Opinions Sought

[Jim.S]

Other than the tornavoz in the sound hole is there anything you notice about this guitar that is unusual or different, if you notice it I would like to hear your opinion on this construction element. Positive or negative it is all food for thought for me.


Jim

[HHP]

Don't care for the fingerboard ending that far above the soundhole, the soundhole looks small for the body, bridge and fingerboard materials don't match, don't know what the black saddle and nut are.

[jeff crisp]

Is the neck a bolt on ?

[leftybanjo]

I would prefer the sound hole a little closer to the bridge.

[jeff crisp]

Sorry, just checked the Australian and New Zealand forum, thought I'd seen it before. Obviously tradition plays heavy on many peoples minds with both looks and reliability. With the later sorted out as I'm sure it has been, I guess for many it will get down to looks. However a neck that is easier to remove and that provides better access up the neck seems like a good thing to me.

Jeff

[arie]

-the bridge pins seem oddly staggered
-the saddle isn't angled so i'm questioning the intonation.
-the bridge looks "taylorish"
-my eyes keep looking for a rosette (or something). the design elements of the fretboard extension and the soundhole don't resolve for me. i keep fixating on it.
-given the lighter colored fretboard material, i'd have liked to see the head plate and the bridge made from the same material as each other. it may be but it's hard to say from the pic.

if this is your work please don't be offended, but you did ask...

[charles Tauber]

I guess the obvious question is how is the neck attached and, "What happened to the heel"?

[printer2]

Originally Posted by charles Tauber

I guess the obvious question is how is the neck attached and, "What happened to the heel"?

Seen enough with a small heel or no heel and it does not bother me. The fretboard and bridge, no big deal, I am wearing mixed socks (got to stop dressing myself in the dark).


But it is crying out for a bigger rosette, especially with the truncated fretboard.


Putting on my glasses, is that a tuned port or something?

[Jim.S]

Charles Tauber pins the tail squarely on the donkey, yep no heel was the bit I was looking for. I could have posted a rear view and that would have made it more obvious but I was looking to see how noticeable or maybe unnoticeable it was. Still that pic does show it clearly.

Thanks Jeff for not pointing it out

I didn't expect all the other points to surface cause all that was on my mind was that lack of heel. I don't have time right now but will address some of the other stuff to you guys when I get the chance here or in a PM, thanks all for your thoughts, I am even more impressed with this forum now.

Jim

Darwin Strings

[charles Tauber]

Originally Posted by Jim.S

Charles Tauber pins the tail squarely on the donkey, yep no heel was the bit I was looking for.

Norman acoustic guitars did a Fenderish style bolt-on - they were actually wood screws - that went entirely through the body from the back into the neck. The neck had no heel what so ever: the neck simple squared-off and extended into a recess in the body/heel block. So, eliminating the heel it isn't a new idea, having been around since at least the 1970's. It worked adequately, though they were inexpensive birch plywood backed guitars.

The string forces on the guitar attempt to fold the instrument in half. The further from the strings one can apply a restraining counter force, the greater the moment one can create to counter the moment on the neck - and its joint - caused by the tension of the strings. Eliminating the heel radically reduces the countering moment that is possible. For example, with a Taylor style bolt-on neck the bolts are as far from the axis of the strings as is practical. With no heel into which to attach bolts, the bolt(s) would be more or less in the center of the thickness of the neck itself, providing little moment to counter the hinging of the neck.

[printer2]

Originally Posted by charles Tauber

Norman guitars did a Fenderish style bolt-on - they were actually wood screws - that went through the back into the neck. The neck had no heel what so ever: the neck simple squared-off and extended into a recess in the body/heel block. So, it isn't a new idea, having been around since at least the 1970's. It worked adequately, though they were inexpensive birch plywood backed guitars.

I put wood nuts into the neck and used bolts. Funny thing, never took any real pictures of the heel area.

[charles Tauber]

Originally Posted by printer2

The arrangement you've shown is essentially what Norman did, though they used wood screws snugged against a metal plate on the outside of the back. It predated the widespread use of threaded inserts and machine screws/bolts in woodworking applications.

[Jim.S]

Oh man! that's art! the lack of rosette is the rosette! Truth is that guitar was made to be my shed beater, it lives in the dusty shed on that stand and never gets cased in the tropics, I just didn't bother with a rosette but one would make the hole look a bit bigger.

Cheers Charles. I reckon "Norman" and a few others. I have a Maton F10 nylon string thing here (someone left it here cause they didn't think it worth the repair cost) they were first made in the late 60's. Maton used the same Fender neck end but they just glued it into the pocket. I think if you look elsewhere it may have been done earlier. I get my inspiration for neck joins from Leo Fender though.

Printer, cool Tele alike, I love the Tele my favorite electric and could not resist a Tele alike acoustic either so I knocked one up. I used the base Fender neck join with the plate, I like to think of the neck joint as Industrial looking but I would be more to the point if I said it was dog ugly, I don't think of it that way on a Tele but on a acoustic I just never liked it. Here's a pic.



Jim

The guitar in the thread question doesn't have the big metal plate on the back.

[arie]

Originally Posted by Jim.S

yep no heel was the bit I was looking for. I could have posted a rear view and that would have made it more obvious but I was looking to see how noticeable or maybe unnoticeable it was. Still that pic does show it clearly.

i did notice it, but frankly it really isn't that unusual or groundbreaking thus it didn't require commentary. i wasn't aware this was a contest.

[printer2]

Originally Posted by Jim.S

Oh man! that's art! the lack of rosette is the rosette! Truth is that guitar was made to be my shed beater, it lives in the dusty shed on that stand and never gets cased in the tropics, I just didn't bother with a rosette but one would make the hole look a bit bigger.

Cheers Charles. I reckon "Norman" and a few others. I have a Maton F10 nylon string thing here (someone left it here cause they didn't think it worth the repair cost) they were first made in the late 60's. Maton used the same Fender neck end but they just glued it into the pocket. I think if you look elsewhere it may have been done earlier. I get my inspiration for neck joins from Leo Fender though.

Printer, cool Tele alike, I love the Tele my favorite electric and could not resist a Tele alike acoustic either so I knocked one up. I used the base Fender neck join with the plate, I like to think of the neck joint as Industrial looking but I would be more to the point if I said it was dog ugly, I don't think of it that way on a Tele but on a acoustic I just never liked it. Here's a pic.



Jim

The guitar in the thread question doesn't have the big metal plate on the back.

Wish I made mine a little deeper to get some more bottom end out of it. But then again I had nothing to go by other than semi-hollow electrics. Surprised the heck out of me when I found out how loud it was. Took a drawing of a Tele and mated it to the top of a Les Paul.

I like the look of yours, cool fret markers. How does it sound? The neck plate does not bother me, archtops have them also do they not? I almost decided to go heelless on my current acoustic build and have the neck bolts come up from the inside of the box. Kind of glad I went with a heel as I developed more of an appreciation for the traditional acoustic shape since hanging out here.