Fretboard extension.to glue or not to glue

[Jim_H]

I think the main reason to glue it is to ensure a good buzz free joint. If there is downward pressure caused by installing the frets, then there probably won't be a buzz, but it's something to consider.

My thought is, if you are building a guitar for you, that will stay around the house, and you expect to be tweaking the setup on it, then by all means don't glue it down.

On the otherhand, if you are selling the guitar to someone, or it will live it's life outside if your supervision, then gluing the extension down is probably good idea. It's one less source for potential problems down the road.

[Darryl Young]

Ken, I agree with you. I guess my point (not so well made) is that for the neck to bow forward, the fretboard extension will slide toward the sound hole a small amount. So gluing the extension might help resist this a little. If the neck does bow forward over time, then you may have a hump like John mentioned. So how much does gluing the fretboard help this situation? I honestly can't say.........and obviously there are different opinions about this.

I agree with Jim, I wouldn't sell one without gluing the extension down. For my first guitar where I'm learning things through the school of hard knocks........I'm fine with not gluing for now. Heck, I've never even leveled the frets on this first one........pressed them in and made sure I seated them all the way flush and used fish glue in the fret slot before seating and it plays pretty well. Who knows, one day I may level the frets and then glue the fretboard extension when I reinstall the neck! <smile>

[johnnparchem]

I install frets in the fret board after the guitar is completely assembled. This process allows me one more chance to level thing. With this procedure I think I need to glue the extension, especially as I always look for a small amount of fall off. Ken’s note about gluing only a portion of the extension down may make it easier to remove the neck later. I have yet to unglue a neck extension so I do not have any experience in how much effort I would be saving.

[Kevin Sjostrand]

My thought is, if you are building a guitar for you, that will stay around the house, and you expect to be tweaking the setup on it, then by all means don't glue it down.

On the otherhand, if you are selling the guitar to someone, or it will live it's life outside if your supervision, then gluing the extension down is probably good idea. It's one less source for potential problems down the road.

Exactly what I said earlier! You probably don't want some yahoo unexperience player taking the neck off anyway, right?

Kevin

[Jim_H]

trevor gore posted this over at the OLF, and the picture reminded me of this thread.

This method is both reinforced under the fretboard, and mechanically attached to the top, but still easily removable.

http://www.goreguitars.com.au/main/page ... joint.html