Official Luthiers Forum!

I am nearing completion on a Semi Hollow archtop guitar in the general style of ES-350T. This one is full of experiments, some worked... some didn't. But in for a penny, in for a pound, so I'm thinking of trying something I've wanted to try for a while.

I have built the neck and neck block with a long tenon to be glued in. But I am going to be traveling soon and was thinking of how useful it would be if I could take the neck off and put the whole thing in a carry on bag. In the vein of hog wild experimentation I was thinking of putting three bolts through the bottom of the guitar to hold the neck. Perhaps with steel inserts in the neck, or perhaps just using wood screws like a Fender guitar.

I don't think I'm up for creating a custom plate, and in any case the back of the guitar isn't flat. The plate would have to conform to the contours. So I would likely need to use large finish washers and button head screws/bolts. Because these are laminate plates, I really don't think I'll like the look of exposed edges. Unless I was crazy precise with both the size and depth of the countersink, a ring of raw laminate would be visible. So that leads me to think that the washers would have to sit on the surface. One of the bolts could also pass through a strap button, killing two birds with one stone.

Does that seem like a stupid idea? Is there something obvious I haven't thought through? Here are some concerns:

1) Have any of you removed a "bolt-on" neck for travel, and is that even feasible? Is there something I'm not considering about doing this? I notice that I don't usually hear of people doing that, but I can't think why not. It seems obvious, but when obvious things aren't happening that's when I know I'm probably missing something.

2) Do I need inserts, or will traditional wood screws hold up to an unscrewing every year or two?

3) Will the surface protrusions of finish washers and bolt heads be an issue? On my "bolt-on" Fender style guitars I usually put a strap button on one of the neck screws, and it's never bothered me. Has anyone else done something like this and regretted it?

Thanks!

Framus and others have built jazz boxes with bolt on necks.

Leo Fender thought the removable neck would be great for the traveling musician. He greatly over estimated the abilities of the traveling guitarist when it comes to working on guitars....

Typically if no plate is used these are. They are recessed into the body so as to be flush.https://www.allparts.com/products/ap-5260-neck-screw-bushings

_________________
Brian

You never know what you are capable of until you actually try.

https://www.howardguitarsdelaware.com/

You don’t need a neck plate. I’d definitely use threaded inserts.

This is how I do my bolt ons. It’s a solid body of course. I use threaded inserts and stainless steel machine screws.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk