Guitar Neck - shaping fretboard

[John Kananis]

On a first instrument you can save a lot of headaches by ordering a slotted, radiused fretboard from Luthier's Mercantile. They deliver a great product made to your specs for a very reasonable price. It's certainly possible to do it...

Roger, thank you for being so thorough and I'll be looking into a through neck. Also, he's providing the electronics - he's picky about that stuff.

[John Kananis]

I'm comfortable with a hand saw, bow saw, fret saw, etc but I've never done this particular operation. What will be greatest challenge in doing so?

How do you feel about sawing the kerfs for the frets?

[Jim Becker]

What Prashun said.... TDPRI "Tele Home Depot" forum discussion area is a goldmine of knowledge just like you find here at SMC for "regular" (and certain specialty) woodworking. Building an electric guitar, particularly one with a "flat" geometry like pretty much anything Fender has made, is relatively easy, whether you have basic tools or more specialized ones. I have a number of builds I've done to-date and am working on deciding "what's next". (I did not build the nylon string acoustic in this photo...the teal tele was my first)

IMG_E0387.jpg

[Prashun Patel]

Jim! Something with a bent back headstock and carved top. The math is fun!

[Don Parker]

You should browse the Stewart McDonald website: StewMac.com. There are books, tools, plans, etc. I build acoustic guitars. Carving the neck is manageable, but you will benefit from some specialized guidance, like from a book or a paid (not free on YouTube) video series. For a paid video series, I love Lutherie Academy, run by a guy named Robbie O’Brien. Good luck!

[John Kananis]

Jim, the telecaster looks great. Thanks for the inspiration.

And thanks to whomever moved this thread... after being here all these years, I never realized there was an instrument channel.

[Zachary Hoyt]

I cut the fret slots in my first several dozen instruments using a plastic speed square for alignment and a Harbor Freight flush cut pull saw. They used to cost about $9 15 years ago. It works best for me to cut the slots while the fretboard blank is still a rectangle and then make the taper on the sides and the radius on the top afterward. Stew-Mac's fret calculator is great, and free, as noted above. I would get some extra fret wire and practice cutting slots and putting frets in a few times before using your nice wood for the actual fretboard.

[John Pendery]

I’m not a guitar maker, so no authority whatsoever, but enjoy watching stewmac videos from time to time and some of the stuff from Texas Toast Guitars

[James Jayko]

I'm comfortable with a hand saw, bow saw, fret saw, etc but I've never done this particular operation. What will be greatest challenge in doing so?

There is just no margin for error, and a ton of specialty equipment for it. They have to be perfectly square, perfectly spaced, and a very specific depth. I've never built a guitar but I've consumed about all the luthiery content on YouTube (and have been a guitar player for ~30 years); I'd look to tdwoodfrd's video on YT titled "Renecking The Morris," this appears to be the most reasonable way to perform this operation that I've seen...

[Edward Weber]

Before you go cutting, you need to do your research. You need to determine the scale, size, shape radius, species, size of frets, type and number of frets for the neck. You may want to aquire some tools like, fret wire cutters, fret files, fret saw (the proper gauge for the chosen frets), height gauge. What material for the nut, marker dots, edge binding an on and on.
This can be as easy or as complicated as you make it.
Start with a realistic plan and work towards it.
First guitars are usually best made with a complete or semi-complete neck. That way the instrument, how ever it comes out, is usually still playable.
good luck

[Prashun Patel]

First time builders usually don't build a neck because they are usually not woodworkers. Woodworkers who understand straight, dry, and stable, are comfortable with routers, and know how to measure and cut and flatten (I don't use these terms cavalierly), and shape can build a fantastic neck pretty easily.

The biggest factor to playability is nailing the bridge height and the fret plane.

[Jim Becker]

Jim! Something with a bent back headstock and carved top. The math is fun!

Eventually...not sure the next one will go that way. It may be an Acoustasonic type as TDPRI member I_make_my_own (Helmut who now lives nearby in Quakertown) is making a balancing pre-amp for me.

I will say that your current build is very inspiring! I hope you'll show the boys and girls here that thang...

---

John, I did the move. I'm kinda anal about that kind of thing. LOL

[John Kananis]

I'm definitely doing the entire piece myself, including the neck (I'm really liking the through neck design). But I'm a bit away from start. I have a bunch of actual work, working on some lathe skills in my off time and I'm going away in the fall so maybe a late November start. Gives me a ton of time to research also.

[Maurice Mcmurry]

I use home made sanding blocks to shape the fretboard. I cut the slots first. There is a bit of a learning curve to the process. Work slowly and check progress often.

[Edward Weber]

First time builders usually don't build a neck because they are usually not woodworkers. Woodworkers who understand straight, dry, and stable, are comfortable with routers, and know how to measure and cut and flatten (I don't use these terms cavalierly), and shape can build a fantastic neck pretty easily.

The biggest factor to playability is nailing the bridge height and the fret plane.

I respectfully disagree.
A woodworker can certainly be comfortable with his tools and jump right in to the building and shaping of an instrument neck, but that's just the basics. An instrument neck needs to serve a couple of functions, it needs to work properly with the rest of the instrument and it needs to be comfortable for the musician to play, one is easy, the other is not. A neck is of no use if it's not comfortable to play, at the same time, it's the most complex part of a guitar. Depending on the type and style of guitar, this can take many forms. The number of parameters that need to be considered in building your own guitar neck can be quite a long list. If you've never built one before, it can be impossible to understand how any one, or combination of these things can change the neck entirely.
What type of neck? How many pieces? What species? Is there a truss rod? What type of connection method? What shape of frets? and so on
A luthier is a specialist within the greater field of woodworking, saying any woodworker who cancan understand straight, dry, and stable, can just build a fantastic neck, diminishes their specialized skill set in some way.

Also "playability" is determined by the musician, it's a personal set of preferences that encompasses the entire instrument, not just where the bridge is set.

While I certainly don't consider myself an expert, I have been working on guitars on and off for close to 45 years. I like to think I understand what makes a instrument worth playing.

IMNSHO, first guitar, buy a neck, second guitar is when to decide to build or not.

This may be of interest to the OP and possibly others
https://www.premierguitar.com/diy/gu...ds/guitar-neck