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Slot for pickup weakens neck?

Posted by Westsailor . on June 6, 2015 at 12:39pm in Building Secrets, Tips, Advice, Discussion

I'm in the process of building my 1st CBG.

I want to mount a CBGitty mini-humbucker in my CBG but to do so would require slotting the neck about half way though.  Problem is, the (poplar) neck is only 5/8" thick inside the box.

I'm concerned slotting it halfway through would weaken the neck too much.  I have a 1 3/8" thick block 'spacer' I plan to glue underneath the neck on each end (and to the box). The 1st block would be underneath where the slot would be located.  However, it would not reach beyond the slot, basically just to the edge of the slot toward the back

Would a 2nd block butted against and glued to the 1st block (and the neck) be sufficient reinforcement?  Or should I glue a 2nd piece of 1X2 to the neck for the entire length of the neck inside the box (effectively doubling the thickness of the neck inside the box).

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Replies

  • Skeesix June 7, 2015 at 6:08pm

    Referring to the diagram, if the pickup is mounted close to the fingerboard, make sure you have at least 2" of the second board extending past the pickup route area. This is why the board is shown extending out past the body like a heel.

    If you don't, it might hold for awhile, but could eventually give way over time. Don't ask me how I know this ;-)

    • Westsailor . > Skeesix June 9, 2015 at 12:27pm

      I decided to 'double down' and extend the length of the front spacer block to reach beyond either side of the slot for the pickup. This effectively makes the neck 2 1/8" thick under the slot for about 1 1/2" to either side.

    • john mackay > Skeesix June 8, 2015 at 5:50am

      go tell us how you know this.lol

      • Skeesix > john mackay June 8, 2015 at 12:39pm

        Ha ha  - the school of hard knocks - give it about a year. At first you will notice the strings are getting kind of high, then one day, probably right while you're playing, it will come apart in your hands. lol

        • Skeesix > Skeesix June 9, 2015 at 6:18pm

          Correction - minimum of 3" extending beyond the notch is better.

        • Westsailor . > Skeesix June 8, 2015 at 6:20pm

          Now for sure I'm gonna add screws before and after the notch per the diagram

          • John Sawyer > Westsailor . June 8, 2015 at 7:24pm
            Titebond III is stronger than the wood... The biggest issue I see (without a picture to really see) is that you have 3 separate chunks of wood to reinforce along one line. I have never reinforced a box top to bottom ( as held in guitar playing orientation) as the box is not really structural... Electric strings have a lot less tension than acoustic strings (in general). The only reinforcing I normally do is a heel piece that is glued along the length of the neck and sticks out past the dado/thinned area of the neck, and out of the box. I hope I am making sense...
            • Westsailor . > John Sawyer June 8, 2015 at 9:41pm

              OK, so I really don't need screws then :)

              I follow you except the '3 separate chunks of wood of wood to reinforce'.  The neck one chunk, the wood glued to the bottom as reinforcement as the 2nd and the third is?

              Unless you are including the box as one of those chunks?

              My particular construction will include two 2" long spacer blocks underneath and on each end of the neck inside the box. Once I'm happy with the fit overall they will be glued to both the neck as well as the box causing the neck to be 'integral' to the box bottom.  This leaves the top/lid free to open with the neck remaining in place.

              Make sense?  I'll see what I can do to provide a pic

  • Reeds Taylor June 7, 2015 at 8:37am

    This may help

    https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/240913074?profil...

    • Westsailor . > Reeds Taylor June 7, 2015 at 9:40am

      That's pretty much exactly what I did although the wood I added is only to the part of the neck that is inside the box. It doesn't extend outside the box to form a heel. Hadn't thought about using screws in addition to gluing it (w/ Tightbond III). Couldn't hurt.

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