First Set Neck, Some Questions

[Ripthorn]

So I am finally doing a set neck guitar, but I had some questions for those of you who have done this before. What are your steps and in what order? I have the body pretty much completely done: shaped, routed, etc. and the neck is routed to profile with the fretboard about to be glued on. My question is mainly regarding when you do neck shaping and when you glue the neck in. The body and neck are mahogany and I am going to be doing a trans black finish. I would like to pretty much finish the body except for final wetsanding without the neck glued in, but then there is the issue of glue squeeze out getting on top of the finish. I don't know if this will present a problem or not, thus I seek your collective wisdom. Any other pointers would be much helpful

[MiKro]

So I am finally doing a set neck guitar, but I had some questions for those of you who have done this before. What are your steps and in what order? I have the body pretty much completely done: shaped, routed, etc. and the neck is routed to profile with the fretboard about to be glued on. My question is mainly regarding when you do neck shaping and when you glue the neck in. The body and neck are mahogany and I am going to be doing a trans black finish. I would like to pretty much finish the body except for final wetsanding without the neck glued in, but then there is the issue of glue squeeze out getting on top of the finish. I don't know if this will present a problem or not, thus I seek your collective wisdom. Any other pointers would be much helpful

I always finish after the glue up. This allows me to do any sanding to shape or blend the joint before finish is applied.

I'm sure others do it differently?

MK

[westhemann]

Step one...I get on the internet and start shopping for wood.

I'll tell you my step two tomorrow.This may take a while

[westhemann]

No seriously,My last one I simply glued everything together then I used blue masking tape to cover the entire neck before finishing the body.I did this so the finish would be thicker on the body than the neck.

On that guitar I also taped around the entire neck joint before glue up and it worked like a charm.I only imagine that would work fine with a finished body as well

[orgmorg]

I always finish after the glue up. This allows me to do any sanding to shape or blend the joint before finish is applied.

I'm sure others do it differently?

MK

Yes, I do it the opposite, but the necks and bodies of mine are designed to look like two separate parts and don't get blended together.

They also usually get finished differently, and I like being able to clean up the glue squeeze-out without it soaking into the wood.

It is easier for me to wipe it off of the finish than to get it out of the wood.

[verhoevenc]

For singlecuts I set the neck, carve the heel, and then finish. For double-cuts I'm doing the opposite; finishing the neck and body separate (while taping off where the heel will be inside the body), and then gluing up. I've found it's often hard to sand and buff a finish to as nice a quality as I would like to in the sharp corners around a set neck. I have no choice on the singlecuts due to the way I carve them... but if given the chance to do it on double-cuts I'll jump at it. Basically I'll mask off the neck pocket and spray the body, then mask off the heel about 1/16" inside where it'll sit (ie: about 1/16" or less of the "finished area" will sit inside the pocket) and spray it. As for glue on finish... if it's already finished who cares? Just take some water on a rag and clean it up.

Chris

[Ripthorn]

Thanks for the input guys, sounds like I can continue on with my original plan.