Neck & body are now one :: Chubbuck Mousa 003

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An exciting milestone in guitar building is when the neck is glued up to the body.  This glue-up is from a few weeks ago and soon Mousa 003 will be going into the spray booth.  I can not wait to get the first coats of finish on this guitar.  Check out the videos below for the neck glue-up.

Hollowbody neck pocket :: Chubbuck Mousa 003

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Easily the most nerve racking part of my hollowbody builds is routing the neck pocket.  This is where hours of hard work spent getting to this point can be thrown away in a second should something go wrong.  Since I build by hand without a pin router (or CNC), above is my funky jig for laying out the pocket.  It is pretty much just two supports to hold / align the neck and a flat platform in which to support a plunge router over the body.

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Check out the two videos below from the vlog to see the process.

Loose Neck Block :: 1960's Aria Barney Kessel

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Loose Neck Block :: 1960's Aria Barney Kessel

The top is separated from the neck block and not providing much strength for the bolt on neck joint. Here I'm clamping the neck back to realign the top while gluing and clamping the loose area.  The neck block had slipped so much that there was a significant stack of shims in the neck pocket to account for the fallen neck angle.

The bridge is also being refit on this hollowbody.