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Permalink Reply by BrianQ. on October 29, 2018 at 3:13pm

No rules, sure why not? I have glued & screwed small heels outside the box with success, although running it into the box makes for more effective bracing, but like I said make your own rules sometimes, cheers

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Permalink Reply by Taffy Evans on October 29, 2018 at 3:45pm

Hi Brent, I use a heal most times in conjunction with a heal block to increase the stability of the neck joint. 

When not using a heal I would use a larger neck block inside the box. But as this takes up room in the "sound chamber" I prefer to use a heal and smaller neck block.

My heals are separate from the neck block, one either side of the end panel of the box and the neck is screwed, bolted or glued to both.

It also depends on your scale length. Sometimes to get the bridge in the sweet spot on the top, the neck may have to be moved forwards and may not go far enough into the body, so a heal adds stability.

The only rule is, really, you need a stable neck mounting. I can post photos if you like.

Taff

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Permalink Reply by ChickenboneJohn on October 30, 2018 at 5:10am

Unless you are making a proper dovetail or tenoned neck in to a heel block construction, simply gluing on a heel outside of the box will be purely cosmetic measure and will add very little rigidity to the joint.

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Permalink Reply by Taffy Evans on October 30, 2018 at 10:31am

Hi, we all build guitars in different ways, for different reasons and what may work in one build may not be needed in another. In my experience,  and the way I approach a build, the heal is a structural part of my neck mounting, and not just a cosmetic add on.

In the photos you can see that if I moved the neck with no heal forward it would only be held by one bolt and that one bolt, the one in the neck block, would not be pulling down on a suitably sized surface for my liking. Unless of course I made the neck longer past the end of the fingerboard, and there's a good reason I don't do that.

The red guitar has more frets clear of the body due to the use of a heal.

Like wise with a six string neck I would have to mount the neck too far back into the body to be able to use 4 screws without a heal, this would of course put the bridge in the wrong location.

I just wanted to mention this to show why  in many of my builds I utilise a heal.

Cheers Taff

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Permalink Reply by frank learman on October 30, 2018 at 4:02pm

I do bolt on necks on my builds. I use hanger bolts into the heel of my neck and bolt to the body of the guitar with great success. I do glue in a hardwood neck block. I have a older pic kinda showing what I do. I now use 2 hanger bolts instead of just one like this photo.

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