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Expert builders: let's talk about 'back angle'

Hi all,

I've been experimenting a little with my last few builds adding a slight backwards angle to the neck. I remember seeing this mentioned quite a few times as a way to get lower action. I've had pretty good results with a very slight back angle.

I just put together a new build today which has a bit more of an extreme angle to it... anyway have a look and see what you think.

So... the action is super low (1mm at first fret, 1.5mm at 12th), but I'm getting horrific fret buzz all the way up the fretboard. Is this too much of an angle? Or could I compensate with a higher bridge?

I achieved this angle using the this design:

I put a 2mm block under the neck at the front part of the box and a 6mm block under the tail end.

Let me know what you think!

Rick

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Permalink Reply by Richey Kay on March 13, 2014 at 11:31pm

Cool. I'll persevere then!

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Permalink Reply by David McQueen on March 14, 2014 at 1:03am

Yup.... And Torres on classical guitar. The combo bridge/tailpiece assembly glued to the top of the guitar gets that break angle by tying the strings down directly behind the saddle. Hence very little if any back angle required.

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Permalink Reply by jabes on March 15, 2014 at 3:07am

agree on the ps lol

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Permalink Reply by David McQueen on March 14, 2014 at 12:13am

Go take a look at a bunch of Gypsy Jazz guitars here

https://www.google.ca/search?q=gypsy+jazz+guitar&client=safari&...

They were kind of, sort of the european equivalent to a cbg. What jazz musicians really wanted was an arch top to play with an orchestra, but they were really expensive. This was the result... High bridge, extra long scale (26"), the first cut-a-way, special light real silk and steel strings (you can still buy them on the net), super light framing. They formed the basis of the hot jazz movment out of Paris.

I have been trying to steal as much as I can from them in building my own cbg's.

Here is a Gypsy Jazz guitar in action

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=B6uXGSTfz_4

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Permalink Reply by Bad Finger (Eric) on March 14, 2014 at 1:19am

Here's a forum post I put up when having my first go at a little back angle. My wife didn't even mind!

http://www.cigarboxnation.com/forum/topics/easy-neck-angle-adjustment

Check the attached pic in the original post on that thread. I assure you that it is safe for work.

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Permalink Reply by The Phrygian Kid on March 14, 2014 at 1:36am

Well here's mine. No adjustment, just the easy logical way as I see it :)

http://handmademusicclubhouse.com/photo/thetinyguitarsbodyendscarfj...

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Permalink Reply by Bad Finger (Eric) on March 14, 2014 at 1:53am

Yeah, I like that and will likely to my next in a similar way. The adjustment came into play when my back-of-the-envelope engineering was somewhat off. I built the bridge I wanted to use and the action was too high at the 12th fret so I reworked it a little using the fulcrum to get exactly the angle I wanted.

This is the finished guitar.

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Permalink Reply by robert jones on March 14, 2014 at 11:04am

Hey Eric, how's that Punch box sound? I've one on the shelf that I haven't gotten to yet.

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Permalink Reply by Bad Finger (Eric) on March 15, 2014 at 10:28am

That's my third using a punch sesenta and they sound great!

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Permalink Reply by robert jones on March 15, 2014 at 11:28pm

Thanks! Guess I need to move that one higher on the build list. :D

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Permalink Reply by David McQueen on March 14, 2014 at 2:03am

That's pretty much what I am doing. For awhile I was cutting it on the table saw using cedar shakes for an angle guide. 1 shake gave about 1/4" on 10". 2 shakes glued together gave 1/2" on 10".

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Permalink Reply by Michael Fred Johnson on March 15, 2014 at 2:24am

Had a couple of short lengths of mahogany for necks so I built two recently using this method.The two pieces of ply run the length of the box.Glued between, at one end is a tail block,and at the other end is a block with its top face angled at 2 degrees.The stub end of the neck is glued on top of this and between the ply.