Q4 22 Challenge - Another headless guitar

Roland

Another fortnight goes by. This afternoon I managed to get a couple of hours in the workshop, and used them to taper the sides on the neck. Normally I use a router and neck template. This time, to make things interesting, I cut the two sides on the table saw using a couple of spacers between the neck and the fence to get the right angle.

Roland

November went by while I spent a lot of time visiting friends and family. December saw me in bed, or sitting by a radiator, while flu took its course. Now it’s January. I haven’t started on the body yet, so this guitar will become a 2023 build. Maybe a new thread. 

My main guitar needs a new neck, so this one is destined for that. Today has been really busy (for me). The neck was designed for a different headpiece. I started by cutting it back to take the Hipshot headpiece from my main guitar, then shaping the heel to fit the old body. 

The fretboard had its coat of CA glue last year. I recut the fret slots to make sure they were clear of glue and dust … which is when I realised that I’d put the third fret in the wrong place. Somehow I’d measured 100.3mm rather than 103.0mm from the zero fret. At this point a seasoned guitar builder would probably have scrapped the neck. However I’m a rank amateur who doesn’t bother about looks. The slot wasn’t difficult to recut, and fill the old slot with the dust. It will show, but it won’t affect playability. There’s also a few marks on the board which I decided not to sand out because the wood is a bit thin. 

The caul in the drill press is a lot easier to use than a fret hammer, although I did have to tap some of the fret ends. I think that may have been due to the CA hardening the ends of some of the slots. Jescar Gold is harder than nickle silver, and I cut the frets as short as possible to minimise filing. It also saves fret wire, and I start from the body end so that any mistakes can be re-cut and used further down the neck. After filing level the fret ends were rounded using one of Chris Alsop’s fret crowning files. 

Side dot positions were measured, drilled, and filled. I don’t use markers on the front of the fret board. Rather than drill for wood screws I put in M4 inserts. I like to use ferrules rather than a neck plate, and countersunk Allen bolts instead of slotted or cross heads. Plates get in the way of my thumbs when playing at the dusty end, and I once scratched my thumb on burr on a screw head.

Then the easy bit. The back of the neck was sanded with 240 and 320 grit to remove any marks, and finished with several coats of CA. CA takes minutes between coats, oil takes hours, varnish takes days. Less than an hour from screwing in the inserts and the finished neck was on the guitar. 

Synopsis: Total failure to meet the challenge, and build a guitar in Q4 2022. Success in making a replacement neck for the Q1 2022 build. The jury is out on the CA finish. Quick to apply, but noxious fumes. Let’s see how the neck wears.