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I've done a few stacked heel, scarf joint headstock necks and it seems although I think I have dead flat gluing surfaces, when done I still get a joint that is quite visible. I'm using LMI white glue. Is there a secret to doing this that I'm missing? I've seen guitars where you can barely make out these seams.

Kevin

PAINT ???
I use fish glue it dries very clear

Ah the secret, cover it up. Hmmmmm.
I am happiest when I make solid necks...no seams or glue lines, but I'm trying to be conservative and economical.

Invisible Glue!!!

David L

How are you prepping your wood to be joined? Surfaces must be flat and true.

Using my drum sander, hand plane, sanding block as seems needed. I looks flat and true using a straight edge.
I probably get the best results when I use my 12" disc sander for making the surfaces flat.

David, will you please send me some of that glue

Typically best results are with a jointer. I will join one side of my neck shaft blank and then run it through the planer to true the other side. Then I cut off the pieces for the heel and stack them up. If you are trying to true up the surfaces after you cut the blocks that may be your problem. Small blocks of wood are hard to true up, especially with sanding type equipment as the edges always seem to get cut a wee bit more then the center.

Oh I know Brian, I do fight with that, even with the hand plane. I don't have a planer, and once the scarf joint is cut, then a planer won't work on the angled face. For the heel when I'm doing multi-stacks, I run the blank through the drum sander, then cut, then glue. Most of mine are shaft and one heel block, so just one glue line.

How about a thin piece of contrasting wood between the 2 pieces of mahogany?
Turn the problem into a design feature.