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What sequence do you use, & why, for the following steps?

1. Attach neck to body
2. Glue fretboard to neck
3. Install frets

I'm in the process of building my 1st steel string & am facing questions that did not arise in building classicals with a Spanish foot. Should I proceed 1,2,3, or 2,3,1, or 3,2,1, or 1,3,2? Is there a "preferred" sequence for these. What are the pros & cons of each?

3,2,1, with 1 after finishing.
Pros -
I use it because it's the easiest, quickest, requires the least messing about and it works.
As long as the FB and neck are well flattened, then glued up (I use titebond) with a flat caul (with neck angle set up well first), I don't have any problems so far.
I would add that I level, crown and polish frets after the neck is joined to the body (bolt-on mortice and tenon)
I was shown the method by a 24 guitar a year/30 years professional with one of the best names in his country, so if it's good enough for him, it'll do for me.
Cons-
Not found any yet, but..
Lots of others do it different ways.

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The name catgut is confusing. There are two explanations for the mix up.

Catgut is an abbreviation of the word cattle gut. Gut strings are made from sheep or goat intestines, in the past even from horse, mule or donkey intestines.

Otherwise it could be from the word kitgut or kitstring. Kit meant fiddle, not kitten.

2, (1, 3 after finishing).

So many ways to skin the cat.....

I've tried several different ways, and I think I'm getting to like the following:

1. build neck,
2. Build fretboard, cut frets
3. Glue fretboard to neck
4. Check the radius on the fretboard, then hammer and dress frets.
5. Rough set neck (get it close) - I use a M&T bolt on so I take advantage of the ease of removal and resetting
6. Finish and buff neck and body (while unattached)
7. Attach Bridge.
8. Put the neck on and do final setup.

321....
Take your slotted and radiused fretboard, do your inlay, install frets, bevel/level/dress frets
install board on neck
install neck after finishing
may have to do some minor leveling after string up, but probably not much...

Corky have you tried setting the neck before attaching the fretboard? I picked up that trick from a tutorial that Hesh posted.... SO much easier to sand the heel without the fretboard in the way... - Justin

I make the neck log/blank, including shaping the headstock - then I cut the neck angle close, leaving the neck set forward bit, then glue on the fingerboard. I shape the heel, rough carve the neck some, leaving it thick, then set the neck. Because the neck is set forward, as you floss the heel, it pulls the neck back, adn conforms to the body curve at the heel at the same time. Once set, I drill for the neck inserts, and once done, check the neck alignment again and make sure the fit is tight. Then radius and level the FB, checking to see what the height is going to be at the bridge - you can adjust this some by tapering the FB one way or the other, or sometimes deepening the set angle a hair. Then fret it. Then I finish carving the neck shape. Finish the neck, then attach to the body. In order to get a tight fit, you will most likely need to floss the neck some more here, with 400 grit paper. Finish can throw things out of alignment, so check that, and adjust as required. One of my former students goes to visit family in LA every year, and he has been taking time out to visit Kevin Ryan. Kevin actually sets the neck for a given body, only after the body has been finished.

As you can see, its what works for you. I tried fretting after finish, and although the fretboard is easier to get flat once all glued to the body, I was always scared of finish fractures occuring when hammering frets, or chipping the fingerboard edge - it happens. So I am happy with the above method - it works for me.

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Tony Karol
www.karol-guitars.com
"let my passion .. fulfill yours"

I fit the neck.
Install the fingerboard.
Finish the body and neck, separately.
Install the neck.
Then fret.

The order isn't really important. Just do whatever you're comfortable with.

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

2,3,1 for me. I level and radius the board after it is on the neck then fret. I inlay the board before i glue it down.

Same here. That way I don't need a radius caul to clamp the fingerboard onto the neck, and don't have to maneuver around the soundhole on the last few frets. But if you're doing a classical style fingerboard end, contoured to the soundhole, then it would probably be better to install the neck and glue down the fingerboard extension before fretting. Otherwise the wedging action of the frets might mess up the match. That also necessitates finishing before fretting though (assuming you finish the body and neck separately), which makes shaping the fret ends much more nerve-wracking...

2,1,3 It is the order of assembly I was taught , the advantage is it works well for me to fit the neck at the proper angle using a straight edge off the unfretted finger board to a bridge placed on the top. Jody

I'm pretty new at this and always seem to struggle with a high twelve fret after installing a pre-fretted neck, but am afraid to install wire after a neck set because I don't have a Taylor fret buck (for example), which is pretty expensive. It seems best to level a board after neck installation because of that potential bump you can get, but I still haven't done it that way. Some day I'll get up the nerve.

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"Preoccupation with an effect gives it power and enhances the error"
from "Your Owner's Manual" by Burt Hotchkiss.

I take the neck to the point where the headstock is shaped, and the profile and heel/cheek taper shaped and the tenon cut with the approximate angle cut in. Get the set and alignment close, attach the fretboard, do the final shaping of the neck, attach it (bolts), level the fretboard, fret, and do the final fret leveling and set after finish.
Tony's recommendation to leave it a little underset at first is excellent. I'm dealing with a neck right now that was perfect before finish but for some reason is a little overset after finish. That's a lot harder to fix.

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It's not what you don't know that hurts you, it's what you do know that's wrong.

Thanks for all the input! I guess I'll have to make a choice sometime soon.

Justin -

Of course you're right. I do set the neck 99% first - just leave the final tweaks. I described it poorly.

Corky