Steve Stevens

Prepare the guitar body by smoothing the binding level with the sides and then sand the sides flat and uniform throughout the area of contact with the neck.   A smooth square surface is much easier to work with.   The layout lines are easy to see and follow and also the neck will be more easily fitted to a nice flat body side surface.

The scarf joint and heel stack are glued and the sides are squared up on the neck.   Extra length is left in the heel area to allow for placing the nut position from the heel side using the fretboard.