Current Build - Falcate Braced Multiscale OM cutaway

[kiwigeo]

Over the last few days I managed to get the neck boltware sorted and the fretboard slotted. Currently Im waiting on a double bearing router cutter to cut out the headstock. In the meantime Im doing my head in thinking about headstock volutes.....one of my Archilles heels when it comes to guitar making.

Cutting fret slots

Cutting nut ledge (compensated nut)

Profiling fretboard

Testing outer string layout and tuner post line up.

Routing pocket for neck bolt down tenon

Shaping bolt down tenon. Trevor does this on a router table....I prefer to do it by hand...because I can

Bolt down tenon glued to neck. Prior to glue up I install two 6mm dowel pins to ensure tenon doesnt move when neck comes off the body.

Trimming tenon flush with upper bout. I then had to do a bit of fine tuning to get the neck geometry spot on.

T nuts installed into bolt down tenon. Trevor uses 6mm bolts.....I use 4mm bolts as my neck tenon is a bit narrower than on the plans.

[routout]

Now I get it I like that neck Joint I have not seen before (living under a rock ) nice work for sure.

[kiwigeo]

Now I get it I like that neck Joint I have not seen before (living under a rock ) nice work for sure.

Yeah it looks nice when it's done properly. It can be a P in the A getting the geometry correct but the advantage of this method is you don't get a neck/body "hump" in the fretboard. Frets get pressed in with the fretboard off the neck and then the board is glued to the neck. Minimal to nil fret dressing is required.

[Jeremy D]

Martin,

Your execution of this joint looks flawless, great work. I have been considering trying this myself but I am not sure my joinery chops are up to the task yet. Do you have much wiggle room for neck alignment with this method? What would happen if you needed to do a neck reset down the track? Bolt on, bolt off neck attachment certainly sounds appealing. Maybe I should go an study the books further

[blackalex1952]

Single action truss rod? No CF reinforcement in the neck? What is your opinion re these things? I have found that the CF and dual action directs a lot of the energy that would otherwise be lost from the neck into the soundboard and also allows for finer neck profiles ( if the client wants that ),as the stiffness of the neck is greater. The extra energy available to the soundboard manifests, to my ear, as a stronger attack and longer sustain.If you do use CF in the neck on some of your builds, do you run the CF all the way through the neck extension?
Also: have you hand marked those fret slots, or is there a hidden pin template that we can't see in the pix?
I made all my fretting templates on a milling machine and double sided tape the fretboard blanks to the fret template. The pin holes in the template locate each fretslot on the cutting jig.

[kiwigeo]

Martin,

Your execution of this joint looks flawless, great work. I have been considering trying this myself but I am not sure my joinery chops are up to the task yet. Do you have much wiggle room for neck alignment with this method? What would happen if you needed to do a neck reset down the track? Bolt on, bolt off neck attachment certainly sounds appealing. Maybe I should go an study the books further

Jeremy,

1. Once the bolt down tenon and pocket are fitted there is room for minute adjustments in neck yaw and pitch but it gets messy as you need to mess with the main neck tenon faces and also the sides and/or bottom of the bolt down tenon. It's far easier getting it all right before the bolt down M and T gets done.
2. Neck re-sets. Not covered in The Books but I imagine it would involve routing out the bolt down tenon, doing the adjustments and then making a new bolt down tenon. Not as difficult job as it sounds.
3. The trick to getting the bolt down tenon to fit nicely is the old chalk on the inside of the mortise trick.

[kiwigeo]

Single action truss rod? No CF reinforcement in the neck? What is your opinion re these things? I have found that the CF and dual action directs a lot of the energy that would otherwise be lost from the neck into the soundboard and also allows for finer neck profiles ( if the client wants that ),as the stiffness of the neck is greater. The extra energy available to the soundboard manifests, to my ear, as a stronger attack and longer sustain.
Also: have you hand marked those fret slots, or is there a hidden pin template that we can't see in the pix?
I made all my fretting templates on a milling machine and double sided tape the fretboard blanks to the fret template. The pin holes in the template locate each fretslot on the cutting jig.

