Anyone else prefer the Finger joint to the scarf joint?

[DMBfan]

I just can't stand the scarf joint that joins the neck to the headstock. It just looks goofy to me. Does anyone else feel the same way and like the finger joints better?

[wooglins]

I would prefer a solid neck myself. Since Taylor has a lifetime warranty is should not matter, but usually 3 piece necks are on inexpensive guitars. I know they save alot of mahogany, but on your more expensive instruments they should have 1 piece solid. I would trade a 1 piece neck for the NT technology though in a heartbeat on any guitar.

[Nelson]

All the data has clearly shown that the fingerjoint and the scarfjoint are as strong if not stronger than a one piece neck. It's all about appearance. No one likes the look of the fingerjoint so they try to come up with a thousand reasons why it's no good, none of which make sense.

Custom builders still use one piece necks becuse it's also easier for them. They don't have access to the machinery that Taylor does so they can't implement that in a cost effective manner at this time. Eventually they will.

Many like to complain about Taylor's use of automation in the building process but have you noticed that gradually the smaller builders are switching to that as well. CNC, Fadal, poly finishes, etc. The smaller builders eventually start incorporating these practices as they see the cost effectiveness. In time, the two piece neck will also show up in their build process.

[M.D.Smith]

I would like to be able to answer the poll question. I've seen the different joints, how they are made and fitted, but which one is better?

But one thing I do know is that the Taylor NT necks as a whole are outstanding in playability and as a mechanic, I like the fact that adjustments can be made in a matter of minutes. All 3 of my Taylors have such straight necks.

As far as looks, I like the look of a one piece neck, second the finger joint, then the scarf joint.

[Chuck Sylvester]

Wow. I didn't think anybody would prefer fingerjoint over the scarf joint. I guess I'm just thinking about fingerjoint moulding - the stuff at the Home Depot that you buy because it's cheaper and you're going to paint over it anyway.

I have the fingerjoint and I tolerate it because I love the guitar otherwise. That joint really shows up on a maple neck as opposed to mahogany necks. But if y'all like it, more power to ya!
Chuck

[JimB1]

Originally Posted by Nelson

Many like to complain about Taylor's use of automation in the building process but have you noticed that gradually the smaller builders are switching to that as well. CNC, Fadal, poly finishes, etc.

Well, I think part of that is that the cost and scale of some of that has come down. You can buy a small shop, 110V CNC unit for a couple of thousand now. Just a few years ago, they were huge and upwards of twenty grand...

Same thing has been happening with HVLP paint systems. I've seen smaller units for under $500, that is pretty great!

All to the good as far as I'm concerned. :-)

-Jim

[JoeStrummer]

Good grief ... we're talking about joining two pieces of wood together.. . just play the thing...

[Jeff M]

Originally Posted by JoeStrummer

Good grief ... we're talking about joining two pieces of wood together.. . just play the thing...

Hey, it's a guitar forum.
If it were an audiophile forum folks would be arguing the best method for removing ear wax.

[Donfransisco]

I like the scarf joint better as far as appearance goes. For some reason though, pre 2007 necks have a better feel to me then the new NT does. One thing I really do like about the NT neck is the ability to reset it without having to saw off the neck. Thats one of the BIG reasons i buy Taylor. As far as strength goes, a friends Taylor feel on the ground and was fine, but a friends Gibson feel on the ground and snap went the neck.

[moctzal]

Originally Posted by Donfransisco

I like the scarf joint better as far as appearance goes. For some reason though, pre 2007 necks have a better feel to me then the new NT does. One thing I really do like about the NT neck is the ability to reset it without having to saw off the neck. Thats one of the BIG reasons i buy Taylor. As far as strength goes, a friends Taylor feel on the ground and was fine, but a friends Gibson feel on the ground and snap went the neck.

A neck doesn't need to be sawn off on a dovetail joint to be reset...that's probably just 70's Yamaha FGs cause they used an epoxy that doesn't release with heat/moisture...if you heat/steam the joint, the glue releases on most Martins/Gibsons with dovetails...

[moctzal]

Put another +1 in the scarf joint collumn from me.
One straight line just looks better to me than a bunch of teeth.

[gjensen7]

My 914ce has the finger joint. When I bought it, there wasn't a choice. I believe that Taylor is using the scarf joint on all of their guitars now. What one prefers, rather than what one has as an option at the time of purchase are two different things.

[Jeff M]

Originally Posted by Donfransisco

.....One thing I really do like about the NT neck is the ability to reset it without having to saw off the neck. ....

How a dove tail neck is re-set, from Frank Ford at Frets.com (pictorial);
http://www.frets.com/FRETSPages/Luth...28reset01.html

No saws were involved in the making of this pictorial..and no guitars were injured.

If somebody did a neck re-set by sawing off the neck, I suspect, as was noted above, the neck was either epoxied in, it was a Spanish heel design, or they didn't know what they were doing (or didn't care.)

Spanish heel neck re-set;
http://www.frets.com/FRETSPages/Luth...ichreset1.html

[Chazmo]

This discussion always cracks me up. It's just like the Martin guys *****ing about "wings" on their headstocks. Too funny.

As far as preference goes, I have none. As far as functional capability goes, I think the finger joint is likely to be stronger, since there's way more surface area for glue, but I've heard that it's difficult to actually get enough glue into the joint to take advantage of it. In any case, both are probably just fine!

Just to fuel the fires, here's the finger joint shown at an angle that makes it very obvious. Most of the time, it was invisible to me:

[Brackett Instruments]

Originally Posted by Nelson

.................................................. ................
Custom builders still use one piece necks becuse it's also easier for them. They don't have access to the machinery that Taylor does so they can't implement that in a cost effective manner at this time. Eventually they will.
.................................................. .........................................

That's just not true. Not for the scarf joint anyway. I can buy a $20 piece of Mahogany and produce an uncarved neck blank with a scarf joint and stacked heel (like Taylor uses) in a matter of minutes with my Table saw and basic hand tools. I can buy a $100 piece of Mahogany and produce 2 uncarved one piece neck blanks with my band saw and jointer in just a little longer. The 3 and 5 piece laminated necks I like to use take a little more money and time. I'm not knocking Taylor. Their necks are strong, and also look OK. They have to come up with enough Mahogany to make necks for 80,000 or so guitars a year. I'm just saying custom builders don't use one piece necks because they don't have the means to make a scarf joint.