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Maine

On the 2 dovetails I have worked on (both re-sets on older instruments) I just put the joint together and string it up with no screw - joint didn't budge.

Ed

Yes -- this held without the screw as well, but I was going to carry it around, have other people play it, etc., with high odds that the neck could get hit and knocked loose. It seemed like prudent insurance.

A couple of sound samples, courtesy of my friend Jud Caswell who, unlike me, can really play the guitar. For best results, listen with a pair of high-quality headphones.

I've shaved down the neck profile a bit more, trying to get it to stop being a baseball bat. I keep being surprised by how much has to come off. It's finally there, I think.

I've finally glued the neck in place. I made a proper bone saddle. I'm working on getting the action set up properly.

This picture may be of interest. More light would have helped, but there is enough to see the major details of the bracing.

Sounds great !!!

Brent

After a diversion to decide between a nut with equal spacing or equal spaces (see elsewhere for that discussion) I decided prefer equal spacing, i.e. the centerlines of the strings are all the same distance apart. I got a nut made for that setup, got the string heights set at the nut and the 12th fret, and I guess it's petty much DONE! The only problem left that I know about is the intonation -- it's somewhat off. I imagine I'd need to fill the saddle slot and recut it to fix it, which I am disinclined to do, so I'll live with it until it bugs me so much I can't stand it anymore. That may never happen. We'll see. It's not egregiously bad.

I am extremely pleased by the sound. I lucked out with my self-concocted bracing pattern, the increased body depth seems to have helped, and I think I may have gotten a "magic top;" a top that, for whatever reason, sounds exceptionally good.

Good going!

It sure pleases me when I string up a project and hear it speak for the first time. Never know what to expect and my three scratchbuilt guitars all sound good, all different. Wonderful affirmation.

MaineGeezer wrote:The only problem left that I know about is the intonation -- it's somewhat off. I imagine I'd need to fill the saddle slot and recut it to fix it, which I am disinclined to do

If you have the usual problem of fretted 12th fret note being sharp of the 12th fret harmonic, you can fix it at the nut end too. Firstly make sure the strings are resting on the body side of the nut, not the tuner side, and if not file the slots downhill to the tuners to correct it.
Try wedging small pieces of something suitably hard under the string at the nut to shorten the scale length slightly, and if that works either cut a new nut with a slight overhang over the fretboard, cut a notch out of the existing nut to allow it to overhang, or (most drastic of all) very carefully shorten the fretboard very slightly.

Fretting at the 12th is a little flat compared to the harmonic. I need to move the saddle toward the neck just a bit. Unfortunately, there is not much bridge in front of the saddle to move the slot into. Maybe I could use your idea of notching and extending the nut, except do it to the saddle. I'm not sure how well it would work on a saddle, but it might be worth a try.

It's not off by much -- I expect I'll do my best to ignore it.