Daniel Sorbera Posted February 18, 2005 Report Share Posted February 18, 2005 Can you make a neck through where the neck and body (the whole body) is one peice? Is there any tutorials on this? I tried searching but couldent find anything On how to do a neck through where the body is the same peice as the neck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guitar_ed Posted February 18, 2005 Report Share Posted February 18, 2005 It can be done, though it is very expensive and wasteful of wood. Guitar Ed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Sorbera Posted February 18, 2005 Author Report Share Posted February 18, 2005 Mabye I should have made that clearer. I dont care about money. I already found a peice of wenge I will work with and it's only like $130. I can deal with that. After buying a one peice mahognay blank and a neck I'll spend that much anyways. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meegs666 Posted February 18, 2005 Report Share Posted February 18, 2005 after a while youre gonna get tired of having to deal with an entire body sticking up while youre trying to do stuff like cut a neck angle, headstock angle, pretty much anything having to do with the neck. also imagine how much of an inconvenience it is gonna be when you are trying to do little things like drill the tuner holes and you have to somehow balance an entire guitar in mid air while holding it perfectly in the pillar drill. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maiden69 Posted February 18, 2005 Report Share Posted February 18, 2005 It can be done, but why go thru such a hassle! And a waste of wood. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Sorbera Posted February 18, 2005 Author Report Share Posted February 18, 2005 (edited) It can be done, but why go thru such a hassle! And a waste of wood. ← umm becuase I can Because 1. I think It's looks far surrerior to either a detached neck or a neck through with body wings. 2. Wouldent it have better tone/sustain because it resonates better? 3. see number 1 O and I wouldent waste the wood. With the scraps I would make as many necks as I could and with that scrap I would make boxes or do inlays. You know guitars arnt the only thing I make outa wood Edited February 18, 2005 by Godin SD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maiden69 Posted February 18, 2005 Report Share Posted February 18, 2005 It's being proven over the years that a proper made guitar either with bolt on or neckthru or set neck will have minimal effect on sustain if none at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fryovanni Posted February 18, 2005 Report Share Posted February 18, 2005 Dude, Just go for it!!! It will be hard as hell to work with, but that's half the fun isn't it. If nothing else a one piece guitar made 100% of Wenge will build your arm strength up. Watch out for warping and twisting though! Good Luck!!!! Can't wait for some progress shots. , Rich I gotta Edit this; umm becuase I can Because 1. I think It's looks far surrerior to either a detached neck or a neck through with body wings. 2. Wouldent it have better tone/sustain because it resonates better? 3. see number 1 My suggestion is based totally on your reply. I would not do this myself. Not because I think it would be too difficult, because of the following. 1. I prefer the look of contrasting woods. In my opinion it adds to the beauty of the instrument. I can understand if another person prefers a simpler minimal approch though. 2. I do not believe it would improve the sustain to any significant degree, and again IMO laminates provide a higher degree of stability (with regards to twisting and warping). 3. I believe it would be too heavy for my taste. If I wanted a challenge. I would try to pull off a neck-thru w/ highly figured and contrasting wing laminates. Then Topped by a unique figured top, that is carved for playablility and at points is carved into the lamintes of the wings showing more depth and figure. Adorn it with shell and wood inlay throughout, including shell neck binding. Bring it all together so that it is interesting to look at but has an overall sense of unity in design. All those joints and carves done flawlessly would be very challenging. More so than taking a band saw to a single piece of wood. Just my extra 2cents Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RGGR Posted February 18, 2005 Report Share Posted February 18, 2005 If you want to prove something......go ahead. At same token it would prove you're not the smartest. If you're really worried about sustain of guitar and are doing an all-outta-one guitar for that reason alone.......why not go for the neck through approach. It's a small compromise that will hugely pay off during rest of build process. And remember glue joints are stronger than just the raw wood. With going for neck through design......you could add a nice contrasting wood laminate in the body design and really spice up the overall look of your Wenge design. Wenge is nice chocolate brown wood.....add some nice maple to it.....maybe maple laminates in neck and you really would have an awesome guitar. Doing all-outta-one guitar would only limit you in the possibilities. Just my $0.02. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
orgmorg Posted February 19, 2005 Report Share Posted February 19, 2005 I think it would look incredible. My woodworking mind says the glue joints are better, but my artist mind says go for it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted February 19, 2005 Report Share Posted February 19, 2005 it has been done before....by ed roman. personally i think it is a bit silly on a standard guitar.i would only consider it if i were building a steinberger type guitar...and then i would use honduran mahogany. but it really does limit your options...i think the best tones come from mixing wood types...maple/mahogany...alder/mahogany...etc on that subject...nobody ever talks about mixing mahogany with alder...but i did just that(with a little maple thrown in as well)and i think they make a perfect mix. mahogany neck through with alder wings would be great i think...because alder has the brightness mahogany lacks,without adding the extra harshness of maple but i have never seen one,other than the one i built.maybe someone else should give it a go. it will sound better than a solid wenge guitar,i promise Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Sorbera Posted February 19, 2005 Author Report Share Posted February 19, 2005 ok let me clarify again. It can be done, but why go thru such a hassle! And a waste of wood. ← umm becuase I can Because 1. I think It's looks far surrerior to either a detached neck or a neck through with body wings. 2. Wouldent it have better tone/sustain because it resonates better? 