Official Luthiers Forum!

I have been looking far and wide and have not been able to locate a place to buy/download the plans. I see that many have built the jig but I do not see a location from which they've aquired the plans. I have searched the forums with no luck as well.

for that matter are there any plans for the Simpson adaptation of the Woolson jig? Or can you only buy the jig from him?

You can get a pretty good view on this site http://driftwoodguitars.blogspot.com/2008/09/setting-neck-angle.html

What's the Simpson adaptation?

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JJ
Napa, CA
http://www.DonohueGuitars.com

this would be what i am referring to.
http://www.jsimpsonguitars.com/jigs/neckjig/neckjig.html

thanks for the link. i should be able to figure it out now.

Here you go. This is a no frills plan but can be modified I'm sure, to suit you.

http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Tools/Speci ... ns#details

René

I just got mine today and I have to open the box up. But here's the video. I think it's well worth the price.
I have a set of plans for the Woolson in my drafting table that belong to a friend and decided Jon's design is far better and takes up less space.

Chris-
I only watched the video once, so I may have gotten the wrong impression.
It sounds like he's calling for the unfretted fingerboard to line up with the top of the saddle.
Is that the geometry you use?
I think I'd be trying for something a bit lower (perhaps 1/4" off the soundboard or so), usually.

I used a similar jig for a couple of guitars but switched to something simpler.

Cheers
John

He said he has the temporary saddle set up so the string height will be 1/2" above the top.
that sounds pretty good to me.

So you set the line of the unfretted fingerboard to be at: bridge + saddle (1/2")?
Then add frets and string clearance over the fingerboard, so just raise the saddle some more to allow for that?
Or are you counting on the top pulling up a lot, to provide the allowance for frets and string clearance?

Cheers
John

You'll have to email Jon Simpson and ask him. I've used an adjustable neck so I just dial mine in. But my start neck angle is 1 1/2 degrees and the extension sits on the top with a 25' radius dome. I haven't seen anyone put the fret board there like he does before. I've done it simular to Cumpiano on my resos.

Chris-
No problem.
I use an alignment tool like the one Ervin Somoygi described in AL48,( BigRedBook4,399) so I don't worry about measuring the angles anymore.

Lots of ways to get to the right outcome with this stuff.
I'm sure Jon wouldn't sell the jig with those instructions if it didn't work well.

Cheers
John

Here is my simplistic implementation of it.

Chris,

Now that you've opened the box on the Simpson neck jig, what do you think? Have you had a chance to use it?

Kathy

Well made and even packed well. I haven't used it yet and will have to make some adjustments for my use as I use a StewMac HotRod truss rod which has a thinner slot and I'll have to make a 1" mortise /tennon routing template . It will be awhile until I need it.

John, I just watched the video, it would be easy to miss, but he slid in an unfretted fingerbord when setting the angle. So he is lining up the unfretted fingerboard with the top of the saddle.

Chuck

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Chuck-
I'd caught that, actually.
EDIT: sorry, repeating myself here......

So with a typical bridge and saddle, he's lining up the unfretted FB about 1/2" above the soundboard (approximately).

Just for comparison, Ervin Somoygi lines up the unfretted FB 1/4" above the soundboard. (BigRedBook 4, 399)
And, Sergei deJonge told me to line up the unfretted board with the upper surface of the bridge (Treble side) and below the bridge surface (bass side). (so that would be about 3/8 or so?)

Obviously, the amount that you expect the top to 'rise' and neck angle to change after assembly will change the assumptions here. Also, if you fret after assembling the neck to the body, you can always plane the FB to correct any problems.

Obviously with a jig, you can just adjust things to get to any alignment you want - once you decide what that value is!

Cheers
John