Another 'Concertone' Parlor Guitar Project

[Steve Woods]

I was just going to put one in the middle.

[Michael Lewis]

Your selection of CF is not what I would recommend for making the neck stiff. Try to flex it in your hands and you will see it flexes pretty easily. The main strength of CF is in tensile mode, so maybe you can make up an "I" beam or "T" bar with what you have. For setting up for maximum tensile effect set the CF as close to the back of the neck as you can manage without breaking through the surface. Usually leave about 1/8" of wood between the beam and the surface of the back of the neck. A "T" or "I" beam will make your CF stiffer because it makes more distance between the opposing surfaces where one tries to compress and the other tries to stretch.

Measure carefully to determine how much room you have to work with between the fingerboard and the back of the neck.

CF glues well with CA or epoxy if you get the surfaces 'open'.

[Steve Woods]

So here it is...



The soft basswood neck is now straight and with the one CF rod down the middle has ,so far, not deflected at all when brought up to pitch with a set of .011-.052 strings. This basket case was described by the seller as a "wall hanger" but now it plays and sounds pretty good for a cheap Montgomery Ward mail order guitar from the 1920/30s. Thanks again for all you's guy's help.

[Mark Swanson]

Good job! If only it could talk.