New heel design

So I was thinking last night (not a good thing). What if you mounted the neck on the bottom?

http://i.imgur.com/EHsEz.png

Since you move the fretboard up you also move the bridge up. It's hard to explain...

*edit* This was just an idea, nothing to take serious, thanks for feedback though! :mrgreen:

Good idea, but that version of it's gonna snap at the heel joint.

It would work if you make the body part of the joint thinner so you didn't have all that grain runout.

But then where's the neck pickup going?

You create a weak spot in the neck where the angle down to the heel is.

His is just a rough drawing, i wouldn't make it so weak in real life. And ECM then, I was thinking you coul drill a hole from the top at an angle down where it tapers and put a steel rod in to reinforce it. I might try to make t sometime. With scrap of course! :lol:

Why not just make a thru-body neck?

I think there was a guitar done by Ned Callen(?) some years ago with a semi-thru neck.

I think there was a guitar done by Ned Callen(?) some years ago with a semi-thru neck.

No, I was thinking of S D Curlee.

But then where's the neck pickup going?

This would be the big problem with it.

Interesting idea, though.

http://www.tblair.com/images/Ricpage/850B.JPG

It worked ok on the old Rickenbacker 850s.

Who needs a neck pickup! EVH Did fine without one! :lol:

Who needs a neck pickup! EVH Did fine without one! :lol:

I need a neck pickup... There is a lot of different tones you are missing.

With the fretboard flat with the body ... what kind of bridge are you going to use to get the strings low enough? I suppose you could make it work if you sunk the pickups and bridge into the body but what is the point. It is a solution to a nonexistant problem that creates several new problems.

http://www.tblair.com/images/Ricpage/850B.JPG

It worked ok on the old Rickenbacker 850s.

how thick is the neck heal on that old girl? thick,/depth/ however you want to describe it.

chris.

You've definitely got what's called a stress riser in the heel design. It should work if you are going to use a laminated neck construction, without a problem. Solid one-piece neck may pose a breakage problem if it ever took a lick.

I need a neck pickup... There is a lot of different tones you are missing.

With the fretboard flat with the body ... what kind of bridge are you going to use to get the strings low enough? I suppose you could make it work if you sunk the pickups and bridge into the body but what is the point. It is a solution to a nonexistant problem that creates several new problems.

It was a quick drawing, it wouldnt be that low. and it could possible have an angle. It was just an idea, not anything serious. Just kinda wondered why no one had ever done it :mrgreen:

What if you continued the fretboard on top of the body. Sort of a mortise and tenon arrangment?

You might be trying to re-invent the wheel there matey.

Nothing wrong with that, but you need to make sure there's a good reason for doing it differently. Is it better? or just different?

Screwing into the body wood would probably not be as strong as screwing into neck maple. And if you wanted to move the fretboard away from the body to allow more access, why not just make the heel on a traditional neck longer?

(And, aesthetically, a lot of wood behind the bridge doesn't look good on an electric guitar to me.)

Just my 2c

You might be trying to re-invent the wheel there matey.

Nothing wrong with that, but you need to make sure there's a good reason for doing it differently. Is it better? or just different?


They did reinvent the wheel. It never gets holes. http://www.maniacworld.com/The-TWEEL-radical-new-wheel-technology-2.jpg

Interesting....

I am not an engineer, but I'd think you'd have to use quartersawn wood to have a chance of it working

I'm going to try this sometime. Just to prove you all wrong. :mrgreen:

I'm going to try this sometime. Just to prove you all wrong. :mrgreen:

That's the spirit!

I am not saying it can't be done... I just don't see any benefit and some possible issues.

What is the benefit of bolting the neck on from the bottom?

I am not saying it can't be done... I just don't see any benefit and some possible issues.

What is the benefit of bolting the neck on from the bottom?

IT LOOKS COOL OKAY! GET OUTA MY GRILL, YO! :lol:

I have actually seen this done by several builders, though not all pro's. It will work. Sometimes I think that we overestimate just how much string tension a guitar has. I built a guitar with a pine neck and pine fretboard 8 months ago. I put 8's on it, worried that the neck might bow, but it has been dead straight the entire time. So I say, go ahead and make one, but it's not a new design, nor is it one that is not physically realizable.

I use a tenon from the back and then cap the whole thing off. It makes for a tight joint, contact all the way around-- as long as I cut the mortise clean, nothing should ever shift, creating the need for a reset.

http://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/s720x720/562013_10150991934321828_2064026131_n.jpg

this isn't the prettiest-- it was just scrap to test the templates, but you get the idea.

This is glued in... not sure how I would go about it for a bolt on. Maybe screws through the top and into the neck underneath? if the body was thick enough you could even hide the mounting screws in the neck pickup cavity or under a pickguard.

Bentley, if the goal is to get easier, more comfortable
access to the high frets, you can also redesign the
heel body transition without changing the bridge
position. Check out this thread:

http://www.talkbass.com/forum/f8/best-bolt-neck-heel-transition-900892/

I was just researching this last week and have lots of links,
if you're interested.

This page has a pic of the heel on a Fender FMT telecaster:

http://www.heartofaworshipper.com/categories/%252d-Music-Gear-and-Instrument-Reviews/Fender-Custom-Telecaster-FMT-HH-Guitar-Review/

I think Guitarnut has built bolt-on necks with this kind of shape.