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I'll probably just make a jig that is somewhat a combo of all those jigs.

It handles several steps without measuring or unclamping. In addition to getting both of the body angles right it helps with setting the threaded bushings and drilling through the head block in the perfect location.

These items may sound small, but I find I spend quite a bit of time on these steps and now they now extremely simple. It is fast with no measuring and perfect results.

I get the fact that this is expensive... I do. I had to save up for this jig too, but I am glad I bought it.

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Brock Poling
Columbus, Ohio
http://www.polingguitars.com

If you make a jig simular to my adjustable neck drilling jig you won't have to do any measuring for bolt on necks. This jig just has a few extra holes but it locates the bolt and bushing holes the same. You can make one from wood with drilling bushings too.

That's pretty sweet, Chris.

Brock, thanks for the info. I hear you on all those small steps (they freak me out). How does the body stay put when you're working?

The neck jig comes with an "Edge Vise". The edge vise fits into a slot in the neck jig. There's a template to align the edge vise with the body, and with the neck blank. After aligning the edge vise you can install the various templates and they're all properly located. Here's a picture of the edge vise from Luthier Tools website.

I'll take some pictures of mine tomorrow while I'm in the shop.

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I didn't mean to say it, but I meant what I said.
http://www.brackettinstruments.com/

It's definatly a nice jig and worth the price I think. If you can afford it then go for it. I have to put my money where I can get the most from it right now. But it's a wish list item.

Ditto.

I've only used mine a couple of times, so I can't really justify the cost other than I got a nice bonus from work at the time. That plus, it really does make things easy. Like Brock said, it allows for side to side adjustment in addition to the angle. And Chris at Luthiertool is a great guy. He's answered my questions very timely. Sent me an upgraded part to the jig (for a cutaway design). He doesn't just forget about you after the sale.

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Thanks,
Blain

http://www.ullrichguitar.com

"89.67% of all statistics are made up on the spot."

I followed Woody's link from his post above to Ebay and purchased one of Jon Simpson's neck jigs, it arrived today and I am very happy with its design and Jon's workmanship. By adding up the time to build and the expense of getting the materials and plans his price is quite reasonable.

Fred

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Fred Tellier
http://www.fetellierguitars.com
Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/pages/FE-Tellier-Guitars/163451547003866

That's funny. I also ordered one of Jon's jigs and it came in yesterday but I haven't had time to open mine up yet - tonight!

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

I have a LT neck jig also, and can vouch for its extremely high standard of workmanship and ease of use. I only had to make two test joints before I fully understood how to use it properly. If your measurements are good, and the jig set up correctly, the neck angle is correct out of the jig, and only the very slightest of sanding is required to fit the heel-to-body surface to attain a perfect joint. If buying one, you will also need to consider the cost of the accessories - various neck joint type options, etc. It adds up fast, but IMO the time saved and accuracy attained is well worth it. I'm never going to part with mine, that's for sure!

I'm building a sinker redwood/cocobolo OM for someone very shortly and will make some videos on how I set up and use the LT jig and put them on YouTube.

Cheers,
Dave F.

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Cambrian Guitars

"There goes Mister Tic-Tac out the back with some bric-brac from the knick-knack rack"

Guys,

I have two of these jigs. What you can do is actually place the body clamp (this is a jig that is separte from the neck jig itself)on the guitar and cut the female dovetail, tenon, floating dovetail or whatever joint you use on the guitar centered or off-centered if that's what you want(we usually do not pre-cut our neck blocks now with this jig). You can then place another template in the jig on the body and drill the holes for the brass insert or thru hole(I also understand that Chris now has adjustable jigs for this).

From that point you place the body on the top of the jig and line the body up vertically with the center line and you also line the body up with the top outside( so you are setting both left and right of center and in and out of center). From this point you can get the right positive or negative angle off of the body of the guitar at your determined bridge height. (My necks are usually at a negative 4.5 degrees given my camber in the tops and I am using a .0625 setting for my bridge height).

You now remove the body from the top of the jig. Take a sacrifice board and place on the neck board (the adjustable board for the actual neck)and mark the stick. I typically will then go to the miter and determine the angle. From there I have a carriage board that recieves the neck and hold it horizotally (correct neck taper) down the center line on the miter saw. I now cut the heel at the correct angle (before I attempt to put the male dovetail joint or tenon or whatever on the neck). I then place the neck in the jig, slide the correct template in and cut the male dovetail/tenon/ etc.

Remove neck from jig. slide in body and we now have a neck joint that is fit with little or no additional work.

We may be doing some neck joints this week and I will try and make a video.


Kevin