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I am so thrilled with my first arch top that I am going to immediately start another. Having built three violins and one cello, I found the technique of including the lower plate as part of the neck joint (cutting the button as part of the lower plate) provides extra strength, in fact a very strong neck/body joint. The big difference is that the back plate goes on last. In addition to added strength, the heel is much easier to fit.

Down the road, if a repair is needed, the "violin style" joint makes it easier. Any land-mines?

Thanks everyone for your helpful comments in the past.
Ray

I also build violins and guitars, but I wouldn't try that joint on a steel string guitar due to the increases tension of the six steel strings. Not saying it wouldn't work. Just that I wouldn't try it. I would go with a traditional dovetail with HHG or a bolt on.

I've used that sort of joint on a number of archtops. It works well. I doubt there's much more tension on guitar than there is on a 'cello, and guitars can have a larger heel. The main problem I've seen with it is the chance that you can break the back accidentally.

In one case a guitar I shipped came back with the neck folded up. It had clearly been mishandled, but I had no luck getting a settlement from UPS. On a violin a button break usually happens across the purfing line, and you can repair it with a half-edge. On the guitar the break occurred at the inside end of the neck, well inside the binding, so the only options were to either replace the back or do a kludge repair. In the end I did the latter when I moved, selling it to a student cheaply so that I wouldn't have to pack it up. Another student had a devil's own time getting the neck off his guitar when he wanted to re-set it. All in all, the added strength of the button in holding the neck doesn't seem to be worth the hassle. I've made several without it, and had no problems.

Thanks guys for your feedback. After a few weeks of playing, the dovetail seems to be holding just fine and I may just choose not to "re-invent the wheel." (I just like to recycle my new skills. )

At the National Music Museum in Vermillion South Dakota, there is an actual Stradivarius display. Included is a violin, cello, and guitar. At my next visit I will try to get a look at what he did. (I didn't know he made guitars until I saw this display.)

What an amazing collection of instruments is such a small town! Some of the stringed instruments date back to 1400's.
Ray

I am sure I have seen violins on which the purfling was not carried across the button ...