M&T (bolt-on) Neck Angle

[Darryl Young]

What kind of back center seam do you have?

[RnB]

What kind of back center seam do you have?

It is Marquetry (wood border) I came across at Woodcraft. I actually intended to use only 1 strip of it, but my router got away from me & I got a decent boo-boo. I had to widen the canal & double-up on the strips to take up the difference in width. It's a tad wide looking imo. I staggered the 2 strips to simulate an alternating herringbone effect. If that makes sense?

The strips are fairly thin (.035"/.9mm), so I routed the back to the depth of the strip instead of joining the backstrip to the 2 back pieces as some do.

Woodcraft has quite a few different styles of inlay, but I'm not sure if it's for necessarily intended for use on guitars? The strips I used, do not show-up on their site any longer....probably discontinued? There are similar one's. In any event, I liked what I saw at the time & went for it.
http://www.woodcraft.com/Family/2000664 ... dings.aspx

[RnB]

sounds like you are pretty close . I like to see 3/8 max without frets .

Are we happy now... :>)

At front of the bridge, it reads between 5/16" & 3/8" off the top. Since the top is not glued-up yet, I can move the neck & neck block (to & fro) that creates various height readings (+/- 1/16"). However, this is what I've settled on for the final take before closing the box up. As long as I glue the top on where I have it now, I think it will be OK? I've radius sanded the bridge bottom as well.



One question though: In trying reduce the neck angle, I sanded the upper portion of the cheeks on the neck (which helped), but now have a slight gap on 1 side. The string alignment is good. I'm not sure how to go about straightening it out & getting a good 'tight fit' once again w/o messing the way the neck's set now?

[tippie53]

you are in the ball park.

[Jim_H]

The gap on the heel needs to be corrected.

This is usually done as part of the flossing process (pull strips of sandpaper between the body and heel on both sides). You should probably snug up the bolt to pull the neck snug, and make sure the neck is straight (in alignment with the centerline/bridge). If you don't have one of tracy's centerline finders, you can run a long straightedge along each side of the fretboard and make a mark at the tail, then measure to the centerline and make sure the two sides are even. Use the flossing technique to tip the neck to one side or the other as needed to get the neck straight over the centerline/bridge, and close up your heel gaps at the same time.

[Darryl Young]

RnB,

You might want to close the gap between the fretboard and the neck (shown below by the red arrow) before you make your final decision if your neck angle is correct or not. You can clamp over the neck heel and the fretboard to close this gap........then move the neck down till the fretboard is even with the top of the soundboard and tighten the neck bolts good and tight (keep the fretboard in contact with the edge of the soundboard while tightening these bolts). Now you can measure and see if you have the right neck angle and see if the centerline of the neck is about right (not angled to either side).

Is the gap you are speaking of where I placed the blue arrow? If so, follow Jim's advice to get it flat (which likely means you have to take a bit off both sides so the neck doesn't cock sideways).

OMCissues003.jpg

[RnB]

You might want to close the gap between the fretboard and the neck (shown below by the red arrow) before you make your final decision if your neck angle is correct or not. You can clamp over the neck heel and the fretboard to close this gap........then move the neck down till the fretboard is even with the top of the soundboard and tighten the neck bolts good and tight (keep the fretboard in contact with the edge of the soundboard while tightening these bolts). Now you can measure and see if you have the right neck angle and see if the centerline of the neck is about right (not angled to either side).

Is the gap you are speaking of where I placed the blue arrow? If so, follow Jim's advice to get it flat (which likely means you have to take a bit off both sides so the neck doesn't cock sideways).

I will try that Darryl & see what it yields. I did that earlier but not directly on the neck heel & I noticed a ski ramp rising. So, in my maniacal way, I sanded the top underneath the fretboard in hopes of reducing the ramp & the angle & it did! If a ramp still exists later on, I will give that area some fall-off when I begin fretting part.

Yes, the gap where the 'blue arrow' is pointing is the point I'm concerned with. We all want a tight fit!

If you don't have one of tracy's centerline finders

Yes, I have one of those Jim. I forgot all about it till you mentioned it...I'll dig it up. I did use the straightedge method on the side of the board to get an initial string alignment & so far it looks good.

Thanks all...
Rich

[Jim_H]

The specific point I was trying to make is that you really can't make a good judgement of the neck alignment without tightening the bolt (maybe I missed that you did this). And as Darryl pointed out, you probably need to get that fretboard glued down too, before you go too much further.

[Darryl Young]

Yeah, I wouldn't sand on the top either till after it's glued in place. If you need more angle, sand it into the sides.

[RnB]

The specific point I was trying to make is that you really can't make a good judgement of the neck alignment without tightening the bolt (maybe I missed that you did this). And as Darryl pointed out, you probably need to get that fretboard glued down too, before you go too much further.

Gotcha...! I did have the the bolt tightened down, so all was secure. I grabbed some grub & went at flossing the cheeks & have it where they're almost flush to the body on both sides. I dug out Tracey's alignment Jig & everything's spot on.

I won't sand on the top no mo'. What I was trying to fix, was the gap under the fretboard & the top of the guitar. It didn't do all that much. When I clamped the board to the heel, lioke Darryl suggested, the gap did go away at that point, but in effect, it somehow makes the FB ext rise on the top...? The harder I press, the more it rises, resulting in a gap under the FB ext. You can't see it in the Pic.

I need to finish binding the neck B4 I can glue it to the neck...manana maybe! I'd also like to glue the top on because that will stabilize the neck & block from moving about while I'm trying to get accurate measurements w/ the neck bolted-on. Reason I didn't before was because I was unsure if the rims were going to need some more work to balance the radius out.