Another foolhardy idea, Aria 12 string

[MattK]

So a couple of years ago I bought an Aria 70s 12-string cheaply, with a neck problem as is common. Turns out the neck block had come unstuck causing the top to fold in at the soundhole.


Looking at it I don't think I could retrieve it without more work than the guitar is worth.
But, being a bolt-on, it left me with a nice-feeling 12-string neck:

with a heel kinda like an electric:

which gave me some ideas. More to come as things develop.

[antisymmetric]

I like where this is going….

[MattK]

Well, no point being coy about it I guess - I won this auction pretty cheap on Yahoo Japan, it's a Diamond 1532T body with some 80s Fernandes neck tacked on ...

[MattK]

aaand now I realise the 12 neck is a 20-fret, with the heel at the 19th, so the scale placement is going to be ... fun.
That said, the shorter scale of the acoustic means it might just end up in sort-of the right spot:

[Nudger]

Great project!!
Did similar with a hardtail teisco ish.
Neck was off a epiphone acoustic, bridge position needed to move south considerably to intonate. (orig position under super logo)

[MattK]

Nice! That's super helpful, thanks. It'll be a crapshoot, won't know until it turns up in a few weeks ...
I wouldn't mind betting the two 12-string necks came from the same factory, the blocks, nut and truss rod cover are identical.
Does yours (which looks awesome) play well?

[Nudger]

Nice! That's super helpful, thanks. It'll be a crapshoot, won't know until it turns up in a few weeks ...
I wouldn't mind betting the two 12-string necks came from the same factory, the blocks, nut and truss rod cover are identical.
Does yours (which looks awesome) play well?

Yup, nice roomy neck.
Also quite light weight with thin body..
Bout 6 years ago since I built/sold but can remember positioning the neck back from the front of the pocket to make bridge move less extreme.
The fb overhang allows/covers.
Would not be surprised if necks were from same factory, heel looks identical.

[antisymmetric]

Should be a fun and rewarding project! Are you planning on keeping the trem? I found when I did my Teisco K4L 12-string conversion that the extra string tension applied too much pressure for the spring and made the trem virtually unusable, but tuning the whole thing down E flat- E flat made all the difference. The trem is perfectly usable, plus the reduced tension makes for more comfortable playing (for me at least).

[MattK]

Interesting! I was assuming the spring tension screw might help out. Truth be told I doubt I would use the trem on a 12, I might just lock it off. If the bridge has to move I may need a Mustang setup anyway.
I’m excited to try it out, anyway!