Acoustic Guitar Construction

This is going to be a bolt on bolt off neck. Before routing for the neck extension pocket the neck set needs to be perfect, or life gets hard later in the build. So I can not describe the number of times I checked the next angle and the location of the 12 fret to the bridge. With a fret board placed correctly on the neck I also used strings to actually see the string paths to the bridge for the E strings.



This neck joint is from the Gore/Gilet books. The idea is to route a pocket into the neck and a heel block extension in the guitar. The block extension is then glued only to the neck part of the pocket. The first pictures shows the routing jig and a test insert I made out of plywood on my cnc



I double checked all of the setup angles once again and routed the pocket about .6" deep.





Here is why I needed a test plug, I tried to account for the router guide but the plug was a bit big.



I went back to the cad software took a thirty second off the plug and had the CNC route a mahogany plug.











A much better fit, I left the plug a tad proud so I planed it match the neck.



A nice fit!



And for the first time I left off the wings I need on the head stock and kept most of the neck alone. This allowed me to take the neck back to my router table (still setup from earlier) and route the truss rod slot in the neck extension.





Now I can start profiling and carving the neck.

Finishing up the neck joint, I added the brass inserts to the neck extension and drilled the bolt holes in the heel block.







Once again checking over all of the setup parameters, and getting ready to glue on the wings where I need a bit more width.



Before gluing on the wings I can still rely on the square section of the neck to cut out the rough heel profile.



While I am at it I trimmed the heel length.

On to the neck. I have a little time each of the last few days so bit by bit I have been putting the neck together. First off I add a couple of small wings on the headstock.



As the headstock was designed and cut out on my CNC so that I could use it to help shape the headstock. I mostly cut it out on my bandsaw and finished shaping with a pattern bit.







Before gluing on the headstock veneer, I quadrable checked the fretboard relative to the scale length. I glued on the fret board without taking pictures.



I used a drill the 10 mm holes required for the gotoh tuning machines





I checked the thickness of the headstock; they were a bit thick at 15.5 mm as can be seen in the picture. I set up the safeT planer and took them down to around 14.5 mm. I like the safeT planer as I can keep the back in plane with the face.





I glued on a heel cap and started to shape the heel and start the transition between the neck and headstock. I used a rasp for the heel and a knife for the headstock transition. I will finish the transitions after I shape the neck.

Kitty (aka shop foreman) portrait please? There's precedent, Dave Bagwell shared Rosie with us. Thanks!

And oh yeah, the guitar is a treat to watch being built.

Coming along so nicely. That is a tall headstock, I like the shape.
Is this a new logo change I see?

Peter this is Sua our female Bengal, we just lost our male, her littermate.
I miss our boy Kevin the inlay was customer supplied by my client. He wanted the logo, it is nice and the contemporary headstock. I did show him it fitting in a dove bar headstock. So I extended the headstock a bit.

What beautiful cats. We had several cats in the past, but none at the moment. Looking at yours it is very tempting ..maybe.. who knows...