Official Luthiers Forum!

Well....I've stopped to ponder my dilemma over a dark beer.
Seems I have a dovetail neck (ON MY FIRST STEEL STRING BUILD)that NOW slips too far into the body....the neck is NOW about 1/32 below the top now and still needs a Teenie Tiny bit of adjustment. So...it will even drop further if I continue.
My guess is I need to glue a wood strip on each side of the neck joint and begin the process all over again......unless someone knows all about this type screw up and a solution that plum evades me at the moment.
Boo Boo Bailey

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Wood Creations by Kent A. Bailey
EXCELLENCE IN SCULPTURE, CARVING, LUTHIER, ARCHITECTURAL MILLWORK AND DESIGN

http://www.kabart.com

Don't fear using shims, but tack glue them only until it is right in case you take too much off the shim and need to start over with new shims. You can get mahogany veneer at most good lumberyards or Woodcraft, the nice thing with it is both side shims start the same thickness. That is a good way to get practice setting necks, my 1st couple guitars ended up with shims. Someone mentioned in a previous post he used a charcoal art pencil instead of chalk for neck fitting.

Fred

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

These business card blanks at Lee Valley work well for shims. Not sure what kind of wood they are but For $3.50, a pretty good deal.

http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx ... ,250,43217

Thanks fellas.....
Only one beer....so Dog and I are back out to the shop.
Kent

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Wood Creations by Kent A. Bailey
EXCELLENCE IN SCULPTURE, CARVING, LUTHIER, ARCHITECTURAL MILLWORK AND DESIGN

http://www.kabart.com

Yep. I only made a few dovetail joints. I have yet to make one that didn't require some veneer shims glued on one side or the other, or both! Don't worry about it. Scrap veneer is your friend in a situation like this. Try a dry slip fit on one side or the other, or both. It ought to bring you a little "proud" or high of the top. Then re-file and re-fit. If you get low, repeat the process. You'll be okay.