tone tight neck?

[hardycreek1]

How can you tell if your guitar has one? I have a 2023 AC522CE - is it a tone tight?

[TomC]

Use a mirror and look towards the neck block. If there are two bolts it is a Tone Tite. If not it is dovetail.

[hardycreek1]

Use a mirror and look towards the neck block. If there are two bolts it is a Tone Tite. If not it is dovetail.

Thanks Tom. I looked where the bolts would be - all that is there is a battery velcroed to the base.

Guess I have one of those "old-fashioned" dovetail neck joints. Which ain't a bad thing. Seems the tone tight is being introduced as a time-saver in the building process?

[TomC]

Interesting - I thought a 2023 model year, 5 series and above would have the TT neck. Does your guitar have an arm bevel and sound port? Also the bolts may be under the black strip of velcro used to hold the battery pouch.

The tone tight necks have their plusses and minuses. Some don't think you should mess with tradition and the dovetail neck joint is best for sound transmission. The biggest drawback is the cost of the inevitable neck reset. Maybe inevitable is too strong a word. For dovetail neck joints, the neck needs to steamed off of the body of the guitar, cleaned, adjusted for the proper relief and then re-attached. This is definitely a repair which should only be undertaken by skilled professionals. In others words - don't try this at home. Bolt-on necks which have been around for awhile are much easier to reset and adjust. From what I have read it is about a 15-20 minute process of removal, re-shim & re-attach. I am probably simplifying it a bit. Taylor has been using bolt on necks for quite some time, as well as Bourgeois and others. Does it affect the tone - my ears aren't good enough to tell. I have a Bourgeois Touchstone Dread with a TT neck. It sounds like a great full, resonant, over-tone filled rosewood dread. 

One thing - I am not sure if you want to add a strap button on the heal, but I would definitely confirm the bolts aren't there before drilling a hole for the strap button.

[Chapboogie]

If you have a Velcro bag covering the block, look up where the fretboard extension is inside the guitar. There will be four small bolts inside visible.

John

[sleigh]

John Chapman for the win!

[hardycreek1]

Yes this AC522 has a sound port and a bevel. 

And yes, John Chapman prefers dovetail necks.

[dragon1952]

Just for reference, I just took possession of a 2021 model (S/N starts with M21) and it has the 4 bolts. I thought they didn't start building these until 2022 but maybe mine is a late '21 build.

[hardycreek1]

I have the sound port and the bevel but I can't see any bolts. 

Either way, it continues to inspire and amaze me with its outstanding tonal qualities. Music to my ears!