Head Joint
The neck and head are now made. The photo above shows the scarf joint; the head is cut from the neck blank at an angle, flipped over and glued back on, giving the correct angle for the head.
You can also see in the photo a strip of rosewood running down the neck. I always laminate my necks, I feel that the result is a much more stable neck and the stripe effect looks nice! Even if I don’t use a stripe, I will often cut the wood to relieve any stresses, plane it flat and glue it back together. The small holes that you can see in the photo are for wooden pins, these allow the head veneer to be held perfectly in alignment with the neck whilst it’s being glued on.
I’m surprised how many luthiers are using v-joints on their classicals’ necks. The reason for using a v-joint on early guitars was to keep the joint in compression and not stress the glue; however modern glues are much stronger and more reliable and this joint is unnecessary from a structural point of view.
You can see below the finished head.
When making a guitar you don’t just work on one element at a time so, the soundboard and back are being braced at the same time too.
The wood for the fan bracing is spilt from a billet to ensure that the grain is dead straight and running the length of the brace. I’m not going to say too much about the soundboard; I like to have some secrets!