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RezBluez - Posted - 03/01/2015: 10:59:03
I was wondering if someone, perhaps a luthier that builds these fine instruments could explain what Tim Scheerhorn was referring to in his article in the Square Neck Journals, when he made reference about neck angle. " Part of that playability and feel is the neck angle, string height, scale length - all these things combined. "
Was he talking about the angle at headstock in which the angle of the strings come off the nut to the tuners, how much that slopes down. Or was he talking about an angle where the neck comes off the body. If he was talking about an angle where the neck comes off the body, why would you need an angle there, when the strings are typically 3/8" to 1/2" away from the frets. wouldn't a neck angle at the body only apply to a roundneck instrument in which you fret. Also if there is a neck angle at the body, what would it typically be, and would it slope down or up? Thanks
daver - Posted - 03/01/2015: 14:12:14
Good question. "Neck angle" almost always refers to the angle at which the neck meets the body. Less critical for squareneck than roundneck for sure. That said, with 210 pounds of string tension, it wouldn't surprise me if some builders planned for a very slight neck angle (less than 1 degree) and allowed the tension to pull the neck to 0 degrees. Then the string height could stay constant above the fingerboard.
RezBluez - Posted - 03/01/2015: 15:35:09
Thanks Dave,
That makes good sense about the string pressure pulling it back to straight, if it is angled down a degree or so. I never thought about the string pressure pulling up on it.
michaelmx - Posted - 03/01/2015: 18:29:35
FWIW, I have a copy of the Paul Beard Squareneck Resonator Blueprint hanging on the wall beside me. Right smack dab in the middle of it, it says: 'Note: Neck Joined to Body with 0° Neck Angle.' HTH.
daver - Posted - 03/02/2015: 10:12:58
Thanks for posting the Beard plan, and I do remember his plan shows 0 degrees. So is it possible that Tim sets his guitars up with a very slight neck angle? Or, perhaps he's referring to something else.
