Dovetail & bolt neck lesser options?

[OKCtodd71]

I assume many of you are familiar with the current offering from luthier Ken Parker. Does his radically different neck attachment make the dovetail vs bolt neck debate a moot point now?

https://kenparkerarchtops.com/guitars2
https://kenparkerarchtops.com/technical-details-neck

Your thoughts?

[charles Tauber]

I like that he's thought outside the box.

[Jimmy Recard]

Originally Posted by OKCtodd71

I assume many of you are familiar with the current offering from luthier Ken Parker. Does his radically different neck attachment make the dovetail vs bolt neck debate a moot point now?

https://kenparkerarchtops.com/guitars2
https://kenparkerarchtops.com/technical-details-neck

Your thoughts?

I like the concept that you can swap out different scale length necks.

[stormin1155]

Well, it is a bolt-on... of sorts, so I don't think it really makes the dovetail/bolt debate moot. Whether that design will be embraced by flat top builders, I don't know.

As for interchangeable necks, there's no reason that couldn't be done with any bolt on neck system such as Taylor's NT system. It's one of those things that sounds like a great idea, but in practice, how many people are really going to want to swap necks on a guitar that often? I don't care how streamlined you make the process, you still have to change strings and do at least some sort of setup. It just wouldn't be practical for most people.

[warfrat73]

I don't think it makes it moot for two reasons.

First, since the vast majority of builders are still using either a bolt on mortise and tenon or dovetail joint, people shopping for any of those guitars will still have to consider whether they care one way or the other.

And, two, the debate between dovetail and bolt-on is largely about tradition and innovation, and this new system will do nothing to please the traditionalists (it might, in fact, have the opposite effect and get them digging in their heels further).

[rick-slo]

Fine for an archtop with a tailpiece. Good luck having the strings that high off the body of the guitar with a flattop.

[Jwills57]

Well, the way I look at it--the 170 lbs. of string tension has to go somewhere. A new neck joint design, however innovative and well designed, can't change this basic fact. If the load isn't mostly affecting one area of the guitar, then it's going to be affecting another area. And if you build the guitar with sufficient strength the counteract the load forever, then you've probably built a lifeless, inanimate guitar that will never truly grow and mature and sing. It's always a trade off, for sure. I'm not knocking the craftsmanship or the imagination that went into the design, which sure seems first rate, but as the saying goes "there's no free lunch." There are quite a few luthiers experimenting with different neck joint designs, which is great. It will be interesting to see the guitars they produce now when those guitars are 30, 40, 50 years old.

[cliff_the_stiff]

Originally Posted by Jwills57

Well, the way I look at it--the 170 lbs. of string tension has to go somewhere. A new neck joint design, however innovative and well designed, can't change this basic fact. If the load isn't mostly affecting one area of the guitar, then it's going to be affecting another area. And if you build the guitar with sufficient strength the counteract the load forever, then you've probably built a lifeless, inanimate guitar that will never truly grow and mature and sing. It's always a trade off, for sure. I'm not knocking the craftsmanship or the imagination that went into the design, which sure seems first rate, but as the saying goes "there's no free lunch." There are quite a few luthiers experimenting with different neck joint designs, which is great. It will be interesting to see the guitars they produce now when those guitars are 30, 40, 50 years old.

I think this is well stated.
I don’t think the discussion is moot.

[OKCtodd71]

"And, two, the debate between dovetail and bolt-on is largely about tradition and innovation, and this new system will do nothing to please the traditionalists (it might, in fact, have the opposite effect and get them digging in their heels further). "

I sometimes dig my heels into the ground; it usually ends by being left far behind. I'm often okay with that.

[mercy]

Nooo thanks, a dovetail joint is a signature of a craftsman, a bolt on is a sign of a mechanic

[MThomson]

Originally Posted by mercy

Nooo thanks, a dovetail joint is a signature of a craftsman, a bolt on is a sign of a mechanic

I think I'd be quite happy to own a guitar from mechanics like Tom Sands, Taran Guitars, Greenfield Guitars, or Ervin Somogyi.

[redir]

It's very innovative for sure. I like the way it packs up nice and small for traveling.

[RalphH]

I kinda felt the debate was moot when Bon Taylor showed us how good a bolt on neck could sound

Very cool concept though. I'm not going to ask how much they cost because I know I cant afford one just looking at it

[Tannin]

Yep, the debate has been moot for a very long time. In my little collection I have one bolt-on, two Spanish heels, and two dovetails. Al five instruments are delightful. There are at least four good ways to attach a neck (five counting the one at the top of this thread) and no-one has ever demonstrated that one way is convincingly better than any of the others. Some makers like doing it one way, some another way. I'm happy to go with whatever method the maker of my guitar is comfortable with. There are many more interesting and productive debates to be had.

Notwithstanding the above, the technique linked to in the OP is an interesting one.