BYO - Any builders here know the ballpark weight of the neck on a 'petite bouche'-style guitar?

bluemoves

Part way through first build.

Following F. Charle 807 plans.

Neck (plus headstock and heel) = Walnut / Fingerboard = Ebony

Worried it's HEAVY...

Played a 'home-made' guitar once before that had terrible 'neck droop' due to the neck being way heavier than the body, felt like throwing it out of the bloody window! Unplayable..

What kind of weight should I be aiming for?

Should I be putting aluminium 'stiffening' strips down the length of the neck? How many? Should they have holes along them to reduce weight?

Please, I need help!

wim

I am not a builder, so can't give you any solid numbers, but I can assure you that this style of guitar is often built like that. I guess it's in the RF Charle plan, a heavy neck and featherweight body? You have to be careful not to place the instrument horizontally on a chair, because they can easily tumble over.

There are usually two metal rods down the neck, and often an adjustable truss rod in the centre in addition to those two fixed rods, and the necks on these guitars are often very thick too - and the tops are terribly thin! All things combine to what I think you're calling a "neck droop". Can't say it ever bothered me, I may just be accustomed to it.