Is It Possiable Or Advisable To Make A Neck Throug

[Ragasguitars]

sorry this reply is kinda late, been on my honeymoon. www.angelfire.com/la3/powerguitar/Glassman.html

This last guitar I built is made out of one piece of quatersawn honduran mahogany. It can be done, Its not wasteful if you know how to recycle and use scraps to make other things, and yes it is the most difficult way to build a guitar especially by hand. I have to say one thing though, the guy i built it for ABSOLUTELY LOVED THE WAY IT SOUNDED, as did I. You can try to plane the whole top surface of the wood, but it was really pointless for the way I was building this guitar, I took a "shortcut" which really saved me time and a lot of pain in the ass work with no loss of quality(yes I got lucky this time but don't take shortcuts, I found a way to make it work this time). What i did was very much a pain in the ass since it was the first one piece I ever built, had to make every little tool, or jig as I went along. I would need more information as to whether or not you are using a top wood. Neck angle is not a problem, don't put one, unless you are willing to spend more time making a jig to cut a neck angle in the wood than on the guitar itself. And if the bridge you get is too tall which it probably will be, just route a recess in the body to drop it to the right height. As far as the headstock angle, a 2" thick piece of wood might be a problem for acheiving a good headstock angle. Might need string retainers or a Strat style headstock. The guitar I did has no neck angle with a recessed bridge, and a low headstock angle with a string retainer, sounds better than any guitar I own or have ever played on, and everyone who has played it or heard it says the same. If you have more specific questions feel free to email me, my address is ragasguitars@cox.net Maybe we can compile a list of things after you are done and have worked out all your kinks and can post a tutorial section on building one piece guitars. Sorry this is all the info I have but there are a lot of answers I have just need the right questions, can't answer everything now but I am sure you will encounter some of the same road blocks I encountered. Also don't be afraid to get familiar with a hammer and chisel.

Edited March 4, 2005 by Ragasguitars

[erikbojerik]

Wenge is really hard on the tools. Very hard and heavy wood. I say go for it, your reasons are yours and that's what this forum is all about.

On a side note, the doubleneck guitar I just finished has two different necks. The 12-string neck is two-piece (blank + fretboard) while the 6-string neck is all 1-piece. The 2-piece neck is by far the more stable & sturdy and required much less fussing with the truss rod (despite the extra string tension).

[mledbetter]

I don't know that it would be that hard really.. Just have to get your lines down.

I would route the truss rod channel first and build everything out from that.. maybe make jigs that fit in the channel to give you straight edges for the neck sides, etc..

I'd do the headstock thicknessing with a router BEFORE you shape it.. You can use a bullnose bit to go ahead and get the curved transition from the peghead plane to the fretboard.

Once your done, the body and top of neck will be on the same plane, and then you glue your fretboard on.. that's about how a strat or tele is set up anyway. I know nothing of working with wenge.. but I can't imagine it's not doable. You could get a killer heelless design out of this.. Might be a CF rod or two in the neck might not be a bad idea.

I personally hate the laminste showing throught he body look.. that's why i've never dug neckthroughs, so i understand the reasoning. My only reservation would be issues of warping.. so if you have that all figured out then go for it. If it's a good dry piece of wood and you seal it properly you shouldn't have a problem.

[skibum5545]

I think a solid wenge guitar would look excellent with a birdseye maple fingerboard.

My experience with wenge is that it chips out -very-easily. However, keep in mind I was cutting a 1/8" thick piece for a backplate on my bass. I had to sandwich it between two pieces of 1/4" plywood in order to cut it without it chipping out. I can imagine it's not as bad as that when working with 2" stock, but you might want to consider bandsawing the rough shape and finishing with either an oscillating spindle sander or a drill-mounted barrel sander of some sort. Or, for the braver soul, sandpaper and elbow grease.