Official Luthiers Forum!

I was wondering, why couldn't I just spray the guitar with the neck attached and disassemble it just after spraying for easy sanding and buffing? This way I would have a way to hold the guitar and there would be no need for masking the areas where the mortice and tenon are located. Sure, one could object that the moment I remove the neck, I would cause a fracture area and lacquer might detach. This is the only possible trouble I can think of. Maybe a razor blade might take care of that.

I finish classical guitars built with a Spanish heel with the neck on out of necessity. It is a lot easier to finish a guitar body with the neck off. Every 90 degree corner is a pain … Also you probably want to finish the neck as well. Thus it is not the best handle. The mortise is hidden so taping the area off is easy. If you have a bolt on neck it is really easy to make a handle with a bolt insert that you can use to hold the guitar.

_________________
http://www.Harvestmoonguitars.com

Well I can tell you that I will be attaching my neck prior to my finishing on my next build. I've had nothing but problems/challenges when I've attached the neck after finishing. I'm no expert so take my opinion with a grain of salt...I'm still trying to find what works for me.

At one time I did finish with the neck connected. Hard to handle and hard to get things correct where the neck and body join. Then harder to do any after spray work.Rub out and polish. I now do them seperate and that works better for me. No way is correct,do what you have to so you are happy.
Tom

_________________
A person who has never made a mistake has never made anything!!!

Well I only build classical guitars. Neck always attached to the body. Yes, it is a bit awckward but it worked ok. On my last CLASSICAL I am experimenting. I will not use spanish way, but it will be a mortice and tenon joint. I can see the advantages (binding and purfling is a breeze and fretting is much easier) and disadvantages (setting the correct angle took much longer).

Now, about finishing. I already have a handle to hold the neck by the slotted peghead. Since the problem is not spraying, but it is sanding and buffing, I was thinking to spray with the neck attached to the body and disassemble it for sanding and buffing. I am quite sure I will do this way. What I was asking is if any of you can anticipate a possible trouble that I might have and that I did not take into consideration. Like I said, the only problem I can think of is that when I remove the neck I would get a bad situation just where the neck to body attachement is.

I think you will find that the finish will bridge the joint between neck and body when you spray. This will mean having to cut the finish at the joint to separate it. As the finish will also likely wick into the joint some as well this could prove difficult and lead to chips that will need fixed. This could be especially tricky at the FB extension. Also re-alignment of neck and body will need to be absolutely the same as when sprayed, no wiggle room. any misalignment will show as a white line on you finish leading to more repairs. Personally, sounds like way more trouble than hand buffing those few inside corners.

_________________
Brian

You never know what you are capable of until you actually try.

https://www.howardguitarsdelaware.com/

Todd, nice pictures. Thanks for taking the time to show. So the area inside of the mortice and the tenon get a little sprayed, right? Also, the area that gets covered by the heel is sprayed as well, right? By the way, what is the wood of the first guitar? It looks like maple but it's not.

Todd, when you floss after sanding/buffing are getting the MT joint down to bare wood? This joint gives me fits especially where the fret board meets the body, my FB extension is under a great deal of stress as it inevitably curves down after fretting (I fret prior to assembly). I'm trying to finish #2 and I have stress issues in the finish in these areas.

Todd,

What grit paper are you using to do this final floss. I'm about to do this for the first time.

Thanks,

John

This thread gave me an idea on a solution to a problem. I mask the inside face of the heel so lacquer does not build up where it is not needed. But I end up with a fragile edge to the finish on the heel that easily gets chipped during flossing. I think the edge would not be so fragile if I would shoot some lacquer on the inside face. This should lock down the edge and stabilize it. Worth a shot anyways.

On this subject, I finally took the advice of the experienced folks. Dry fit the neck, floss the heel, and so on. I tape the area where the FB will join to the top. Then spray the neck & body separate. If you have done the dry fit well, it will look good when you reassemble.

Mike