Acoustic Neck Glue Up

With just three weeks to go before graduating RV, we have a LOT to do! This last week was spent buffing the acoustic and final fitting the neck to the body. I left the neck to glue up over the weekend so tomorrow morning, I'll have a guitar!

Well... almost.

I still have to fret the neck, make and install the bridge, cut a nut and saddle, make the pickguard and tweak the final setup. With guitar repair guru, Frank Ford, coming by school for a two day lecture this week and the NAMM show next weekend, time is on short supply. (Guitar Geeks will also love Frank's website, FRETS.com and the store he runs, Gryphon Strings.)

Here's a shot of the wedge on the butt of the acoustic: Indian rosewood back and sides with matching rosewood binding. The light strip is maple purfling which, with the matched rosewood binding/back & sides, gives the guitar a sharp pinstriped look. Below, an early photo of fitting the wedge followed by a shot of the final product, lacquered and buffed to a mirror sheen:

Below are two shots of the neck gluing up to the body. The heel bolts to the neck block with two 2" bolts accessed through the sound hole. Glue is only used to adhere the fingerboard to the top of the guitar. Future serviceability is the name of the game with this style neck joint, as opposed to a traditional dovetail joint. Most guitars will inevitably need a neck reset at some point in their lives. A reset entails completely removing the neck from the body and reassessing the neck angle. With a dovetail joint, you have a ton of glue to deal with which means a more involved process of steaming off the neck. The process goes much smoother if you only have glue beneath the fingerboard to deal with.