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Received a bolt-on neck and neck block for the 00 I'm building and was surprised that the neck block is 1 1/8" deep. I was figuring the neck block depth would be 1 5/16" minimum. Since this dimension can impact resistance to neck block rotation, I wanted to confirm this will work ok. I can always add additional depth by gluing mahogany to the back of the block if it's needed but I want to get this resolved before the neck block is glued to the sides.

Thanks!!

Edited to correct neck block depth........it 1.125" deep, not 1.5" deep......thus my concern!

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Formerly known as Adaboy.......

1927 Martin 00-21 = 1 1/4"

The pre made neck block from LMI and Stewmac are all 1 1/8" thick. I am not sure how it works but it must work for them.

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Cat-gut strings are made from kitten guts, stretched out to near breaking point and then hardened with grue saliva. As a result these give a feeling of Pain and anguish whenever played, and often end up playing themselves backwards as part of satanic rituals.

Typhoon Guitars
http://www.typhoon-guitars.com

It should be 1-5/16" thick. AFAIK, the only (within reason) Martins with the 1-3/4" neck block are early dreads, up to 1937, I guess.


Mike

Hanalei Moon Neck?

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Jim Hansen

^^^^^^^^
Mike is the person to ask about Martin 00's. He built an awesome, and accurate 00-18 replica recently, and I believe he used plans from John Arnold.

AFAIK, the only Martins with the thicker neck block (1 9/16" to 1 5/8") were the dreadnoughts made until mid-1939.
1 5/16" thick is the 'standard' Martin neck block, but I have built other styles of guitars that have blocks as thin as 1 1/16". In general, these blocks are made wider (3 1/2" or so), meaning that the total mass is about the same.
I actually prefer this style of block (thinner and wider), since it spreads the load better, and has more surface area glued to the top outside the fingerboard. This helps prevent the 'catastrophic failure' where the top cracks on either side of the fingerboard, and the neck pushes into the soundhole. The other element is the trapezoidal patch that fits tightly between the neck block and the #1 brace.
I am not a believer in the idea that a thicker block will help protect against neck block rotation, because the top and back are thin plates that will easily distort when subjected to those forces.
I believe the way to reduce neck block rotation is to arch the top slightly in the upper bout. That, coupled with the trapezoidal patch, is all that is needed to have a reliable structure.

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John

Thanks John for that insight.....very helpful.

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Formerly known as Adaboy.......

Brian, you are TOOOO kind.

I do have a lot of info on these 20-30s style 00-12 fretters, but only because I asked the right people. Namely Willi Henkes and John Arnold.

If you need any more info, I'll do all I can to help.


Funny story... the first 00-18 12 fetter I built (my first build) I went with the 1-9/16" neck block, because, well, the old dreads had them, and that's the way things are supposed to be..

Later I found out that only the early dreads had the thicker neck block...which came in handy later....

I bought a 2nd grade neck blank, and, dang it, it had a knot right through the middle. Now a 3" wide neck blank can't yield two 1-9/16" thick neck blocks, but it can yield two that are 1-5/16" thick, with some nice wood left for planing it down to final spec.

You can imagine my delight when I found out that the standard thickness was 1-5/16" I now am the proud owner of about 16 neck blocks, and no longer the owner of a neck blank with a knot in it!

Well thanks Mike! I may run a few things by you as they come up.

For the record, I'm not building a duplicate of a '30s Martin........though I would love to. This is for my daughter and I wanted something fairly small thus the 00 body and I'm going with a 12 fret neck on a 14 fret body (similar to a Norman Blake 000). Todd built one like this. Never heard it but he seemed to like the sound.......so hopefully it will turn out ok.

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Formerly known as Adaboy.......