Guitar Building: Acoustic Guitar Building, Electric Guitar Makin

Luthier than thou » guitar building Or: Scarfed headstocks continued. In the last post I explained why I like scarfed headstocks - they’re stronger, and less wastefull. So - why are they not used on expensive instuments like Gibson’s and PRS’s? The answer is pretty simple - tradition, and aesthetics. Tradition I’ll set aside for the time being - it’s a whole can of worms. After the scarf joint has been cleaned up with a plane, I mark the headstock thickness, and sand a radius upto this line. Next, I glue ears onto the headstock to make up the width. (Sorry about the crappy pic - I forgot to take one, and had to blow up a fragment from the back ground of another image) After attaching the ears, I trim them flush front and back with a plane, scraper and chisels. The glueup is just like the dry run, except with about 10 times as many clamps… no pics I’m afraid. IMO, every bit as slick as a 1 piece headstock ,and a good deal stronger and stiffer to boot!