Making A Scarf Joint For A Guitar Neck With An Angled Headstock

[@Selmer1430P]

The best method I've seen thank you! The screws are genius. My book has me blocking the end of the headstock so it won't move. It moved! All over. Use the screws folks!

[@misinformationwithrandy]

I really appreciate you sharing your jig. That and the screws in the off cuts will help me this weekend! Impeccable timing.

[@Rockingoodman]

I love your sanding jig. That looks like the real key to your process. Rock'n' Good

[@badastronautgreatloser5421]

Thank you for a wonderful and informative video, I just recently got into the hobby and still learning!

[@RobMods]

Chris, have you thought about putting the scarf joint in the headstock? Respectfully, I feel the problem with placing the scarf in the neck is that so much of the joint is removed once the trussrod slot is routed and the profile is carved. When I lived in Queensland, I saw more than a few of these 2nd fret scarf joints simply peel open with the hot humid climate. (Although to be fair, these were factory instruments, not nice bespoke axes such as yours!) If the scarf is positioned in the headstock, there is far more of the glue line left in the final neck, plus your veneers hide and strengthen the joint. I worked for a well known luthier who does this. He also has two machine heads positioned to be through the scarf joint. With threaded gotoh-style tuners, these also help I guess, because they are like little clamps. Thanks again for your great content!

[@jeremywpetty]

I’ve wondered the same as you. On my current build, I opted to use a truss today that adjusts at the heel using a spoke wheel. I also thought I might kick it up a notch by using carbon fiber rods that run from the heel and under the nut then end just beneath the head cap. To me, this seems to be using all available methods that I know of to help strengthen this critical area of the neck. Like you, it just never made sense to me to carve out that much material from such a critical area. However, it’s been done for many years on some great guitars but, that doesn’t mean we can’t try to improve on it.

[@RobMods]

@@jeremywpetty When I used to build basses a while back, I used to do much the same with carbon fibre rods running through, under the nut, and into the headstock. I did this even with flat headstocks. If you've set up any 20+ year old fender style basses you will know how common it is for there to be permanent forward relief around the 1st and 2nd fret. I guess this is from the headstock acting like a lever. If you use an Erlewine neck jig for fret dressing, it is really easy to see. So extra strength in that area isn't just for crash protection, but also for long term stability...

[@bocote3119]

Hey @Rob Mods. that sounds great too. Do you know of a video that shows this methood? Or better yet, can you do a video regarding this ;) ?

[@lettuce001]

What a lovely sanding jig,,,,,thank you,,,

[@volkerfriedritz8149]

This video is as brilliant as all the others you published. What I do appreciate the most are the simple yet ingenious tools you build yourself for getting your results. And the jig you use in this video is just one example. There is no other yt channel where you can learn that much about building guitars than on your channel. Thank you very much! Awesome work! 👍🏻😎👍🏻

[@HighlineGuitars]

You're very welcome!

[@MixingGBP]

Smart use of the screws to get a nice glue up.

[@gordonpecinovsky4953]

Nicely detailed , great info. Thanks.

[@HighlineGuitars]

Glad it was helpful!

[@KeredAglo]

Great tip with the screws for glue up, simplest way I've seen especially since that's a portion that will be removed later anyway... Just awesome

[@rcfriscoflyer]

Excellent demonstration !

[@arkkupitkanen1073]

I just made box a little bit like yo urs, but just a plane angled box with right angle, and then I made the angle with surface planing machine. The box is on the otherside of blade and the wood comes behind the blade. Job done in a minute.

[@bobjohnston4325]

I've really enjoyed your videos and have learned a lot. I'm ready to make a scarf joint in mahogany today and just happened to see this video. Even though I've made a couple dozen scarf joints I learned quite a bit that will make it much easier than the complicated process I've been using. Thanks!

[@ryancrume]

great video, good intel

[@Rigel7WasAlreadyUsed]

This was great!

[@pavaolubina4940]

Thanks for the video! Learned something new today :-)

[@pitaorj]

amazing video, you always have very creative solutions.

[@djpenton779]

Top notch, dude! As always, super informative and useful.

[@marvini2320]

Thanks, you answered a lot of questions i had.

[@74dartman13]

Lots of good info. Thanks!👍😎🎸🎶

[@randomscandinavian6094]

I love this sanding sled and the idea of indexing screws! I’ve never tackled a scarf joint yet but this opens up some possibilities for someone without a jointer or band saw. I do have a question about headstock thickness: this seems very thick. Perhaps it would be easier to thin the smaller piece down before gluing rather than later?

[@JohnDoe-ht5vq]

The only improvement I would make is to make the pilot hole for the screw for the head stock wood piece slightly larger so that the screw doesn't prevent the clamps from doing there job. Since the screws are spirals they might retain a slight gap between the wood pieces since they are not fully screwed down.

[@PAUL.72]

excellent method thanks !!!!!!!

[@HighlineGuitars]

You're welcome!

