First Build - 12 Fret

[turnertj]

Hey all...I need some help here. I tried to post a picture, so maybe you can see what I'm talking about. When I tried my neck on and put the fretboard down on the neck, it looks like the fretboard extension doesn't lie flat on the top of the soundboard. The fretboard extension is maybe 0.8mm off the soundboard at the highest. In some ways it looks like my soundboard is kind of think right where it meets the neck, which may be part of the problem. Is this the dreaded 14th fret hump, or in my case the 12th fret hump?

I measured the box again to make sure I didn't mess up when making my rims, but it really looks to be 1.5 degrees north of the soundhole. I'm less than impressed with this neck, and I would have purchased a different pre-carved one if I had known better. Is this amount of liftoff from the soundboard normal? I can certainly glue the fretboard extension down without an issue, I can hold it flush with almost no pressure with one free hand. I guess I could also adjust the neck angle, but it seems like it would have to kick out from the heel quite a bit, like the width of a penny to make it work. In fact, I tried that and as soon as I jammed a penny under the heel of the neck it works perfect. Could my neck really be out that much?

Any ideas?

[johnnparchem]

A little falloff on the fret board extention is OK; much better than a ramp. I do not see a big gap in the pictures. The neck angle should only be adjusted to give a good height of at the bridge location using a straight edge, not making the extention flat.

[turnertj]

Thanks John! I'll check that way instead. I'm just getting ahead of myself!

Tj

[Kevin Sjostrand]

Yeah TJ if your angle is right, then you can just glue that extension down..no problems. It might even give you a little fall off which can be a good thing if you set the action low.
Looking good. I like your rosette too, it turned out pretty cool.

Kevin

[turnertj]

Okay, struggled through tonight's work session, and I'm not sure I'm through yet.

I worked on the neck set, which is a major PITA. Holy cow. I must be doing something wrong. But I kept going back and forth, mounting the neck, figuring out where I needed to sculpt the mortise, then back out, sanding block, etc...finally I removed so much that I lifted the shoulder off the rim! The mortise was bottoming out. So I had to cut that back about 1/16", and then got it all working.

In the end I had a 5/32" clearance at the soundboard, with no fretboard or bridge mounted. With the bridge on and the fretboard mounted, it was about 1/16" above the saddle. So I figured I was okay. BUT...now my mating of the neck to the body was terrible, and I figured was based on very little foortprint against the sides. So after struggling about how to fix it, I came up with the epoxy filler solution. I'm sure someone will post that this was a terrible idea, so maybe I'm not thinking of all the ramifications. But, it looks nice now.

What I did was to use the body as a mold and then put black epoxy in the space between the neck and the body, attach the neck, and let the epoxy dry. I put tape/waxpaper on the body to make sure the epoxy did not stick to it, and after it dried I pulled the neck off the body and had a new neck footprint to mate against the body.

I haven't sanded the excess epoxy off yet, but will once it sets fully and is hard enough to really sand off. Right now it's a bit rubbery, but should set over the next few hours.

After the epoxy filler, my neck fit changed slightly. It is now about 1/8" off center at the back of the guitar and with the bridge/fingerboard mounted on the body, I only have like a 1/32" clearance. The fretboard lies flat now on the soundboard now though...

So, is my neck set still off? I will adjust the centerline adjustment, but what do you guys think about the clearance to the bridge? Is 1/32" enough?

[turnertj]

Continuing right along...I'll sand this epoxy off after it all hardens.

[turnertj]

And here is the neck set...

[johnnparchem]

I would be happy with 1/8 off center. The neck angle looks good to me (I am assuming the straight edge is on the fretboard).

How does the heal\rim joint look witht the epoxy?

I personally can not use sand paper to set the neck as I create arcs or curves when I sand. I have taken to using sharp scrapers or even a chisel. I also releve most the cheeks between the tenon and the edge to make it easier to trim.

[turnertj]

Cool, thanks John. So 1/8" off the centerline at the end of the body is okay? I was thinking that was far off, but I'd be more than happy not to play with it any more!

[turnertj]

And here is the heel/rim contact area. Again, the epoxy is all spilled out and sloppy, so once it's truly hardened I'll sand it down.

I agree with you about the sandpaper. It's how I got all the round edges, even with the sanding block.