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I took some pics of the MBJ similar to what Martin used.

In the first pictures I tried to show the layout of the joint. As I show the cuts I hope the simplicity of the joint will become clear.

The pictures and loaded backwards from intended, so just view bottom to top. The actual order of cuts is not critical, and some slop can be tolerated and still make a nice looking result.

A few more pictures.

In the top picture above you see a piece that broke off during sawing. It was off fall anyway, so no problem. The bottom picture is the side cut which is made at an angle. It is the one cut that you want to hold the angle and end at the layout (center)line. A little more critical but not extremely so.

Hopefully from the pictures above you can see that the "diamond" is just the tip of the iceberg when this joint is traditionally made, and that the "diamond" is an artifact of the cutting. When made this way the glueing surface is greater than the scarf joint and less visible when thinner (solid) pegheads are used.
I generally use powertools and jigs when cutting this joint and have modified the modified bridle joint to make fitting the peghead mortice a little easier, but it is not that difficult to do it with hand tools.

Thanks for taking the time and trouble to post this Clay, appreciated.

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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.

Great procedure Clay. I'm a scarf joint guy but I can see the superiority of yours.

Thanks for posting

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Joe Beaver
Maker of Sawdust

One reason I like the joint is it allows me to work the peghead and the neck shaft separate from each other, joining them when most of the milling and shaping has been completed. I even use it on cigar box ukes.

A little bigger picture.