[@juliansuarez3849]

Excelent work sr!!

[@yankapoodle]

Really helpful. Thank you

[@nessusguitars]

great as always!

[@youtubecommentor4480]

Hi Chris, At 1:40 you display a comparison between a one-piece neck and a scarf-joint neck. As you know, quality one piece guitar necks are constructed with quarter-sawn wood “oriented” with the grain running “vertically”to the fret-board. However, the wood you displayed in your video (for the one-piece neck) appears to be quarter-sawn but it is flipped the wrong way and displayed with the grain running “parallel” to the fret-board. This is the worst way to ‘orient’ the wood for one-piece neck construction. In other words, if the one-piece neck blank in your video @ 1:30 was flipped 90° (where the grain is essentially standing-up on its edge vertically and intersects with the fret-board perpendicular versus parallel as in your graphic comparison), would this yield a more stable neck and headstock? Yes I agree. No matter what a scarf joint is stronger.

[@HighlineGuitars]

You can’t show quarter sawn wood grain in a side view illustration. The lines simply indicate the direction of the grain. Just pretend it’s quarter sawn.

[@youtubecommentor4480]

@@HighlineGuitars Thank you Chris, do you have an email or facebook page where I can send you two detailed photos with embedded text describing what I’m talking about in this comment? I have no other way of contacting you besides this youtube video. Thanks

[@HighlineGuitars]

@@youtubecommentor4480 You can visit my Highline Guitars website and contact me from there.

[@jgia1562]

Good video....ive been toying with the idea of making a guitar neck....this has helped im just looking at all the vids and will probably combine a couple of methods....question is the stock you made in this video to make 2 necks being as wide as it is...?...I'd have to believe so

[@dustinf11]

Great video, truly. Does using layers negate the need for this? Say 5 layers of alternating grained wood would give the neck the strength to just carve out the headstock?

[@km4ryi270]

can you share your jig builds???

[@HighlineGuitars]

There’s nothing to share except the video.

[@mattstuw]

What about the multiple Ibanez guitars I've seen with a break at the scarf joint? Is that because they didn't have a volute?

[@HighlineGuitars]

You will have to ask Ibanez.

[@MouldyGuitars]

Hi Chris, do you have a method to machine the two surfaces in your CNC. Do you do the neck and then the headstock as two seperator operations? If so, how do you align the headstock to ensure its square to the neck when you tilt it up on the CNC? Could you show that on a video some time please?

[@teye-master]

Chris, a question if I may: I like to start with a -75" thick plank, and prefer a .6" thick headstock. Do you recommend thinning the headstock before gluing it to the neck in the scarf joint manner, or do you recommend thinning the headstoch by CNC after I've glued the scarf joint? Thanks!

[@HighlineGuitars]

It’s up to you. I use my CNC to thin the headstock after gluing the scarf joint.

[@lettuce001]

Do you have plans for this sanding jig? Thanks

[@HighlineGuitars]

They are in my head!

[@fenders9911]

do you have a video on the solid one you cut on the cnc

[@HighlineGuitars]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/aaWuhKueibWLnsU

[@msmasson]

This is a great video and I plan on incorporating this process on my next build. Would you be willing to share/post the plans or templates for your scarf jig and sanding jig?

[@HighlineGuitars]

Scott Masson I would if I had them. They’re in my head. It’s pretty simple. The main thing to be aware of is the angle of the jig side is equal to the angle of the headstock.

[@bjstein4242]

Great vid Chris.. I have a 1997 Samick artist series SG that has a flat scarf joint where the peg head face meets the neck..(where the volute would be) straight across.. almost undetectable.. while most scarf joints i see are in the upper neck and thus show up as a circular joint. Must take more skill to plan the 'flat" scarf joint for location that just having it lie into the rounded neck.. curious..

[@Unchainedmaple888]

So basically the strongest neck/headstock of all time would be a multi-piece neck with a scarf joint, volute, and with bottom of the neck spoke wheel truss rod adjustment so you don't have to big chunk of wood taken out near the headstock for traditional truss rod adjustment. Would you ever try this?

[@Nellil]

How many degrees is that headstock angle?

[@HighlineGuitars]

10

[@jonstewart4621]

What degree angle did you cut

[@HighlineGuitars]

10°

[@grantstewart5453]

Can you just go ahead and thickness the headstock piece to the thickness you want the headstock to be? Seams the only thing it would alter would be the location of where the scarf joint glue line would meet the underside of the fretboard due to the shifting of the location of the break over angle at the end of the nut.

[@HighlineGuitars]

Of course, you can. Just make sure you plan for where the glue seam and the start of the headstock's angle at the nut will be.

[@grantstewart5453]

@@HighlineGuitars Thanks. I start my first scarf joint today. Thought this would be an easier method than trying to thickness the headstock after the glue up with the awkward angle.

