Choice of neck for soprano uke

[Ronald_Handmade]

I'm just about to start building my first uke (it's only been at the planning stage for about 18-20 months...) and I'm not sure which way to go in terms of neck attachment. I've seen a few people seem to prefer Spanish heels and others prefer dovetails. Which one would be easier (ie less likely to get fucked up) by a new builder? Is there any real advantage to either? Would I be better off thinking about a bolt-on perhaps?

[68matts]

Hi Ian,
I've not tried a Spanish heel so I can't really comment on them but I've dovetailed the necks on the 2 guitars and 3 ukes that I have made. As someone without any real woodworking background ( ie skill ) I've found them to be a pain in the arse so I'll be going bolt on for future builds.
Cheers

[Chalks]

Hey Ian. For what it is worth, I only do bolt on's now. Routing jig is really important so that you get a firm fit and that the joint is perfectly aligned to the body's centre line and perpendicular to the soundboard. After that easy simply and quick.

Chalks

[kiwigeo]

I recently did a tenor uke Spanish method. Ive built a few classicals using same method so found construction process fairly straight forward. Neck was a failed Honduras Mahogany classical neck I had lying around the shop

[Allen]

As far as I'm concerned, the only way to do this is the Spanish heel. Especially for a novice. Things that beginners really struggle with are addressed in my reasons for using this method.

Woods of choice are mahogany or Spanish Cedar if you can find it.

Several reasons to use the Spanish Heel on a ukulele.

1. Alignment issues are a thing of the past. No flossing neck cheeks to get yaw right. The fret board will always line up with the centre of the top.
2. A good tight fit of sides to neck is dead easy. No gaps, and no flossing to get the pitch right.
3. You can have nicely sloped shoulders on the upper bout instead of that hideous flat top that is too common on dovetail and bolt on neck to bodies. The flat top makes those joining methods easier, but you will never convince me that it's a good look.

If you've never done a Spanish heel, it can be something to get your head around. I cut the slots on my table saw, but you could use a well set up band saw or even cut them by hand.

You need to use a building board, but that doesn't have to be anything special. You will also be needing to build just about all your components before you even start to assemble anything. But once your components are made, the instrument will be closed up within a day easily, and you'll be looking at putting on strings quick smart depending on how you are going to finish it.

There are lots of building pictures in my website showing some of this if you care to look. Don't know if I've documented a complete neck build as it's not all that interesting to photograph and post for the client.

[ProfChris]

I'd say it's a 50/50 call between a Spanish heel and a bolt-on (for a soprano uke, this means no tenon and mortice or anything complex like that, just a good fit heel to body and a single barrel bolt/machine screw).

The Spanish heel has all the advantages Allen says, and I used it for my first few soprano ukes. But there is not much good information online about the actual implementation, and it took about 4 or 5 before I got a decent-looking join of sides to neck. The trick for me was cutting wide slots (maybe as much as 3/8 inch) and using a pair of wedges aligned vertically. On the first few I cut a slot only a fraction wider than the sides and jammed wedges in sideways - this works, but isn't ideal.

The downside of a Spanish heel is finishing around the neck join. Finishing is hard enough on a first build, and that join is something I still can't finish neatly.

The bolt-on requires some fiddling to get the heel/body mating surfaces right, but if you assemble face down on a flat surface before fitting the fretboard it's not too difficult, just time-consuming. An over-size hole for the screw into the barrel bolt allows adjustment, so getting everything aligned is not too hard. Hollow the heel so that you're only sanding/paring the edges to get a good fit.

You make up the extra time neck fitting in ease of finishing, as once everything is aligned you can finish the body separately from the neck, and attach the fretboard before finishing the neck.

On balance I'd just about recommend bolt-on for a first attempt, though Spanish heel would still be OK.

If you want to fret the neck directly, I think a Spanish heel is definitely best

Dovetails are for later, if ever. A soprano uke doesn't need one, but it is of course very cool if you can do it.