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Thread: Neck Building

  1. #16
    Join Date
    Jan 2009
    Location
    Williamsburg,Va.
    Posts
    12,402
    I have built for 57 years. Never bought a neck,and only recently had a sander like you are mentioning. Yes,you really do need to learn to make your own necks. About the only help I use is bandsawing them out,and cutting the truss rod groove down them with a table saw. The rest is hand carving.

  2. #17
    Join Date
    Jun 2008
    Location
    Huntsville, AL
    Posts
    1,244
    OK George. I will take that step on my next build. Promise.

    Mike

  3. #18
    Join Date
    Mar 2008
    Location
    Murfreesboro, TN.
    Posts
    212
    GS Heel Acoustic Neck.jpgElectric Guitar Neck.jpgKW Neck.jpg We regularly cut these kinds of things on our cnc. We are one of the commercial vendors on this forum. WaldronInstruments.com

  4. #19
    Anyone here able to maybe tutor me in a step by step of a neck??? I an wanting to build a neck thru guitar with a tunomatic bridge but am honestly very stumped I have no clue where to start, how large my blank should be, what included angles I need....... Please???

  5. #20
    Quote Originally Posted by Bo McCorkle View Post
    Anyone here able to maybe tutor me in a step by step of a neck??? I an wanting to build a neck thru guitar with a tunomatic bridge but am honestly very stumped I have no clue where to start, how large my blank should be, what included angles I need....... Please???
    This is difficult to do in this sort of format. A good first step is to go to StewMac and order an electric guitar building book, and then read it cover to cover. For example, there's no way of figuring out your neck angle without knowing the exact dimensions of your bridge, any arching you might do on the body, the thickness of the fingerboard, etc. You may even be able to find some plans for something close to what you want.

  6. #21
    Join Date
    Aug 2005
    Location
    Glenmoore, PA
    Posts
    2,194
    Do a youtube search for bobo9977 and have a look at his One Piece Neck Build series - quite well done and should give you a place to start. It is where I a starting as well.
    Sometimes I think the surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe is that none of it has tried to contact us.
    -Bill Watterson

    Reminds me of my safari in Africa. Somebody forgot the corkscrew and for several days we had to live on nothing but food and water.
    -W. C. Fields

  7. I had some walnut that wasn't worth much more than firewood, so instead of
    chopping-up 2x4 framing lumber, I used the walnut to build eighteen necks.
    The build went fast as these were for practice only and would never be attached
    to a guitar body. By the time neck #18 was finished I was confident I had the
    ability to build my own necks. My eighteen neck practice session only took a
    day or two. Quality necks that are a little more accurate take a little longer
    to build. Get some lumber and start practicing. It won't take long to build your
    skill or confidence.

    -Max

  8. #23
    The order of operations is really the key to neck building, like John said. I build electrics, but my order of ops is this:


    1. Square up neck blank four sides (true sides will be valuable later for referencing, easier to start with everything square.
    2. Square up fretboard blank after thicknessed to 1/4"
    3. Slot fretboard blank in slotting jig (homemade)
    4. Cut scarf joint in neck blank, true edges and glue scarf (ensure it's again square after gluing)
    5. Rout truss rod slot
    6. Install truss rod
    7. Glue squared fretboard blank to neck blank
    8. Bandsaw neck taper rough, route to finish
    9. If a set neck, fit to body and route it for neck; if a bolt on, shape neck end as needed
    10. Spindle sand headstock to shape
    11. Drill tuner holes (front to back)
    12. Thickness peghead (this gives a bit of room for any tearout from the drilling)
    13. Drill for face and side dots and install
    14. Radius fretboard (I use a sanding block, hate it with a passion)
    15. Check fret slots for depth, touch up as necessary
    16. Shape neck (back) to near finish
    17. Set neck in body (if set neck)
    18. Check fretboard for straightness (after shaping neck it can/will move) and touch-up
    19. Fret
    20. Final neck shaping (roll edges, 'hand check' shaping)
    21. Fret dress
    22. Apply finish


    Not to say this is 'best', but it's been working for me for several years, and hope it helps.

    Larry

  9. #24
    Join Date
    Jan 2009
    Location
    Williamsburg,Va.
    Posts
    12,402
    When I first started making guitars,I found the neck was the easiest part to make. I was trying to make acoustics at the time -1952.

  10. #25
    Join Date
    Jan 2009
    Location
    Williamsburg,Va.
    Posts
    12,402
    One thing I do that might help you to not make "wavy" necks is this: I got a horse shoe rasp. It has big rasp teeth on 1 side,but on the other are large,pretty sharp file teeth that cut quite well. I use that side. I got a broken horse rasp that was still nearly un used, and broke off a piece about 4" long. Ground the ends nice and square. Use it like a plane up and down the neck to shave off high or wavy places. Works quite well.

    You can buy horse rasps at most hardware stores. Check the file type teeth to make sure they are pretty sharp.

  11. #26
    That's a great idea, George. My Iwasakis are pretty straight and sometimes I use those to get the nice straight lines, but I also ended up making some sanding blocks that are just a little bit shorter than the length from headstock transition to heel. I can wiggle them back and forth to get it straight up and down the neck, but I can drag them sideways around the profile as well (cross grain but who cares at this stage). I've been known to put 40 grit on there and it makes quick work straightening out the mess I make with draw knives and rasps.

    To anyone who's never built a guitar, it's absolutely amazing just how sensitive your hands can be. You may not pick up the exact profile of the neck, but the SLIGHTEST little bump, dip or deviation from a nice straight line stands out like a sore thumb when you're actually playing. You may not even realize why a particular neck feels so lousy but everyone will know something's "off".
    Last edited by John Coloccia; 09-11-2013 at 10:31 AM.

  12. #27
    Join Date
    Jan 2009
    Location
    Williamsburg,Va.
    Posts
    12,402
    I got my broken horse shoe rasp from the museum's stables,laying on the floor broken. Horses swell their bellies up when they are putting the cinch of the saddle on. The horse wants the cinch to be looser,so they learn to swell their bellies up,making the cinch too loose when the rider is in the saddle. It can let the saddle fall off,or rotate around the horse.

    Anyhow,someone smacked the horse's belly with the rasp,and he must have hit one of the big metal rings on the cinch,and broke the rasp in two!! I have no idea who it was,and I would not have wanted to hurt the horse. I'd have waited till he got tired and quit swelling his belly!!

  13. #28
    With the lady horses the trick is to say "you seem to be putting on a little weight".

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