Adjustable Guitar Neck - Part 3

[@chapdelainehifiguitars8653]

Amazing engineering!

[@royforest6035]

Just a suggestion: Use a STRONG magnet instead of gluing that pocket cover piece. It is easily removable and won't rattle or buzz.

[@paulwaldrop]

Great job. Love why you do what you do. Just say your video on why you build. Pretty awesome. I've built a few for churches/charities myself.

[@pilsonguitars]

Thanks so much! I love the opportunity to invest in others. Appreciate the encouragement and thanks for watching!

[@Helveteshit]

Considering what I've seen from Violins. The 'fretboard' isn't touching Violins top-plate generally?

[@jeffhigh2]

I've been building adjustable neck guitars for about 15 years, I use a 25mmx3mm brass bar epoxied into the fretboard extension and about 25mm length into the neck

[@pilsonguitars]

I was hopeful that I would get some feedback from others that may have attempted similar designs. So the brass bar is a means of providing additional strength to the fretboard extension? (alternative to the carbon fiber rods) Have you see any negative effects over time to the fretboard extension? Thanks for watching and for the feedback!

[@jeffhigh2]

@@pilsonguitars It's been working great for me. Stable and I think the added mass helps the notes on the suspended board. I use a single bolt attachment, integrated with the strap button, to allow instant external adjustment

[@pilsonguitars]

@@jeffhigh2 That's great to hear! I'd love to see some pics and gain some inspiration from your design. Thanks again for the info and feedback.

[@jeffhigh2]

@@pilsonguitars kzbin.info/www/bejne/eGixaZp9j8elmq8

[@richr1925]

I really like the idea of an adjustable neck. But in this design, it seems the only significant contact (therefore transmission of vibration) between the neck and body is that of the two grub screws against the two round head bolts. There is some contact also occurring at the adjusting screw, but I think that is minimal. Good luck! Can't wait to see how this turns out. Rich

[@pilsonguitars]

I am thinking a lot about this too and it is a concern. What I keep coming back to is, will it make a difference? I'm not certain the neck plays that significant of a role in vibration transfer to the body. (not certain, just not convinced) That feels like a whole 'nother video series playing around with the difference between a shim vs. the ball-joint style transfer of vibration.

[@elmadouf]

It's a good design, good work implementing it. I love prototyping as weel :) Although I am extremely skeptical of the improvement of the responsiveness of the top in this area. The modes of vibration of a guitar top show that this part of the guitar barely vibrates at all , especially with the sound hole in between the bridge and this area. No continuity of the top fibers mean no transmission of movement to this part. And I like having a neck block extension under my fretboard to spread the rotation load of the neck on a larger area, so this part doesn't do much for sound for me anyway. In fact, I think this very thin floating fingerboard end is a major flaw of the design : This part might bend up and down, creating fretboard geometry problems and potential playability and buzz problems. If too close to the top, it might vibrate and create unwanted noise against the guitar top. When fretting higher frets, it might absorb energy by bending and vibrating, creating a less efficient system in this area. I would recess the neck into the body, just like you did with the heel in the sides, and create a thicker neck extension under the fretboard to support it enough so it doesn't move or vibrate or dissipate energy. Plus you never get a visible gap whatever angle you choose to have. In fact that's what I'm working on right now, after trying an adjustable Ken Parker-ish neck design, which I love, but found is just too expensive for my customers, I'm designing a 0° neck angle, elevated fretboard that recesses into the body and the sides, which can still be adjusted in time with simple shims. It's less "on the go" but it's more simple to build, has no moving parts, and keeps the cost down.

[@pilsonguitars]

Great feedback! I hear you on the soundboard movement in that area. It wasn't my main intent to create more movement in the soundboard. I was just considering that it might be an ancillary benefit. As you can see, I did put a little bit of support under the soundboard in that area, but it's more equivalent to the support placed around the bottom of the soundhole. I have considered the design you mentioned of recessing into the top a bit. The method I devised is a combination of several other's methods (Lee, Parker, etc.) Would love to see some pics of the design that you're working on. This is a work-in-progress so I'd love to see more designs from others. Thanks for taking the time to provide the feedback... really appreciate it!

[@tokairic3925]

Interesting video but both Taylor and Martin have been doing this for years. Especially Taylor who I think are into decades of adjustable necks.

[@pilsonguitars]

Slightly different. They have a removable neck that can be altered with shims. What I’m trying to accomplish is something that the end user can adjust on their own without a neck removal. (and without even removing the strings)