Dovetail vs. mortise & tendon neck joint

[Tom Mylet]

I saw a 1988 F-5L today that caught my eyeA amazingly clean, sounds and plays great, made in Bozeman, signed by Bruce Webber

But I have this vague memory of reading somewhere here that the Bozeman mandolins had motise and tendon neck joints rather than dove tail neck joints.

A. Is that correct?

B. How much does it matter and why?

Thanks,
Tom Mylet

[Dave Hanson]

Tendon ?

[Smyers]

He means tenon of course.

Dovetail is the traditional method of neck attachment. Bolted on mortise and tenon is not as "traditional", but it has been around for many, many years and works just fine and is as dependable. Lots of opinions on this subject of course. Both are tried and true.

I currently have a Weber and was "concerned" about this also before I bought it. But no worries.

I frankly wouldn't think two seconds if an instrument manufacturer uses either method. It just doesn't affect playability or instrument longevity. It's only those folks who want a "traditional" built instrument that care about such matters.

[labraid]

Bolts on an acoustic mandolin neck joint?

[Smyers]

Yep. There are a number of manufactures that use them with a mortise and tenon joint. Weber is one of them.

[Walter Newton]

You'll find "Bolt On" and/or M&T necks on some pretty nice guitars too - Taylor of course; Collings and Huss & Dalton also come to mind...

[fatt-dad]

Please stop referring to M&T neck joints as "bolt on". While there are two wood screws used in the connection, they are just used to secure the glue joint. You cannot bolt on and off a M&T neck joint. This is fully described in the other thread with the same name.

f-d

[billhay4]

Well, you could use a mortise and tenon neck joint without glue, but I don't think it's regularly done.
However, while some use screws, others use bolts, either the barrel bolt kind or the threaded insert kind.
See this thread for some discussion of the two in reference to guitars: Neck bolts (http://www.mandolincafe.net/cgi-bin/ikonboard.cgi?act=ST;f=7;t=41751)
Bill

[bgmando]

I own both kinds and like both. If you like the way it plays and sounds, and wouldn't worry about the type of neck joint.

[labraid]

I ask because a friend just popped over with a loose neck on his North American made guitar. The heel-body seam had been growing steadily for a couple weeks, both bolts had come rather loose on their own and if left unchecked, could've done some serious damage... Had to remove the label to get to them, so there'd been no tampering. A dab o' glue would've been nice in the factory assemly, no?

[Bill Snyder]

A dab o' glue would've been nice in the factory assemly, no?
That would depend on the maker's intent. Taylor makes a big deal out of being able to reset a neck in less than 15 minutes with their design. Couldn't do that if it were glued.

[fatt-dad]

Within the context of this thread, the Flatiron M&T neck joint is not "bolt on" in the sense that the latest posters are citing. There's glue in there and the glue/glueing surfaces are what's holding the thing together. There are truely guitars and mandolins with bolt-on necks that can be disassembled - just not from Flatiron.

I have two Flatirons and have taken to making a pre-Gibson Flatiron Archive. I like the Flatiron mandolin and just don't think it's accurate to describe their construction as using a bolt on neck joint.

f-d

[John Ritchhart]

Got both in Flatiron clothes. Love both.