Official Luthiers Forum!

I am attempting a guitar with an entirely bolt-on neck. My natural concern with this is the loss of that oh-so important glue joint between the fingerboard tongue and the face of the guitar. It seems to me like the shoulders would be much more free to move around, and that the top would be more likely to cave in above the soundhole.

I have noticed that some builders are using a Carbon-Graphite "Flying Buttress" to combat this problem (this was originally Rick Turner's idea?), and I was wondering is anyone has any experience with this? My main concern is the distribution of the pressure into the waist, which would still deform the top and back, just in a different way.

I have also noticed that many instruments dating back over a century have used a long bar that runs from the head block to the end block, which I assume is to address the same issue.

Is one method more effective than the other, or has this Flying Buttress system even been around long enough to judge?

Thanks in advance for your opinions!

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If you don't have to reach over your head to turn the knobs, your amp is too small.

Here's a link to a couple of the threads detailing the way I do it with a bolt on neck. There are other threads which also detail it. This is a very stable system which I have been doing for years with no problems.

http://luthiersforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10101&t=19290&p=271512&hilit=neck+extension#p271512

http://luthiersforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10101&t=19044&hilit=redwood

Colin

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I don't believe in anything, I simply make use of a set of reasonable working hypotheses.

That's a well thought-out approach, thanks for sharing! I especially like how much reinforcement the tongue gets, most bolt-on systems don't address that.

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If you don't have to reach over your head to turn the knobs, your amp is too small.

Larry also check out Dave White's CF butresses, just search using butresses and put Dave White in the second box.

Colin

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I don't believe in anything, I simply make use of a set of reasonable working hypotheses.

A bit off-topic, but how are you doing these days, Colin?

Pat

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formerly known around here as burbank
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http://www.patfosterguitars.com