dovetail neck joint

[Dan of SC]

Why is the dovetail neck joint on mandolins and guitars tapered instead of straight? Seems unnecessarily more difficult. Any help? Thanks, Danny

[sunburst]

A tapered dovetail is self-clamping and it locks in place when well fit. To me it seems much easier than getting a straight dovetail to fit well enough to hold against string tension with no movement.

[buckhorn]

I have used a straight dovetail and can get them pretty tight....if shimms are needed to make tight, I also put dowels thru the joints ....I think that either way you can get a good joint if you take time and fit them properly..........

[HoGo]

Tapered dovetail also allows much easier disassembly if needed for reset.