Adjustable Guitar Neck - Part 2

[@kellysnodgrass2236]

I can't wait to see how this turns out!

[@samuelp1227]

McPherson does the floating fretboard but they super reinforce the neck, heel block and neck block to avoid haveing to make any adjustments in the future.

[@mtb4thefun]

Wow that is looking really good! I am definitely going to try this on a future build Lord willing. Thank you for sharing this.

[@PBWilson1970]

Fantastic proof of concept video! I've always liked the idea of an adjustable neck and your design looks great! In regards to the floating fretboard extension stiffness, Luthier Rick Turner used this design on his Compass Rose acoustics and he used long carbon fiber rods supporting the entire fretboard. I believe that he may have inset them partially in the fretboard and partially in the neck blank, but I may be wrong. Your design makes me think that you already know a lot about Rick's design, but I thought I'd mention it. Thanks for sharing your work. I'm excited for your next video!

[@pilsonguitars]

Thanks for the feedback. I hadn’t looked at Rick’s example for carbon fiber rods, although I did consider that method. I have such minimal material to work with that I had tossed the idea. Insetting in both the neck and fretboard is interesting though. My gut tells me, once the fretboard is glued to the extension support, it would take some extremely strong fingers to bend. Not impossible, but I’m thinking it wouldn’t be a problem. I’m going to hold onto your thought though in case I need to readdress that later. Thanks for watching!

[@philreindl424]

I'd love to see a video on making those toggle clamps 9:24

[@pilsonguitars]

Ah, those are cam clamps. I didn't make those, they came from Stewmac. I did buy a set of plans to make my own once, but I didn't find it worth my time. www.stewmac.com/luthier-tools-and-supplies/types-of-tools/clamps/cam-clamp/

[@davidhole8175]

Greetings again from Mansfield, Australia. Excellent work and congrats on a successful prototype. I'm looking forward to see how this progresses with a body. Great to see this is not CNC dependent at this point. I'm thinking there is going to be some very tight tolerances when it comes to the pocket on the sides and the fretboard extension area?

[@pilsonguitars]

The pocket in the sides of the guitar, yes, those are going to be a challenge. Likely that will need to be traced from the neck and then hand routed. (if you think of a better way, I'm all ears) The fretboard is made easier with the CNC because it will be cut to match that extension support.

[@davidhole8175]

@@pilsonguitars Could you perhaps make an acrylic template of the heel shape you are using? You have a CNC machine so you could play about with that. Then mark/route that on the side for the pocket using that template. I would think a straight heel is going to be easier than one that tapers to the cap? Also, I was thinking about the floating fretboard area. Would you need to consider a deeper support area under the fretboard extension, not unlike how a "Spanish heel" looks internally on traditional classical guitars? You might get away with not needing the upper transverse brace, but would still need the fretboard to float into something I would think. Not sure!

[@HBSuccess]

I never hand-hold taps after learning this trick… Why not use your drill press chuck to start your taps? Will be at exactly the same orientation as the drilled hole. Power off - hand turn the chuck.

[@pilsonguitars]

I like that idea, but I'm not sure how to judge the pressure while starting the tap. It's a neat idea, but I imagine it takes a little bit of practice to get the feel right.

[@8BitLife69]

Nooooooo where's the dust collector videos?????

[@pilsonguitars]

That problem was solved... moved on to the next one. 😀