Dovetail v. Bolt (my long experience)

General Information about Building Kit Guitars
B. Howard
Posts: 709
Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2012 9:42 pm
Location: Hummelstown, PA
Contact:

Re: Dovetail v. Bolt (my long experience)

Post by B. Howard »

tippie53 wrote: The dovetail in a guitar neck is different than the drawer dovetail .
Absolutely. Most cabinetmakers and caseworkers call the type of dovetail we use for guitar necks a compound dovetail or a sliding dovetail. The type used on drawers and boxes would be the standard or simple dovetail. That always made me chuckle....ain't nothing simple about chopping 16 pairs of those suckers per box and having it all go together without twisting up.
You never know what you are capable of until you actually try....

Brian Howard
www.brianhowardguitars.com
Taylor authorized service
Custom finishing services

Brian howard's guitar building & repair blog
http://www.brianhowardguitars.com
rienk
Posts: 94
Joined: Tue Nov 27, 2012 9:56 pm

Re: Dovetail v. Bolt (my long experience)

Post by rienk »

tippie53 wrote: Martin is now using a simple dovetail to replace the mortise and tenon on the 16 and lower series. I can't say that it is an improvement .
What is the difference between a "simple" dovetail, and the ones they use for other series?
I assumed that all DT joints on a guitar were compound...
tippie53
Posts: 7011
Joined: Fri Mar 03, 2006 7:09 pm
Location: Hegins, Pa
Contact:

Re: Dovetail v. Bolt (my long experience)

Post by tippie53 »

neck joints used by martin

The dovetail on the Martin neck uses a 20 degree dovetail with a 9 degree taper on the tenon.
The bolt on or mortise and tenon is the same across the board 3/4 in wide and 1 bolt it is a glued joint
the simple dovetail is what is also known as a sliding dovetail.
John Hall
Blues Creek Guitars Inc
Authorized CF Martin Repair Center
president of Association of Stringed Instrument Artisans
http://www.bluescreekguitars.com
rienk
Posts: 94
Joined: Tue Nov 27, 2012 9:56 pm

Re: Dovetail v. Bolt (my long experience)

Post by rienk »

tippie53 wrote:neck joints used by martin

The dovetail on the Martin neck uses a 20 degree dovetail with a 9 degree taper on the tenon.
The bolt on or mortise and tenon is the same across the board 3/4 in wide and 1 bolt it is a glued joint
the simple dovetail is what is also known as a sliding dovetail.
I'm not sure I'm visualizing it properly... how does a sliding dovetail get pinched?
B. Howard
Posts: 709
Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2012 9:42 pm
Location: Hummelstown, PA
Contact:

Re: Dovetail v. Bolt (my long experience)

Post by B. Howard »

It tapers both directions so as it drops in it gets tighter.
You never know what you are capable of until you actually try....

Brian Howard
www.brianhowardguitars.com
Taylor authorized service
Custom finishing services

Brian howard's guitar building & repair blog
http://www.brianhowardguitars.com
tippie53
Posts: 7011
Joined: Fri Mar 03, 2006 7:09 pm
Location: Hegins, Pa
Contact:

Re: Dovetail v. Bolt (my long experience)

Post by tippie53 »

The simple or sliding dovetail won't get pinched it is just an angled tenon . That will not get tighter as it goes into the joint the standard will.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L3YJh9OT4mw
here you can see the joint and the double taper. I don't have any pictures of the new sliding dovetail but it is a simple joint.
You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.
John Hall
Blues Creek Guitars Inc
Authorized CF Martin Repair Center
president of Association of Stringed Instrument Artisans
http://www.bluescreekguitars.com
Post Reply