If you've ever played or heard a Red Maple guitar, you know these fine instruments could not have been designed and built without an acute attention to detail.  And Dan Thrasher, the man behind Red Maple Guitars, certainly pays attention to the details.  Dan, always on the lookout for ways to improve how we build guitars, has created this tool to help accurately align the neck so that the theoretical extension of the neck runs down the very centre of the body. 

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This tool is as simple as it is effective: a straight aluminum bar slotted in the truss rod cavity that extends to the lower bout of the instrument.

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In the past, Dan would occasionally find that the alignment of a neck on a new build was not exactly what he wanted it to be.  And remedial work once the neck was attached, particularly after the application of lacquer, is obviously more difficult and time-consuming than having the alignment correct in the first place.   And so, Dan devised this tool.

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The aluminum bar is 1/4" thick by 3/4" wide with a length of 33 inches. To this bar Dan used CA glue to attach two small tabs of aluminum that in use are inserted into the truss rod channel (a quite narrow channel compared to some, as Dan employs Hot Rod 2-way truss rods in his acoustic guitars).  The first tab is at the headstock end with the second 11 1/2" further down the neck (this second tab can be plainly seen in the lower image on the left, where it runs between the "C" and the "N" in the label "NECK ALIGNMENT").  The fit of these tabs is critical and since they were initially slightly loose, Dan glued a layer of veneer to both sides of each tab and sanded until the fit was just right.  Finally, Dan filed the end of the tool that is situated over the lower bout to a fine point.  In use, this point aids visual determination that the alignment is absolutely correct.

 

Using this tool to achieve perfect neck alignment couldn't be more simple: the first step is to attach the neck to the body (in Dan's case these are bolt-on necks with a mortise and tenon joint), insert the tool into the truss rod channel and observe where the fine point lands on the lower bout.  Assuming the alignment is not perfect, the second step is to remove the neck and make any necessary adjustments to the heel of the neck.  Repeat these two steps until the alignment is as desired.