Thread: Can I dovetail a Spanish Cedar neck/body joint?

Should be fine but all the usual caveats of accuracy of fit etc apply. I know it is used a lot in Flamenco guitars.

QLD Maple makes good necks as does Mahogany, Merbau etc.

Thanks for your reply Sebastiaan56. Yeh I did a bit more research and Martin (at least from memory it was Martin) is actually using Spanish Cedar for steel string necks. It's so light I never thought it would have been strong enough but there you go. I'm assuming if it's been used on steel strings then it is being dovetailed. Of course if someone knows different please chime it. Hate to get to the end of guitar just for it to snap in half

Its used a lot by steel string guys in the US and Europe. Whether we get the same quality here is a good question. If you are buying from overseas (eg the Zootman, Bob Cefalu) you should be fine. Dont use the punky stuff

Hi Mate I think you are worrying needlessly Torres and his contemporise all used the first join you mentioned but there was one builder at the time who was just as famous who used the dovetail joint for his entire output and I am fairly sure they used a lot of so called Spanish cedar if you have a moment look up Jose Luis Romanillos you can find him on u tube he is a mine of information on the Spanish Guitar hope this helped George

Originally Posted by havent a clue

Hi Mate I think you are worrying needlessly Torres and his contemporise all used the first join you mentioned but there was one builder at the time who was just as famous who used the dovetail joint for his entire output and I am fairly sure they used a lot of so called Spanish cedar if you have a moment look up Jose Luis Romanillos you can find him on u tube he is a mine of information on the Spanish Guitar hope this helped George

Romanillos can't really be considered a contemporary of Antonio de Torres......Romanillos was born in 1932, 40 years after Torres died (1892).

If you're looking for an alternative to the Spanish Method for classical guitar construction and want to go down the separate body/neck route then why not consider a bolt on neck?...far easier to put together than a dovetailed neck and it gives you the option of easily separating the neck and body further down the track should a re-set become necessary.

I build my classicals with a bolt on bolt down neck joint.....the neck bolts engage with a brass bar within the heel block and the upper fretboard bolts down onto the neck block. I also include a truss rod in my necks.

Now now no need to be pernickety I was putting forward Mr Romanillos as a really great source of information he has been a great source of info for me
but thankyou for that enlightening sentence and please don't take this the wrong way I am just trying to be helpful because it beats the hell out of me how you came to the conclusion from what I wrote that I was siting Romanillos as a contemporary of Torres George

Originally Posted by havent a clue

Now now no need to be pernickety I was putting forward Mr Romanillos as a really great source of information he has been a great source of info for me
but thankyou for that enlightening sentence and please don't take this the wrong way I am just trying to be helpful because it beats the hell out of me how you came to the conclusion from what I wrote that I was siting Romanillos as a contemporary of Torres George

Not being pernickety.....just clarifying possible misunderstanidings. Maybe it's just me but the wording and punctuation of your post does give the impression that youre talking about Torres and Romanillos as contemporaries. Anyway it's academic. I do agree with you that Romanillos is a great builder, teacher and he's also a great source of information on building...I have all of his books and the man was gracious enough to include a warm message in the frontspiece of his latest book.

My apologies you are without a doubt a far better man than I first took you for and yes you are right my wording and spelling leave a lot to be desired
but I have an excuse English is not my first language also I am 67 and computers are a mystery to me hence the moniker "haven't a clue " I to have
all of his books and a personal message in my humble opinion he is not only a master builder but a lovely and humble human being please forgive me for baiting you I have rumatoid arthritis on the days when I cant get to the workshop I annoy people on the computer it helps keep me sane thankyou for your reply George

Originally Posted by havent a clue

My apologies you are without a doubt a far better man than I first took you for and yes you are right my wording and spelling leave a lot to be desired
but I have an excuse English is not my first language also I am 67 and computers are a mystery to me hence the moniker "haven't a clue " I to have
all of his books and a personal message in my humble opinion he is not only a master builder but a lovely and humble human being please forgive me for baiting you I have rumatoid arthritis on the days when I cant get to the workshop I annoy people on the computer it helps keep me sane thankyou for your reply George

It might amuse you and perhaps keep you sane, but it has the potential to make your membership of this forum a short one.

If you wish to do the dovetail join you can under size the neck dovetail and make a plate out of rock maple veneer on the slope and end grain.

Why because I annoyed you whatever George