Dovetail vs. mortise & tendon neck joint

[Tom Mylet]

I saw a 1988 F-5L today that caught my eye 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

[fatt-dad]

It is correct. This can easily turn into a debate. Bruce Weber says no difference. I think others disagree. I bet it's a nice mandolin though.

f-d

[Richard Russell]

Check out Weber's article on the mortise and tenon neck joint at www.soundtoearth.com by clicking on the "Updates" link and then find the article. #The two joints are very different with many opinions on which is better. #It doesn't matter to me and I've owned mandolins w/ both types.

[ShaneJ]

Just a minor point, but the male piece that fits into the female mortise is a tenon.

[Rick Banuelos]

Here's the direct address:

Mortise & Tenon Article


If there are any other questions I can answer about this, post or PM me.

[Frank Russell]

I had a Weber-made Flatiron Festival with the "mortise and tenon" style joint, and it played circles around my friend's "dovetail" Festival. It was at least 6 years old, and had absolutely no neck issues. Sound definitely was not affected by the different joint. If I saw it for sale again, I'd re-buy it in a second. I'm not always a huge Weber fan, but their construction seems impeccable. Frank

[pickinNgrinnin]

Charlie Derrington used to say Gibson did fewer neck resets with Dovetail joints than the Mortise and Tenon joints. So long term, it may be hard to argue against the Dovetail. The old Gibson's have been around for a looong time.

Hey Frank - have you tried the Cedar topped Webers? The one's I've played have been terrific.

[sunburst]

A good joint is better.

I prefer a good dovetail to a bad dovetail,
a good mortise and tenon to a bad mortise and tenon,
a good dovetail to a bad mortise and tenon,
and a good mortise and tenon to a bad dovetail.

If the joint fits and is well made and glued, it doesn't make any real difference what it is.

I use dovetail neck joints because I like them, I work alone and don't have to train employees to accomplish a good dovetail.
If I had to rely on employees to do my neck joints, and if I had turn over in my work force, relying on the skill it takes to do a good dovetail might be more than I would want to count on. I might find that I got better neck joints by using something other than a dovetail, and like I said I prefer a good joint.

[Tom Mylet]

Thanks for all the quick, thoughtful responses. I had never looked at the Weber site and found their thoughts on neck joints interesting along with all of yours.

Thanks again,
Tom