Heelless neck joint

[jeffhigh]

Anyone got a good design for this?
I don't care for the Fender type neck plate looking for something more subtle
I'm building for my brother in law who plays lap style but not slide, with his index finger on top and thumb under the neck.

[graham mcdonald]

Think about a hollow neck block, with a mortice for the end of the neck to sit in. Embed a couple of t-nuts in the top surface of the neck (covered with the fretboard) and bolt the neck the neck on from underneath. Pics of a couple of bouzouki bodies to give you an idea. The structure is glued up from bits of 8-10mm thick mahogany.

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[seeaxe]

This is a poor photo but you get the general idea. I blackened the bolts as these looked too bright against the rosewood.

Here's a picture of the neck joint

There are two bolts at the other end of the mortice that are done up from inside the soundhole. That's a real pain. The next guitar will just have two bolts accessed from the back. I glued a steel washer onto the heel block in a counterbore so that the s/s allen bolts sit flush with the back once its on.

[Mark McLean]

Yep, I endorse what Graham and Richard said. There is actually no need for the heel, very good reasons to eliminate it, and a number of good options to attach the neck in another way. Here is one I made following Graham’s plan, with a hollow neck block (a bouzouki style body, but you could do the same with a guitar shape).

I also love my Taylor Big Baby which has the same style of heel-less neck sitting in a pocket in the neck block. The Taylor has the neck attached by two screws straight through the fretboard at the 16th fret, which is inelegant but effective. Or you can hide the bolts inside, or come in from the back

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Have you checked out the fairly new Martin SC13e

[kiwigeo]

Mt ten cents worth. Alot of good practical reasons for no heel...but I'm old fashioned and like the gradual transition it creates from the body to the neck. Its aesthetics I know but if aesthetics weren't part of the equation we'd all be making carbon fibre bricks

That Martin.....it's got binding on the top but they appear to have chickened out on running binding around the bottom.

[jeffhigh]

Normally I would just do the heel, but I want to do a 12 fret joint and still allow easy access for him with lap style playing with thumb under (hand injury)
Thanks for the ideas Guys