Acoustic Guitar Construction

Conceptually its seems your plan would work, heaven know I am the leading avocate of the straight line principle, I may have even publisehd articles?? However, it was determined that the rim itself flares in top to back that's how that 86.5 degree angle resulted which would shout the finger-baord plane about 3/4" above the bridge. Plus if you shave gross amounts of material off at the fret board intersection you start moving the entire fret-baord off location (normally the 14th fret is at the joint) toward the bridge.

What I was talking about was looking at this picture, it looks like the bottom of the heel is keeping the neck from sitting flush to the body. It also looks like the angle is close to being right right (still under set) and that if the wood was remove properly the neck would pull back and the 14th fret would be in the right location (also taking off the right amount would correct the under set). So if the correct angle is cut from the top of the neck to bottom of the heel it will allow the neck to seat. Then shim it up and make the rest of the adjustments.

Tim, I actually did a computer model of this problem -- simply put -- its not that easy because its pretty screwed up, every single angle is wrong. Then again I am sure you could fix it if you had in house. That said I feel there is no more need to comment on this thread its a dead issue -- thanks for the input.

Yeah, I know it looks screwed up. I like trying to work my mind around these problems because it helps better understand how things got the way they were and try to devise a way to bring it back. Sometimes not possible without major surgery and new parts. And, as you know, it's always better to have it in hand. What program do you use to model these?

We use Turbo Cad 3D --- a very good value compared to AutoCad

You could to the same thing with Google Sketch-Up -- its free to down load and there are on line tutors.

kencierp wrote:There has been a lot of views but there is no more interest in this thread -- the bottom line is when fitting the neck you need a true postion to start so you "know where you are going" and if for some reason you get lost you must re-establish a known location point and/or angle. Otherwise its impossible to forumlate a logical appraoch --- trust me, trial and error, shaving, carving, shimming over and over again often leads to an abandon project.

Dont know how old this thread is but I just realized that i have the exact same problem with my stew mac build. My tenon/mortise joint is loose as well. But when I run a straight edge on top of the frets down towards where the bridge will be the straight edge lands on the body--no clearance at all. Note I have the frets installed on the fingerboard. The tenon is not yet sitting all the way down into the mortise even though I have removed a fair amount of wood as recommended.
I obviously need to pull back the neck to get it fitting lower in the mortise ?

I need to read all the info given here first, but it sounds like a carbon copy of this posters dilemma

Thanks

What does Stew Mac have to say about this problem? They must have a technical wing for assistance - I would think? KMG supplies construction clarification via email on a daily basis plus this forum and we are not nearly as large as SM.