Please advise on solid-body neck joint options

[chrimess]

Hi there,
I would like to ask for help and advice.
I am building a solidbody(one piece-padauk- figure eight no cutaway) electric tenor. I have a standard acoustic tenor neck with heel that is made for a 14 fret joint.
I am afraid that a dovetail or mortise/tenon joint would require me to machine the neck to the point where I would end up with a 12th fret join or less, the body dimensions would probably support a 12 fret joint but anything less would be weird...

What do you recommend?

 

[chrimess]

Would anyone recommend a spline neck joint for a solid-body tenor?

 

[thistle3585]

You might be able to use a dowel, but its hard to drill a straight hole in to end grain. I'd suggest making a new neck and cutting a pocket for it.

 

[ProfChris]

You might redesign the body shape so that the neck join is like a Hofner violin bass. Then you could have a body join at the 10th, but looking as if it were at the 12th in relation to the main part of the body. This should give you a big enough pocket to fit the (modified) neck into.

 

[ProfChris]

Or, if you must have a figure 8 body joining at the 12th, perhaps thistle385's dowel might be modified. Cut a pocket to fit the 12th-14th part of the neck (removing heel, obviously). To the underside, spline in a tenon (like a banjo uke square section dowel stick) and cut a matching mortice into the face of the pocket. This doesn't seems that sound a joint to me, and I'd want a damn great wood screw through the tenon into the neck (from the underneath, hidden in the pocket).

 

[chrimess]

Thanks Andrew and Chris for the recommendations, that gives me some additional options.
Still curious to have some opinions on whether the Kamaka spline would work on a 1.5inch solidbody.

 

[jcalkin]

I can't quite clearly picture the neck you are starting with. You could glue a fingerboard to the neck, glue a 1/2" block of wood under the FB extension that also butts up against the heel, then rout a pocket for the block. Then glue the block and the heel to the body. No other joinery necessary. The block need not be the full size of the FB extension. So your uke would end up like a micro Les Paul.

 

[Rick Turner]

As John implies, a picture is worth more words than have been typed here so far...

 

[chrimess]

Thanks to Rick and John, I have attached a picture of the parts.

 

[ModlrMike]

It looks like you're trying to mate a solid body with an acoustic neck. That's probably the hardest thing to do. Most solid body stringed instruments have necks that take into account the portion buried in the body.

You might try to extend the heel of the neck so that you can set it into the body. Using dowels or a blind tenon might be one such approach. Take a look at some of the electric guitar neck joints that are found on the internet. I think the Fender Telecaster or Stratocaster style will come the closest to what you want to achieve.

 

[Rick Turner]

Yep, that's trying to get a raccoon to mate with a bobcat.

I'd seriously consider a single dowel and then a nicely formed metal strap going over the heel...with a screw into the heel...and over the body. The funny thing is that it would resemble some of the stuff done on 19th Century guitars and banjos. It would be a metal (aluminium? brass?) strap connecting the heel and body that would prevent the heel cap from pulling away from the body. The dowel would be from heel face into body side under the fingerboard.

 

[chrimess]

Gentlemen,
Really appreciate your advice- since we have both Bobcats and Racoons close to my house, I will do just that- single dowel and metal plate.
Thanks very much again.

 

[ModlrMike]

Another option. If you can remove the fretboard, then perhaps you could dutchman in an extension so that you can inset the neck into the body.

 

[chrimess]

Hi Mike,
thanks, the fretboard is not attached, yet, so we are flexible, there.

Another option. If you can remove the fretboard, then perhaps you could dutchman in an extension so that you can inset the neck into the body.