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I was looking at some of Jim Olson's work here http://www.olsonguitars.com/guitar_appts.html and I love the way he does the rear headstock veneers. How is this done? Is the veneer simply cut after the neck is made or is it a v joint? Any tutorials anywhere on something like this would be quite helpful. Thanks.

Looks to me like he probably adds the veneer before he makes the v joint then binds everything afterward. If you want to be sure, you could ask him. I do like the look and have seen a number of other guitars done this way, though most don't go to the trouble of binding the rear.

OK, so I found a build thread on the AGF. It is definately not a v-joint. The veneer must be made off the guitar then the place where the veneer sits routed out? I guess it could be done with a pin router set up maybe? Do any of you guys use purfling on your rear headstock veneers with a volute?

Yup, CNC work there. Even with CNC, Jim's work is amazing in my opinion.

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Yea,I don't think his work is so great...If you look really close you can see one of those miters is .00001"
off .

Well, everybody has an off day here and there.

I do this;

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Jim Watts
http://jameswattsguitars.com

I know that Gary Lee from the OLF does the same thing. Maybe you could PM him.

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Ken Franklin
clumsy yet persistent
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OK Jim do tell. What's the method?

CNC or no CNC, that's great work Jim. That's makes me want to go out and buy CNC. In fact, I think there's a sale on at Laguna right now ......... duck and running.

That would be cool on both sides of the headstock!

It's inlaid. I cut the piece of inlay and the cavity on a cnc router. After the cavity is cut I install the purfs into the cavity, then I have to fit the inlay, but it's pretty close it's pretty close but my router doesn't hold tolerances very well. It may be made by Laguna .

It might look good on both sides, I've thought about that off and on over the years but can't quite decide. Maybe I'll try it some time.

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Jim Watts
http://jameswattsguitars.com

I do something similar around my volutes but use the same wood as the neck(and don't use purflings). If I was going to do one like Olson's I would:

Cut the volute into the headstock first, before final neck shaping

shape my back veneer to fit tightly around the volute (I use a chisel and razor blades for this)

rout the pattern for the headstock into that back veneer registering off of the volute shaped portion

cut the channels for the binding and purfling into the back veneer and install them off of the neck. (if it is thin you are really cutting away where the channels would be and laying those outside pieces up onto the edge of the veneer)

Glue the back veneer onto the headstock

shape the facets on either side of the volute

I would guess Olson's is CNC at least partly, the tip of the volute looks rounded and I would imagine that is so he can use a bit in the CNC to shape the inside of the binding there and not have to go back with hand tools and make a point.

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Burton
http://www.legeytinstruments.com
Brookline, MA.

I do mine similar to how Burton described. Obviously I have a ways to go to compare to the master craftsmen that Jim is.

Jeremy, that looks great. I have another question about glueing a veneer on a headstock. If you already shaped it and bound it you have no wiggle room when glueing it up, meaning it can't slide. How are you guys registering your veneers? This question applies to fingerboards too....I've got a cool idea for a fingerboard but it has to be completed before I glue it to the neck, which is not how I typically do it.

Jason, the answer is fairly easy. Use the spots you'll never see. What I mean is for glueing the headstock veneers I use a template that makes each veneer the same shape, size, profile. The template is attached to the piece by two pilot holes located where the tuning mechanisms eventually are located. The template is then attached to the actual headstock and a router cuts out the same shape using the same pilot holes. Those holes are now in position that with a couple pins I secure the headstock veneers in place while I glue and clamp. The pins are then removed and the veneers are secure and exactly in place. I wish I had some pictures of these steps, but I don't yet. The other important thing is that I have multiple templates for different nut widths.

Any other questions?

p.s. I use the same technique with the fret board.