First the progress pics:
Got the bracing shaped and bridge plate glued in
Glued the lining
and rough cut the top contour into the rim
by the way those little oscillating cutters are awesome and useful for all kinds of stuff, highly recommended.
Regarding the neck, since none of the woods Im using are especially striking, I intend to use a sunburst along the lines of old gibson mandolins like below to give it some visual interest. With this finishing the heel is pretty well blacked out so Im not too worried about the aesthetics of a finger joint there, the possibility of the glue creeping is really the only thing giving me pause.
Quote:
|
5 inches at the heal? That's huge.
|
yeah, i wanted a full 4" body depth and add to that a 0.5" arch height on both sides makes it pretty extreme but I think it would look weirder to stop it short
Quote:
That's pretty cool... I did something somewhat similar a long while ago, except I had the configuration the other way, the bearing surface was on the neck and the "saddle was a separate piece on the guitar, and the bearing surfaces were slightly eccentric so that when the action was raised, the neck actually pulled toward the body and vice versa. I also pocketed the heel into the body to make it less "visible". I also used a heavy spring to keep tension on the lower bolt, so the neck wouldn't move if I changed strings. Unfortunately I knocked the guitar over and I took too much off the heel block and the whole thing exploded before I could touch it up! But cool ideas here..
The only thing with the finger joint is that it may look a little funny once you carve the heel area...
|
Sorry to hear it broke, Im using some 93 lb belleville spring washers under the two top bolts to keep tension on the joint