3. see number 1 O and I wouldent waste the wood. With the scraps I would make as many necks as I could and with that scrap I would make boxes or do inlays. You know guitars arnt the only thing I make outa wood ← forget number 2. Number 1 is the main reason that I would be doing this. I know that I could probally make a guitar that sounds better or is better resistent to warping (trust me I know the hard way that 1 peice woods warp ). But all things considerd I think it would fun to do and awesome to have something that no one else has. plus I've seen only 1 guitar ilke this and I think it looked better than anything else. just my opinion but I am building this for ME right? thanks for all the opinions and help guys Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skibum5545 Posted February 19, 2005 Report Share Posted February 19, 2005 I personally think it'd look killer. Because it's wenge, it also wouldn't need a finish! I say go for it. Chronicle your progress. When you finish, post pics and sound samples. Just one thing to consider, though, is how you would do the fretboard/trussrod thing. Something to chew on. $.03 (With the dollar where it is, we need al the cents we can get!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Sorbera Posted February 19, 2005 Author Report Share Posted February 19, 2005 I've been thinking about the trussrod thing and think I've figured something out (this is very praliminary and I havent giving it too much thought so please tell me if this is nuts) Basicly before you do anything you just trace out the body and neck onto the wood. Than you set up your router fence to cut teh truss rod channel in the righ spot. Than the top of the body and the top of the neck would be at the same level and you could just use a fingerboard thats around a 1/4" thick. Does that sound crazy or like it might work? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devon Headen Posted February 19, 2005 Report Share Posted February 19, 2005 Then it wouldn't be just one piece of wood, and you just eliminated your only reason for making the design. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Sorbera Posted February 19, 2005 Author Report Share Posted February 19, 2005 not reallt. I could deal with the fingerboard being a different wood. I think it would look better even with it striped ebony. Ok guys the reason I want to do this is for lookd alone. I as in ME as in the person that this guitar is built for thinks it will look good. So please stop telling me that you like laminates or you dont like the look. I just want advice on how to build it. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnsilver Posted February 20, 2005 Report Share Posted February 20, 2005 plus I've seen only 1 guitar ilke this and I think it looked better than anything else. just my opinion but I am building this for ME right? ← Isn't this what individual guitar making is all about? I say go for it. Regarding construction, my suggestion is to research and approach this project basically as a neck-through design. You mentioned you plan to use a hardtail bridge so your idea of gluing on a fretboard (with associated routed out slot for a truss rod) should work similarly to a neck-through with a hard tail (that is, one with no neck angle). The wood will need to be flat along the entire surface plane of the guitar (watch out for flat sawn warpage), but you said you were prepared for that. I suggest drawing out the plane for the top to ensure your chosen bridge height matches up properly to your added fretboard taking into account string action, etc. You will also need to decide on a head construction. Unless you are planning on really thick lumber and a lot of wastage, I assume you will either construct a Fender-style head or you will need a scarf joint for an angled head. What I am trying to suggest is to think it through carefully and then go for it. Good luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Sorbera Posted February 20, 2005 Author Report Share Posted February 20, 2005 What I am trying to suggest is to think it through carefully and then go for it. exatly. Which is why i'm asking all of you guys to help me out with teh planning. I dont want to accidently miss a step. I am going to do a fender style flat headstock. On my last guitar I did this and know how to do it and think it's nice and easy. Also the peice I was looking at is 2 inches thick. I was thinking mabye to plane (not sure if thats the right plane ) it down to say 1 3/4". I think that would make for a lighter/more comfterable body. one guestion I havent figured out yet is how do yo ugo about triming the space right up aganist where the neck meets the body. Let me explain. Usually you cut the body close, than rout it to the perfect size using a template. The router bit wont fit in the little spot where the neck meets the body (where looking at the body from the top). So how do you sugjest I trim that? I know I could do it with say a chisel. But I would like a cleaner cut. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devon Headen Posted February 20, 2005 Report Share Posted February 20, 2005 Make a template for the entire guitar instead of one for the neck and one for the body. Then again, I'd just do it by hand. A rasp, surforms maybe, and good sharp chisel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Sorbera Posted February 20, 2005 Author Report Share Posted February 20, 2005 I guess chisel is the way to go in cleaning up those tight areas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fryovanni Posted February 20, 2005 Report Share Posted February 20, 2005 Godin, I want to try to help you if I can. How thick is the board you will be using? Could you also give me the quick list of tools you will have available (band saw?, Drill press?, #5 plane?). Rich Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Sorbera Posted February 20, 2005 Author Report Share Posted February 20, 2005 well the board is 2" thick 12 1/4" wide and 40" long. I have avaliable in my shop a bandsaw, tablesaw, radial arm saw, router (2, 1 table mounted), lathe, planer, jointer, scrollsaw, and all manar of power and none power hand tools. Also I got every other thing you need in a shop such as a jillian clamps and such. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eddiewarlock Posted February 20, 2005 Report Share Posted February 20, 2005 i hope you're gonna use a bridge that requires no neck angle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devon Headen Posted February 20, 2005 Report Share Posted February 20, 2005 You can plane neck angle in without too much trouble Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Sorbera Posted February 20, 2005 Author Report Share Posted February 20, 2005 I'll be using a bridge that requires no neck angle. I'm not a fan of TOM bridges anyways, there not adjustable enough. I like the strat style bridges because you can adjust them more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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