[@mettrose]

So i got a mapple wood (german Mountain Mapple) do i need to scarf the joint or can i still do it out of one block? my neck already is sawed out round around (only the outlines nothing like the thickness and so on :/

[@jeremywpetty]

Thanks for the video. Very similar to my own process except I use wooden dowels instead of screws to keep the 2 pieces from slipping. My router jig is the same structure as your sanding jig except the sides are higher. A long router sled rides atop the sides. Although, it seems to me that your sanding jig is a lot less scary than my router jig. I may have to “borrow” that design from you 🤔

[@HighlineGuitars]

The nice thing about using screws is that I've used the same pair on hundreds of necks.

[@briank6789]

Love your videos, Chris. Related neck question: since Les Paul headstocks break so often and are repaired with wood inserts, why aren't they just made with strong inserts to begin with? Could they even use aluminum or titanium inserts like dowel rods, machined so that they line up? Thanks.

[@HighlineGuitars]

I'm sure they have done a cost/benefit analysis of this and have determined it isn't worth the added cost.

[@davidclink2032]

Christ, I'm fighting with a classist Epiphone broken nevkstock. Made 3 repairs that failed. Is it possible to scarf the neck and add the top half from another neck or a new one and fix it? I understand scale length etc and new fret board or reusing existing one. This is a learning drill not selling it.

[@bryanfindley6543]

do you have plans available for the scarf joint sanding jig?

[@HighlineGuitars]

No. A plan isn’t necessary.

[@gordonsteeves9950]

Thanks again Chris, Question. Do you prefer placing the headstock portion above the neck? I have read where others prefer to place the headstock portion underneath the neck. Thanks again

[@HighlineGuitars]

I don't understand your question.

[@gordonsteeves9950]

@@HighlineGuitars Sorry Chris, I am referring to the headstock placement/mounting, I have read info on placing the headstock on the underside of the neck.

[@brunoCondor]

Hi Chris,..nice jig and well taught about. How do you determine where exactly the volute will be ? Mostly from where i see, the highest point comes right under the middle of the nut and sometimes the highest point is just after the nut towards the head stock. Has that something to do with comfort or somebody with bigger hands or esthetics,.. besides strenghten the neck ? Thanks Chris ! Greets from Belgium.

[@jeremywpetty]

Bruno Condor I honestly thought that volutes were a way to “add” material back to an area that has had some material removed for the truss rod. Though, I suppose some might like the comfort. In my 30 years of playing guitars with and without them, I don’t really care if a volute is there or not. Just my experience

[@jatna77]

Thanks for the vid! What do you do if the scarf-joint is out of square?

[@HighlineGuitars]

Start over. However, that has never happened to me.

[@777Jonathan777]

Great video. Do you use a particular angle for the headstock or does it depend on the guitar ?

[@alebo0]

Great video! I have just one question:I didn't quite understand how you determined the angle. Does it make a big difference if it's slightly off, or can you determine the angle pretty much by eye?

[@HighlineGuitars]

The angle is the same as the angle of the headstock. I use 10° for the headstock.

[@Snowonthemountains2]

what kind of jointer do you use?

[@HighlineGuitars]

Oliver Jenkins an old 6” Grizzly benchtop.

[@benfowler2127]

What if the one piece is quarter-sawn?

[@benfowler2127]

If you can even find a one piece quarter-sawn wide enough...

[@tribestribes2555]

Ok, but there was a slappy workbench. Have notice that many luthiers hav quite slappy workbenches. Cant really understand this. Otherwise You have a fully ok scarf joint progress. Something for me to think of. Thanks.

[@HighlineGuitars]

What is a “sloppy workbench?”

[@tribestribes2555]

​@@HighlineGuitarsI mean a bench that,s unstable. Perhaps the word is floppy? Sorry.

[@HighlineGuitars]

@@tribestribes2555 Okay, I understand. That bench is long gone.

[@kennethnielsen3864]

5th.

[@dongatuurro5569]

Ouch, It's a lot of wasted maple wood, too long, too wide :( with this wide you can make 2 maple necks

[@HighlineGuitars]

Maple is cheap and sustainable.

[@harmonicseries6582]

Better yet, multi laminate blanks and carve the neck out of that. No scarf joint to see.

[@HighlineGuitars]

But lots of seems to eventually feel.

[@harmonicseries6582]

@@HighlineGuitars I don't feel any seam on the neck of my ESP. Don't remember feeling any on the back of an Ibanez I tried a while ago, but they were very well made guitars. Maybe it is harder to do well?

[@softwareengineer8711]

@@harmonicseries6582 I don't either, also don't feel any seem around the skunk stripe on the back of my cheapo squire so it shouldn't be hard.

[@HighlineGuitars]

@@softwareengineer8711 I can feel it on my 26-year-old Strat. In fact, I've sanded it twice over the years.

[@Unchainedmaple888]

why don't manufacturers like ESP do a multi laminate neck with a scarf joint so that you have even more added strength and you don't have to carve the neck out of a super thick neck blank which causes alot of waste