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Short headstocks!

Techmonkey

Techmonkey

Sep 4, 2004
1,298
0
35
Wales, UK
www.myspace.com
#1
just marked how i'm going to cut my scarf joint, taking into account how a thinner headstock will affect the cut and everything, and as it turns out i don't have much headstock room left on my blank. I have enough to make a fully working neck, but the headstock might look a bit short ;)

so does anyone have design ideas for a short headstock? i've never been good at designing headstocks anyway, so i'll leave it up to the pros...

I've shaped the body warwick style with very rounded edges and contours and all that, and the neck wood is wenge, with a body wood of claro walnut. its a 5 string, with 35" scale length if that helps anyone.

thanks in advance!
 
#2
actually.... i don't think my predicament is as bad as i thought.

i'm making a scarf headstock, and to make the headstock 0.8cm thinner (from 2.3cm currently to an ideal of 1.5cm when veneered with a 0.1cm veneer) would take away 3.56cm from the surface of my scarf joint when i planed it down... meaning to keep my scale length correct I'd have to move the headstock 3.56cm further up the wood, thus making it 3.56 shorter than i thought...

however. instead of planing the headstock down, can't I just cut it down from the back a bit further down from the headstock cut? and then smooth it all out to make something like this...

CaseyGalleryHeadstockBack.jpg


with a flick at the bottom of the headstock? i'm going to cut it like this in the next 30 mins odd as its getting dark, and i need to have this cut and ready to glue by monday (and i'm going to north wales tomorrow) so if there's any problems with my method, speak now or forever hold your peace :D
 
#3
i am not sure if this is correct. but i have seen it on a bass/guitar before that the headstock was extended some more using some scarf joining.

it could have been on an MTD (i am too lazy to get up and check mine). the neck was one piece till after the tilting of the headstock, then the headstock was scarf jointed to make it longer.
 
#6
I was trying to analyze the makeup of that headstock last night Ham, and I think I've got it. The scarf was cut, the headstock was shaped about a 1/4" too small, and the heel was carved. A backplate was glued down. If you look closely at the corner closest to the photographer, there is a joint, so the two stripes along the edges are both tall wooden bindings.
 
#9
Sorry for the mis-interpretation there guys. I'm way behind in being able to identify signature traits like that. I don't study other builders for fear of too much of it getting into my head. There's nothing worse than to find out your new double throw-down design was artfully rendered by Scott French - last year.
 

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