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Permalink Reply by Ben on March 24, 2010 at 8:50am

Believe me, you don't need to be humble. My stuff looks better typed out, but these are things that should be taken into account if you're looking to up your game a little bit.
Neck Angle - a very little bit (so scientific...I know). A little bit goes a long way when it comes to 7 inches down the box to the bridge. The height of the bridge is determined by this angle. The greater the angle, the higher the bridge. I actually like a slightly higher than normal bridge so I can get some clearance over the box top for picking.
Bracing - I haven't used any yet. I'm not opposed to it though.
Carving and Attatching the heel - What I've done in the past is use a smaller piece of the neck wood and glue it at a perpendicular angle to the neck. That way, its already the right width. I have extremely limited power tools (apartment living) so the less cutting the better. After its attatched, I round it out with a file or some sand paper. I noticed that a lot of the responses on here were about how "purty" heels look. Mine are definitely more function than looks (They have screws going through them into the body). I've got a tenor guitar that I'm working on now that I'm going to attempt a built in heel.
***As a disclaimer...I used my normal method of gluing the heel in place for a 6-string lapsteel I made. I tuned it up to GBDgbd and the glue didn't stand a chance! I just didn't have enough surface area for that amount of tension. I removed the heel (the strings took care of that) and built a "through heel" (?) that was a plank that ran from the far end of the box, along the bottom and out a few inches on the neck side. I then put 4 screws straight through and into the neck from the bottom like a bolt-on electric. It did the trick. The guitar is all in one piece (although it wants to settle in a half-step down to F#A#C#f#a#c#).

Alan Roberts said:

Ben said:

I made a few through-necks but have mostly switched over to bolt on. I build a heel and glue a block to the inside of the box... better acoustics, can angle the neck for better action (has to be planned in advance)...

Wow. It's easy being humble around here, with people putting cool ideas in action that I've only been toying with.

What is your neck-to-body angle?
Do you use any bracing inside?
How do you attach heel to neck, and when? or is the heel all part of the neck from the get-go?

Uncle Ukulele has "how to build ukulele" videos on YouTube that ROCK. I think he rough shapes the heel before gluing it to the neck. With all the nice curves a heel has, shaping would be MUCH easier without the neck in the way.

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Permalink Reply by Rand Moore on October 5, 2010 at 2:14am

Hi All...

The heel is more important for "bolt on necks" to prevent bowing of the neck at this junction point when the strings are tuned up and put o lot of tension on the neck to body joint. So far I have done only one bolt on neck (actually a screwed in neck (or maybe a screwed up neck) and it looked good and straight until I got around to stringing it up and with all the string tension the neck began to bow-up in relation to the body with the deepest part of the bow over the junction point of the neck to the cigar box. My fix was a quick and dirty heel which I made out of poplar and cut to a right angle triangle shape about 3 times longer than it was wide. Then I pre-drilled in four holes for the mounting screws. I then loosened up all the strings, turned the CBG upside down (on its soundboard and frets) and then I used another long board to clamp it down so there was no more bowing and finally I screwed in this triangle heel piece into place. After un-clamping the CBG, I strung it up again and tuned it. The new quick and dirty heel took care of the bowing problem.

-Rand.

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Permalink Reply by Keni Lee Burgess on October 5, 2010 at 8:01am

In traditional guitar building, the heel is a dove tail joint that attaches to a block inside the guitar. With a neck through the body construction, like a National resonator guitar or banjo, the heel does not serve the same purpose. They are more ornamental with regards to CBGs, but they can be used to bold the neck to the box. I hope this helps. Enjoy.

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Permalink Reply by Johnny Debit on October 5, 2010 at 11:52am

I prefer a bolt on neck and use a cross dowel nut running through the heel to secure the neck to the box. The neck can be removed and reattached on another box in about a minute. No glue, no mess. It might be my imagination, but it seems to produce better sustain – there’s just something about bare wood on wood with a substantial piece of steel running through it.

I pay about $1.85 for a dowel nut that's 3/4" long with 1/4" 24tpi and a 1.5" bolt.

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