Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by darryl kernaghan on February 7, 2014 at 12:27am

hey kid,in my opinion,the heel,relevance to the strength of the neck with a cutout for a pup is 2/5 of nothing,if you,re happy with your present arrangement,keep it,but bolster the bottom of your neck by laminating a similar section of wood below ,from the start of the box,or even 11/2 inches b4 the box which i would call the heel,your reference to heel i think is what i,d call the tail.a well made glued lamination will do the job,if unsure,bang a few screws in.as for opening and closing with a thru neck,an almost invisible radius of the edge furtherest from the hinges should allow the opening and closing of the box without an obvious gap,i think reeds taylor has an image of the neck reinforcement that i,m trying to convey,good luck

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by The Capo Kid on February 7, 2014 at 12:50am

 In the UK we call it the heel , the tail I call the bit that comes out the end of the box with the string holes , the neck portion inside the box is double thickness , it stops at the edge of the box to allow easy opening then I glue a shaped piece to the neck up against the box to make it look like it's all the way through , so is making it all one piece going to be that much stronger than doing it in two pieces .

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by darryl kernaghan on February 7, 2014 at 1:46am

sorry mate,misinterpreted your original post,yep that,s what i call the heel also,sorry for the confusion,simply stated,to open and close the box with the thru  box heel and neck,the same applies as my original reply,just a small amount of relief on the edge furthest from the hinges is all you,ll need,radius the corners of the bottom of your neck cut out a little to match the neck bottom edges,and you,ll find that there is a minimal visible gap,hope this helps

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Reeds Taylor on February 7, 2014 at 2:03am

This picture shows how I do my neck thru's with a heel, you can make the heel as long or as short as you prefer.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Richard G Caudill on February 7, 2014 at 2:26am

Way I do it also when I use a pup

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by The Phrygian Kid on February 7, 2014 at 3:20am

There's only one kid.

Whoever you are, why do you need to open and close the box? It will be a better axe IMHO if it is sealed shut. Moving parts complicate guitars, often unnecessarily

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Wichita Sam on February 7, 2014 at 3:41am

I'll butt in.  I (almost) always have a CBG that opens and closes.  Sometimes with a degree of trouble, destringing, and removing various bits and pieces.  Why have access?  Things break and fail.  More than once I've had to resolder connections.  Or, I want to reconfigure electronics on a particlar build.  The only reason I can think of to seal a box is on a totally acoustic CBG.  The easiest way to have access to the interior of the box is to "build on the bottom."  It usually the best wood and a blank slate for graphics/folkart.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by ChickenboneJohn on February 7, 2014 at 6:41am

I also always make the box openable...it's simply a practical way of making sure everything can be repaired, adjusted and altered.  Solder joints can fail, jack sockets and pots wear out...easy access saves so much grief.

• ▶ Reply