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#1
09-13-2018, 07:15 AM
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Dovetail or Mortise and Tenon by manufacturer?
From cheap to boutique. Who uses a Mortise and Tenon neck joint and who uses a dovetail.
I know Martin uses dovetail on all high end models. But other than them I am curious as to who uses a Mortise joint? 
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#2
09-13-2018, 08:54 AM
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Quote:
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Cheers, Frank Ford
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#3
09-13-2018, 10:46 AM
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I believe Gibson acoustics are all dovetails.
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Rodger Knox, PE 1917 Martin 0-28 1956 Gibson J-50 et al
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#4
09-13-2018, 12:09 PM
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Neck Joints
A dovetail is a very specific type of joint in woodworking. Over the years, in guitar making, there have been some liberties taken with the term. In my industry we refer to that concept as "marketing bull..... ", well, you fill in the rest.
Most non-dovetail joints are variations on the tried and true mortise and tenon joint. Calling it a "simple dovetail" or anything else is just not being totally honest, IMHO. Taylor, Breedlove, and many others, have made some very fine guitars over the years using bolt on necks. Mortise and Tenon is also widely used, but the traditional dovetail joint has always been regarded as the gold standard when it come to luthiery. Just my $0.02 worth on the subject.
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1995 Taylor 412 1995 Taylor 612C Custom, Spruce over Flamed Maple 1997 Taylor 710 1968 Aria 6815 12 String, bought new
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#5
09-13-2018, 12:21 PM
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I've owned several types from various builders including traditional dovetail, M&T, Spanish heel, and a couple of different types of bolt-on's. There are about 20 things that determine the tone of a guitar (wood type, bracing, factory versus boutique build, top thickness, etc) and I personally place the neck joint type as about #27 on that list. YMMV.
Several luthiers that I've talked with say that two adjoining flitches of wood from the same log will yield two seemingly identical guitars that still don't sound exactly alike. To my mind that makes it impossible to isolate the tonal effect of the neck joint. But I sure understand the curiosity. We all look for the "secret sauce" that explains why one guitar sounds better than others. As a mechanical engineer I'm a big fan of the Taylor NT neck, mostly because it turns the whole neck reset issue from major surgery to a minor tune-up, and allows for easy and accurate neck sets for best playability. And I've had to have neck resets on two different dovetail guitars.
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#6
09-14-2018, 07:53 AM
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The only glued and not bolted pure mortise and tenon manufacturer that I've had experience with is Hofner, in the 1960's and earlier. They were also known for needing neck resets... I think Martin was doing a bolted M&T joint where the bolt was to hold the neck while the glued dried, or so they said.
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Brian Evans Around 15 archtops, electrics, resonators, a lap steel, a uke, a mandolin, some I made, some I bought, some kinda showed up and wouldn't leave. Tatamagouche Nova Scotia.
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#7
09-23-2018, 07:44 AM
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Fender had several bolt on (screws from back just like electric) acoustics during the 60, they look very cool and play like a brick.
https://www.guitar-list.com/fender/a...tics-1963-1971
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#8
09-23-2018, 08:24 AM
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Tenon neck joint.
I use a mortise and tenon bolt on neck. A lot easier to do a neck reset. I don't like pulling the 15th (13th with 12 fret neck) fret and forcing steam into the neck joint. It just doesn't set well with me. As far as sound goes I don't think that I can tell the difference between the two. I find that setting the neck angle and center to be one of the most difficult parts of the building process and a mortise and tenon neck is easier for me to achieve a strong tight fit.
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#9
09-23-2018, 08:34 AM
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And thats why its done, profit motive. I admire a dovetail joint and admire those that can do it but I dont think the joint effects sound. I do think the mass of the neck does though. A rosewood or wenge neck helps to keep the energy of the string in the box.
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#10
09-23-2018, 01:03 PM
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Quote:
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#11
09-23-2018, 04:28 PM
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I really prefer a light neck. I don't even like my mahogany on the heavy side. And speaking only for my own builds the bodies are very lively just the same.
And just to stay on coarse with the OP, I always use a dovetail on my guitars, and my upper end mandolins as well. Not sure that they would sound different either way though.
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