1. The truss rod is an LMI double action job. CF reinforcing down the neck.....Ive done it on a few guitars but not on this one.
2. the fret positions were marked out by hand on the paper template stuck to the fretboard. Fret2find supplies you with a PDF option but getting it to print out to correct dimensions involves too much f****ng around with printer settings. I calculated fret positions for outside strings and double checked intersection with centre line against fret2find figures.

[blackalex1952]

You may be interested in "Fret Calc" if you have an iPhone...it's free and you just enter the scale length you want and it spits out all the fret distances.

[kiwigeo]

You may be interested in "Fret Calc" if you have an iPhone...it's free and you just enter the scale length you want and it spits out all the fret distances.

There are a bunch of apps available and they all have their uses. Many of them don't however work for multiscale instruments. fret2find is the best Ive seen.....it calculates things like distances from outer strings to fretboard edge, mid line intersection distances (useful for multiscales) etc. I also like to have a printout of the data so I can tick off each fret as it's cut. As mentioned the only annoying thing with fret2find is the dicking around required if you want a full scale printout of the slot cutting template.

[blackalex1952]

Thanks for that Martin. Fret2find has been bookmarked!A handy, convenient resource.

[Fisherman]

Almost a pity to hide that beautifully executed joint under the fretboard! At least we all know it's there

[kiwigeo]

Almost a pity to hide that beautifully executed joint under the fretboard! At least we all know it's there

LOL....true. The falcate bracing is pretty too but also hidden from view.

[Nick]

Don't usually make 'new years resolutions' but I must get around to reading "the books" this year (they've been sitting in their boxes for far too long!), that's a beautiful looking joint and stronger that a brick outhouse by the looks. Have you only just removed the sealing layer of Shellac or do you actually change the geometry of the soundboard in the fingerboard area?
Love your work by the way

[kiwigeo]

Don't usually make 'new years resolutions' but I must get around to reading "the books" this year (they've been sitting in their boxes for far too long!), that's a beautiful looking joint and stronger that a brick outhouse by the looks. Have you only just removed the sealing layer of Shellac or do you actually change the geometry of the soundboard in the fingerboard area?
Love your work by the way

Thanks for the compliments Nick (and others). The upper bout is flat and slightly inclined so that a straight rule laid along the neck skims the top at saddle position by 2.5mm. This does away with the fretboard kink at the body/neck join you see on alot of guitars.

[kiwigeo]

Fretboard has been glued on, the neck has been shaped and the heel cap is glued up and ready to go on. Not much left to do structurally on this buiild.

[kiwigeo]

Got the heel cap on. Neck and headstock shaped and fine tuning to the neck body fit. Drilled the tuner holes and the tuners have been test fitted to check straight pull string runs. A bit of fine sanding of the neck and then it's onto preparation for finishing.

[collinsguitar]

Beautiful work. So how did the guitar turn out in the end?

Michael

[needsmorecowbel]

bloody hell that join around the bolt down tenon...Awesome work Martin!

Stu

[kiwigeo]

Beautiful work. So how did the guitar turn out in the end?

Michael

Still working on this one Michael. Currently french polishing and working on calculations for nut and saddle compensation. Progress has been slow due to the challenges presented by a multiscale instrument and I was away for over a month at work.

[kiwigeo]

bloody hell that join around the bolt down tenon...Awesome work Martin!

Stu

Thanks Stu,

It's nice when something DOES go well

[kiwigeo]

A few up date pics. Currently french polishing and working on a jig to make up the compensated nut.

[Mark McLean]

Nice looking FP result so far Martin.
Jeez - I hope it sounds good after all of this effort.

[kiwigeo]

Nice looking FP result so far Martin.
Jeez - I hope it sounds good after all of this effort.

Yeah the thought that's always in the back of a builder's mind

[routout]

Youl be rite ,it's looking pretty Swish.

[kiwigeo]

Finally got started with French Polishing on the top....light at the end of the tunnel for this build. There's a little bit of lint sticking to the finish around the sound hole.....I changed to walnut oil as a lubricant and this problem has disappeared.