Just double checking with the neck scale length--this seems too easy..

[marcianotmarsha]

This is my first build...ever, and I just want to make sure that I'm not overthinking (or underthinking) this. From everything that I'm seeing from other people, apparently the scale length is supposed to be tricky...and from what I can tell, I think my guitar is pretty straight forward...but I really want to make sure. It's supposed to be a 24.75" scale...and if I put the neck all the way into the pre-routed neckhole, it seems right on the money. But can I get some experienced eye confirmation?

[marcianotmarsha]

And as a follow up question....can anybody give me any reason to NOT contour this into the body?

[marcianotmarsha]

here's a picture of the 12th fret with a label...

[FrankenWashie]

Seems okay, where are your saddles in the bridge. Are they forward or middle?

I am definitely a fan of contouring neck to body. Here’s a strat project that have on the table at present.


It looks like you’ve coloured the neck already though? It will just mean more finishing work for you if you do go the contour route.
Build looks wonderful, great job!


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[marcianotmarsha]

I don't mind refinishing it, since it's only stained at this point. This contour as is, is driving me nuts, though! How did you go about doing yours? it looks fantastic!
The saddles (that are in the bridge) I had all the way forward. It's a Tune-O-Matic style bridge

[FrankenWashie]

I don't mind refinishing it, since it's only stained at this point. This contour as is, is driving me nuts, though! How did you go about doing yours? it looks fantastic!
The saddles (that are in the bridge) I had all the way forward. It's a Tune-O-Matic style bridge

All good, if you are all forward then that should give you some reasonable adjustment at intonation.

For my contour I had a good idea of what I wanted.
I rounded the lower corner first then mounted the neck and traced that profile on to the neck heel.

Then I marked out the angle from top to bottom cutaway and free handed a curve between the two horns. The angle got roughed out with a small angle grinder and 80 grit flap disc. Refining was a combination of small Japanese rasps and a curved stewmac scraper. Once I was happy with that I used the rasps and round dowel sanding cauls to reshape the heel to suit.


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[marcianotmarsha]

All good, if you are all forward then that should give you some reasonable adjustment at intonation.

For my contour I had a good idea of what I wanted.
I rounded the lower corner first then mounted the neck and traced that profile on to the neck heel.

Then I marked out the angle from top to bottom cutaway and free handed a curve between the two horns. The angle got roughed out with a small angle grinder and 80 grit flap disc. Refining was a combination of small Japanese rasps and a curved stewmac scraper. Once I was happy with that I used the rasps and round dowel sanding cauls to reshape the heel to suit.


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Thanks! I don't have any of those tools....so, I marked out the curvature that I needed to follow from the body and kindof eyeballed it (and put it into the body and wrapped my fingers around it to see how it looked and felt for getting up to those frets after the 20th or so), then chiseled out the shape and sanded down.
My boyfriend and I watch a lot of luthier videos, so, I was semi-confident in being able to do this. (course they always seem to make things look so very easy.) I figured if anything, I would run to the local hardware store and pick up a rotary tool if I needed to.

[FrankenWashie]

Thanks! I don't have any of those tools....so, I marked out the curvature that I needed to follow from the body and kindof eyeballed it (and put it into the body and wrapped my fingers around it to see how it looked and felt for getting up to those frets after the 20th or so), then chiseled out the shape and sanded down.
My boyfriend and I watch a lot of luthier videos, so, I was semi-confident in being able to do this. (course they always seem to make things look so very easy.) I figured if anything, I would run to the local hardware store and pick up a rotary tool if I needed to.

That’s a great effort with the tools you have.
I like doing this as an aesthetic thing, but the access advantage and the better feel under hand is worth the effort. Nice job, you work far quicker than the FrankenLab!


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[McCreed]

Nice work, and great burst!

The only thing I'd comment on is I wouldn't have stained the heel where it sits inside the pocket. It may not be a problem, but I prefer contact points to be bare timber when gluing.

If you decide to sand off the stain, just be careful to keep the sanding block flat and square with the heel so you don't affect the neck angle or overall fit.

[JimC]

To what extent will a spirit based stain affect glue adhesion I wonder? Varnishes, oils, absolutely, oil based stains, for sure, they are bound to compromise glue strength, but with a spirit stain that just distributes microscopic dye into the wood and evaporates then I wonder. But there are so many stain types and so many adhesives that any attempt to generalise is futile. Even if Dirtystains red dye was fine Dirtystains blue might not be, and by the time you've done tests to be sure...

I would scrape a heel with a Stanley knife blade rather than sanding, I think I'd do better at keeping it flat like that.