Om cutaway problems at neck joint

[Jphb77]

Hello all members,im new to the forum and inexperienced in building.. This is just my 2nd build. I have the body finished besides some sanding left on the sides. I have my neck blank ready to the point of connecting it to the body. I just noticed tonight that if I go by my plans (prints), my neck and fretboard will be proud of the cutaway where it transitions to the body by a little over an 1/8"..that is working from centerline of body and neck.also this is using the dimensions for the width of the neck at the 14th fret. So after looking at where I went wrong , it looks like the tight radius of the cutaway is not following the perimeter of the full scale plan precisely and is not wide enough where the neck joins the body. Right now the solutions I'm thinking about is to either narrow down the neck and keep everything centered...or attatching the neck off center of the body. Any ideas would be appreciated. Thanks

[D. Churchland]

Pictures would probably help in this case.

[Bruce Sexauer]

While having the neck and fingerboard overhang the body is not pretty, and is possibly embarrassing, it doesn’t really matter as far as the result being a good playing Guitar. The same cannot be said for altering the neck by narrowing it.

[Shuksan]

What are the numbers for the nut width, neck width at the 14th fret, and string spacing at the saddle you were aiming for before noticing the problem?

I'm not understanding how this problem happened. For a typical Florentine or Venetian cutaway, the position of the cutaway where it meets the neck is determined by the width of the headblock on the treble side of the guitar's centerline. If the headblock width is cut properly and the headblock is centered on the guitar's centerline and the fretboard/neck width is correct, then the edge of the neck and fretboard automatically align with the cutaway.

[Jphb77]

]

Originally Posted by Will Kirk

Pictures would probably help in this case.

I've marked the center of body and marked the width of the neck per plan at the joint...hope this helps, but I think I'm screwed

[Jphb77]

Originally Posted by Will Kirk

Pictures would probably help in this case.

Tried a few different ways to post a pic..haven't had any luck yet

[printer2]

Shift the neck over a little. Narrowing it would probably not be a good idea unless you made a wide neck in the first place. Keep it in mind when you line the neck up with the saddle and the bridge.

[Jphb77]

Originally Posted by printer2

Shift the neck over a little. Narrowing it would probably not be a good idea unless you made a wide neck in the first place. Keep it in mind when you line the neck up with the saddle and the bridge.

Yeah , as of now that's the direction I'm heading in. It's a personal use guitar and won't be true center, but it should play ok. It's either that or keep the neck for a new body and abandon this one altogether. Thanks for your input

[Jphb77]

Originally Posted by Will Kirk

Pictures would probably help in this case.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/R4SpV7h1SU4bHtqq9

[LouieAtienza]

I# it were me, i would just move the neck so that the edge lines up. I wpuld also angle it such that it aims toward the center at the bridge, this way the bridge atays centered on the sound board. Narrowing the neck 1/8" probably not a good idea, unless ypu make it into a tenor guitar.

[runamuck]

If it were me, I'd leave it and let the fingerboard hang over.

[redir]

I would also leave it. You don't want a neck that narrow! Also making it off center will look worse. What I would do is make some sort of ebony block or what ever wood looks there and carve it such that you intended to do it. I'm not sure exactly what that would look like but it would be better then just an over hang.

It's only your second guitar so don't sweat it. Learn from the mistakes and move on. You still very well may have a good sounding guitar there and that's the important part. Don't compromise playabilty over that, is what I am trying to say.

[Talldad]

I’d be tempted to fudge it. Keep the neck the right thickness. Move it up 3mm and then adjust the angle to keep the saddle central. Few will notice the angle and it won’t affect the playability.

Keeping that 3mm lip will jar every time you look at the guitar. You don’t want that.

[Shuksan]

If it was my guitar, I would definitely do as others have suggested and move the neck over to make it flush with the side and then angle the neck slightly to keep the bridge centered. There's no real downside to doing that either functionally or appearance-wise since the skew angle of the neck would be small. Leaving the fretboard and neck overhanging would look bad.

From your photo, it appears that either the neck block was cut too narrow on the treble side of the centerline or the neck block was mis-positioned about 1/8" toward the bass side when gluing it to the bass side.

Are you going to do a butt joint to attach the neck or are you going to make a tenon on the neck? If making a tenon, did you already rout the mortise in the head block before gluing it to the sides? If so, I'm wondering if the mortise in the head block is centered on the centerline or not.

[Jimmy Caldwell]

I'd leave the neck alone and make the fix a design element. Some type of clever overlay or something, the possibilities are many. I remember reading that Larry Robinson got his start in inlay covering up mistakes he made many years ago at Alembic. Think it through, you'll come up with something.