the body to some sort of extension (a handle or a stick ) so you can hold and move the body around as you finish it....and hang it to dry from it. After the finish has cured you only have mineo adjstments to do on the neck joint!peterm38757.611724537

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

thanks peter, how do i fit the neck into the dovetail. right now the top of the neck (fretboard side) is sitting about 3/4" high from the body hieght. also are you familiar with classical guitar action because i am wondering what is a standard action i should shoot for.

WAIT!! You still have a lot of handeling of the guitar to do and you don't want to do that with finish on it.
Trust me, I know how excited you can get to get paint on that thing so that it looks finished. But resist the urge or you'll more than likely be doing it over again.
Sorry, I can't help you on the dovetail. Only done one and will never do another if I can help it. Pain in the neck (pun there). John at Blues Creek should be able to offer some help. As well as Bruce Dickey, I know he does dovetails. Good luck.

Ooops, I am sorry, you are building a classical guitar? I thought it was a steel string wit a novetail neck joint! It would be different for a classical guitar, normally the neck would be attached to the box first as the whole guitar is pretty much built with the neck attached! I think we could use some pictures to see how far you've gone, or better yet I would recommend Robbie O'brien's DVD on classical guitar building "Build a Classical Guitar with Robert O'Brien" only about $40 and it will be an investment well worth it!

peterm38757.6378472222

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

That is what I was thinking. Most classicals have Spanish heal construction (the neck & neck block are all one unit. But if you are doing a hybrid I would not know why it would be differnt than a steel string other than the bridge height,location and compensation, as well as neck angle.

The Dick Boak Book which comes with the Martin Kits outlines the fitting of a dovetail.

Dovetails require a rough-in and a final. The rough-in is done before attachment of the fingerboard. Alignment is critical to the success of your guitar.

Once fitted, the neck proceeds to glueup with the fingerboard. Then both the body and the neck get finished separately.

Final is done after buffout of the finish. Little change usually occurs, but due to the fact you have installed finish on a mating surface, the body. You will have to fine tune your fit before gluing.

Most folks quit after the first and move on to the bolt on's. I should have too, but find that after about the third one, it became easier and easier. Everyone worries about future neck resets and rightly so. Therein lies the wisdom of bolt-on's, you should probably at least consider it.Bruce Dickey38757.6626736111

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http://www.dickeyguitars.com

Check pages 23 and 24? Make sure your chisel is REALLY sharp and pay attention to what REALLY needs removing. I am just about to set my first dove tail and so far it looks like I might have succeeded by going REALLY slow taking little bits till I understood what does what - meaning removing this piece sets the neck back, a little more here leans it left, oops rounded the neck joint, but no big cause I'm going so slow. I'm still nervous because the final 1/8" lowering has yet to be done but I think it will go OK.

I have the body finished and will finish set the neck before finishing the neck. Then assemble. Hopefully my finishing is flat enough to allow the neck to set properly.

StewMac Instructions

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Thank You and Best To All

sorry folks i am still confused. i have robbies dvd but he doesnt go into dovetails. i will probably try and get my hands that Dick Boak Book if it goes into dovetails because i cant find any detailed information on setting the neck in the dovetail.

[QUOTE=kama] sorry folks i am still confused. i have robbies dvd but he doesnt go into dovetails. i will probably try and get my hands that Dick Boak Book if it goes into dovetails because i cant find any detailed information on setting the neck in the dovetail. [/QUOTE]

GO to StewMac's site under Kits, then pick the dreadnaught kit. From that page pick the instructions tab and download the instructions in pdf or view them on line. page 23-26 MichaelP38758.6465509259