Om cutaway problems at neck joint

[Jphb77]

Originally Posted by 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.

I think what happened is the block shifted during glue up. I also remember having a hard time getting that radius to sit correctly where it meets the neck. After I noticed it wasn't exact to fitting my mold, I didn't think of the problem I have now. It's cool though, just another reminder and lesson learned about attention to detail. I haven't cut a mortise in the block yet so moving the neck and bridge over is looking like a good possible fix. I really appreciate your imput..thanks

[Jphb77]

Originally Posted by 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.

I really appreciate your suggestion, thankyou

[LouieAtienza]

Another option would be to split the difference - move the heel up halfway, and just add the difference to the bass side of the neck. You can skew the fretboard ever so slightly so that it aligns both at nut and heel. This would still require re-aiming the neck toward the bridge, but the angle wouldn't be as much. I don't think it would be a crime if the trussrod was 1/16" skewed.

[MC5C]

My guitars have, by design, different width necks. I find the planning and execution of the cutaway neck block location matched to the neck width to be probably the hardest part of the precision of building the guitar, so I feel your pain. You could do an elevated fretboard extension by 1/4" or so, by changing the design of the neck joint, use a tapered heel (not often done with a cutaway but not uncommon either) and use that to mask the mistake. You could gain a 16th or so that way, and you could modify the taper of the neck by 1/8th to gain the other 16th. How wide is the neck planned to be at the 12th fret? That width is usually also the string spacing at the bridge, and spacing from 2 1/8th to 2 3/8 is common, you might just be aiming at the low end of that range.

[Jphb77]

Hey thanks for the ideas. I think the dimensions off the plan was 2 1/8 " at the 14th fret (joint). I don't have knowledge about an elevated fretboard extension , but I'll be sure to find some. I have seen the tapered heel you mentioned and I'll definitely look into that. I really appreciate you and all members taking the time to help me out

[Jphb77]

Originally Posted by LouieAtienza

Another option would be to split the difference - move the heel up halfway, and just add the difference to the bass side of the neck. You can skew the fretboard ever so slightly so that it aligns both at nut and heel. This would still require re-aiming the neck toward the bridge, but the angle wouldn't be as much. I don't think it would be a crime if the trussrod was 1/16" skewed.

I see what you're saying. I set up the neck and the body , and did a "mock up" of how it might all look throwing off center and skewed, with a straight edge running full length of the guitar. It pisses me off ,but I'll just take it as a lesson learned.. And being this is gonna be just a personal guitar, I can deal with it and I'm pretty sure not many people will pick up on the mistake. Your suggestions are very appreciated

[LouieAtienza]

Originally Posted by Jphb77

I see what you're saying. I set up the neck and the body , and did a "mock up" of how it might all look throwing off center and skewed, with a straight edge running full length of the guitar. It pisses me off ,but I'll just take it as a lesson learned.. And being this is gonna be just a personal guitar, I can deal with it and I'm pretty sure not many people will pick up on the mistake. Your suggestions are very appreciated

I think the mostimportant thing is to have that bridge centered on the top. Any deviation of the neck would be so imperceptible as to almost be trivial, at least at this stage. As you progress these problems start to disappear....

[hgaynor]

How about using an aluminum U-channel truss rod like those sold by Stew-Mac.
They are about .470 inch wide by .400 deep. This might be wide enough for you to widen your channel on one side and get back on center.

[emmsone]

Originally Posted by Jphb77

I see what you're saying. I set up the neck and the body , and did a "mock up" of how it might all look throwing off center and skewed, with a straight edge running full length of the guitar. It pisses me off ,but I'll just take it as a lesson learned.. And being this is gonna be just a personal guitar, I can deal with it and I'm pretty sure not many people will pick up on the mistake. Your suggestions are very appreciated

What I will suggest for your bridge is that if you do make your bridge off centre is to either make a totally asymmetrical bridge design, or make the bridge the same amount wider on one side as you place it off centre the other, either option should make the eye be less drawn to it being off centre, and if anyone does notice, just say you did it to improve your bass response.

[Jphb77]

Originally Posted by emmsone

What I will suggest for your bridge is that if you do make your bridge off centre is to either make a totally asymmetrical bridge design, or make the bridge the same amount wider on one side as you place it off centre the other, either option should make the eye be less drawn to it being off centre, and if anyone does notice, just say you did it to improve your bass response.

I was thinking of different ways to disguise my error last night, and modifying the bridge crossed my mind. Great idea, thankyou....and you even went as far as to have a believable explanation in case I get called out on my fix. Brilliant