Need Advice: Neck...a Hairy Dilemma

[Scrappy_Squirrel]

I'm starting my guitar project soon but I've run into a problem. It's potentially a long story but I'll chop it down for simplicity.

All of the hand tools I used to have for guitar building/repair are gone... I had them in storage from moving and they disappeared. Needless to say I won't be building the neck of my guitar without the right tools. Anyway, despite having been out of the carpentry biz for a number of years I now have access to a pretty good shop and general tools for a SHORT PERIOD OF TIME. My money and time are limited so, for now, I can only afford body woods and time enough to build a body.

My dilemma is this:

I want a glue-in neck for this guitar and I don't have the tools, time or money right now to build one! I'm thinking of building the body and leaving a neck mortis to glue in the neck at a later date. Since I'm moving again (soon) I wont have shop access for an unknown and possibly indefinite amount of time (too many unknowns and I've changed occupations for health reasons).

I'm thinking that I'll probably have USA custom guitars build my neck at a later date.

Can anyone recommend a body configuration to better facilitate this process? Are there any "standard" measurements or ways of doing things that I should know for this piecemeal project?

My only idea thus far is to build the body with a built in heel that accommodates a bolt on neck leaving a mortis cavity between the Bubinga cap and Limba back for a future glue-in neck tenon. I called USA custom and "they don't currently make glue-in necks but may do so in the near future". Warmoth does not make glue in necks and has no intention of making them. Does anyone know of someone who currently builds quality necks (compound radius, tilt-back, glue-in) that can help with my issue?

Any more creative ideas to this hairy dilemma?

[sashimimi]

Hi scrappy, a member on this board makes set necks ready to glue in. I don't know what his name on the board is but his website is http://www.soulmateguitars.com/

[Scrappy_Squirrel]

Hi scrappy, a member on this board makes set necks ready to glue in.  I don't know what his name on the board is but his website is http://www.soulmateguitars.com/

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Thanks, nice suggestion!

I'll shall inquire.

[doug]

You can leave the neck joint area untouched until you have the neck. Trust me, it will be way easier! After getting the neck, you can make the neck joint properly.

-Doug

[Scrappy_Squirrel]

You can leave the neck joint area untouched until you have the neck. Trust me, it will be way easier! After getting the neck, you can make the neck joint properly.

-Doug

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Thanks doug and thanks for getting back to me so fast! When you say to do it later I guess I'm a little befuddled. I can work a router better than most but a chisel and hammer after the fact seems daunting to me (I've always sucked at mortising hinges and such. I can't imagine hand mortising a tenon joint in my guitar body after it's built!) What do you mean when you suggest doing it later? Honestly, I've hand sanded a compound radius, done plenty of neck jobs and refurbished existing bolt-ons but I've never built a guitar from scratch so I'm not sure what you mean.

[Mattia]

Thanks doug and thanks for getting back to me so fast! When you say to do it later I guess I'm a little befuddled.  I can work a router better than most but a chisel  and hammer after the fact seems daunting to me (I've always sucked at mortising hinges and such. I can't imagine hand mortising a tenon joint in my guitar body after it's built!)  What do you mean when you suggest doing it later?  Honestly,  I've hand sanded a compound radius, done plenty of neck jobs and refurbished existing bolt-ons but I've never built a guitar from scratch so I'm not sure what you mean.

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ARGH! Not hammer! Just chisel. Sharp, sharp chisel. Hog out excess with a drill, and clean up nicely with a chisel. Practice making fitting mortise/tenon bits (small, even, just holes to plug) with some scrap to get a feel for it, but don't whach the chisel with a hammer. That's just...crazy.

I fit set necks to my bodies before the top goes on, but only becase they go through to the bridge pickup. The rest of the body (top carve, etc) is essentailly finished by the time I get around to this bit. You can build the body without the neck pocket route, and add it later, no problems. That's all he's saying.

[doug]

If you're making the body, or getting it made, leave the neck pocket are blank. After you get a neck, create the pocket to fit.

And yeah, NO HAMMER! Not with chisels.... Borrow a router if you have don't have one anymore, or carefully creat the mortise with chisels, but do not use a hammer. Make sure they are supersharp too!

-Doug

[Scrappy_Squirrel]

If you're making the body, or getting it made, leave the neck pocket are blank. After you get a neck, create the pocket to fit.

And yeah, NO HAMMER! Not with chisels.... Borrow a router if you have don't have one anymore, or carefully creat the mortise with chisels, but do not use a hammer. Make sure they are supersharp too!

-Doug

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Heh heh heh, sounds like a hammer is a really bad idea... I guess I was thinking more in terms of a wooden mallet that I typically use for chiseling and wrote hammer... Anyway, I get the point (no hammers, LOL, and I'm guessing wooden mallets are taboo too, LOL). Probably what I'll do is rough cut the cap and back, rout my cavities, shape the cap as much as possible and glue nothing until I have the neck in hand.

As an ex-cabinetmaker/carpenter I've done years worth of hinge mortising and built a few pieces of mortis and tennon furniture and I just plain suck at it. I don't have enough confidence in my abillity to hand carve a neck pocket so I'll stick with the router. Whew, this **** gets complicated without a shop! If I knew when I'd have money again I'd just pay someone to build the whole damn thing but for now I have the wood, time and energy to take it on myself.

Thanks for the advice guys!