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It's easy when the neck has a volute, as there's a separate plane to,work with, however, what is a good way of adding a backstrap to a more normal neck where the transition is continuous?

Well, I inlaid the bottom portion of a backstrap into the rear of a neck.
Came out nice, but it took some time. If I don't have a volute, I just try to blend the edges by sanding.
This will sometimes leave a glue line.

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wah
Wah-wah-wah-wah
Wah

I just used the 3"spindle sander to create a flat area into the neck, then lightly bend the backstrap on a 3"hot pipe.

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My memory is so good, sometimes I remember things that never happened.

Here's my take. I personally don't like the feel of a volute for me so I usually go this route.

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Having fun learning every day.

So far so good!

IMHO, the Gibson 'stinger' look is nice. Or just run the backstrap down onto the neck shaft like a vintage banjo. That is probably the strongest. John J's take looks fine, but I don't like notching the neck in that area to make a flush join that is clean. The notch is a stress riser in a very vulnerable place.

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John

John, Gibson Stinger is actually the customer request. Do you know how to do it?

A quick search on the LP forum seems to indicate that the stinger is paint.
Looking at some pics of old Gibsons some seem to be paint.
Though these look like wood
http://68.media.tumblr.com/6b92daba2bab ... 1_1280.jpg
http://images.lilypix.com/albums/userpi ... 5_Neck.jpg

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My memory is so good, sometimes I remember things that never happened.

Just in case you missed it, Brad Goodman recently had a description of his method for this really neat backstrap

in his post here http://luthiersforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10101&t=49331

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The name catgut is confusing. There are two explanations for the mix up.

Catgut is an abbreviation of the word cattle gut. Gut strings are made from sheep or goat intestines, in the past even from horse, mule or donkey intestines.

Otherwise it could be from the word kitgut or kitstring. Kit meant fiddle, not kitten.

The stinger can be done with the overlay. Gibson F-5 mandolins had one. It is just a matter of shaping the gluing surface before, and carving the overlay to a point after it is installed.

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John

When I first did a stinger, I made the transition to the point too gradual, and I got a fuzzy line. Now I put a sort of ski jump on the back of the neck where the stinger is going to end so that the glue surface ends more abruptly. The line is a lot sharper that way.

Pat

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formerly known around here as burbank
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http://www.patfosterguitars.com

Thank s for the tips. Saw a method on frets.com that will do fine...

I used thin black and white wood fibre sheets with a sheet of boxwood for facing, that bends nicely when it gets wet with the glue

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It isn't hard to do...

Cable puller...your neck has a separate plane so it's much easier to do...

Haans, that's the look I'm after, but how did you achieve it?

I don't know how I could explain it better. Draw it out, and you will see how the P/H thickness translates to the thickness at the nut. I used a drum sander to make the transition curve in the neck stock. A curved caul clamps the veneer. After the glue dries, I used a pencil to draw the curves and a file to shape it. It's that easy.

You could carve it out of solid Ebony.


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Mountain Song Guitars www.mountainsongguitars.com

Backstraps of the "Snooker cue" variety add a great deal of long grain strength without adding mass. They look very smart when done well, and awful when done badly. Just spend time getting your glueing surfaces flat across the width and the curve smooth at the head/neck join. Likewise, clamp with care to avoid gaps. The easiest way to work the neck'head part is with hand tools.



The dart will shape itself when you carve the neck. I try to avoid short stumpy darts, they don't look as nice, nor do they add as much "whiplash insurance."

Nigel
http://www.theluthierblog.com

Those look quite nice. I was thinking that somehow it was added above the final neck
line, but I can see that you must indeed dig in to the shape, remove wood and replace with back strap.