Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by gary sheldon on May 1, 2018 at 4:36am

I always overhang the fretboard over the box.  I leave a small space under the fretboard (between fretboard and box top).  The overhanging fretboard can make things tricky when you want to open the box.  One solution is to have the opening part of the box on the bottom.  It can even be screwed down.

Another thing I do is to use hide glue when fastening the fretboard.  The fretboard can then be removed for

repairs/alterations.  This can also be problematic if your instrument gets damp.  

Permalink Reply by MadGomer on May 1, 2018 at 11:49pm

When I have the fretboard overhanging the lid, I have the fretboard, lid, and neck all tightly sandwiched with screws and/or nails to eliminate any chance for buzz (haven't ever tried it with clearance to know if my concern is warranted). I play around with the neck slot in the box so I can still open the lid if necessary, and may add a bit of trim around the neck there to help hide any gaps in the neck slot with the box closed but not required.

Permalink Reply by Order99 on May 4, 2018 at 1:51pm

 I tend to make the neck slightly canted backwards, not as extreme as a Mandolin but close, maybe 3% back or so. As a result, the bottom of my fretboard hangs out over a full inch of empty space-but I insert tiny slices of wood beneath , glue to secure and sand it even.

 I tend to use the bottoms of boxes and use the tops for the back of the instrument (more boxes these days have masonite lids but wooden bottoms) and screw  the backs shut for easy access/bracing/installation of hardware etc. Never had a buzz so far...