scottyd Posted August 20, 2005 Report Share Posted August 20, 2005 (edited) im in the process of buying all of the wood for my latest project, i want to add two reinforcement rods along with my trussrod to the laminated neck, but i cant get over the high price of carbon fiber or graphite, has anybody used steel instead? i can get it in the size needed for less than 80 cents a foot here https://www.onlinemetals.com/ ive read that the other 2 are stronger and lighter but i can also get the stock in aluminum for a little more (which is prob weaker than the steel), i was orginally just planing on using the truss alone but it will be nice to have a little added "insurance" so has any body used just either one with good results? Edited August 20, 2005 by scottyd Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GodBlessTexas Posted August 20, 2005 Report Share Posted August 20, 2005 Ovation used to make entire necks out of aluminum. It's environmentally stable, and makes a decent neck material. Unfortunately, the Ovation necks were all aluminum, including the frets. The fretboard was on solid slab of aluminum and the fret spaces were milled out to leave the frets. You can guess how long the frets lasted that way. Remember the Alamo, and God Bless Texas... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maiden69 Posted August 21, 2005 Report Share Posted August 21, 2005 Stick to the carbon fiber http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Truss_rods/Car...rbon_Fiber.html , I know they are a bit expensive, but I think it is a better solution. Steel is too heavy for a neck, aluminum could be an alternative, but I don't know the "springness"(don't know if the spelling is right) of it. I would hate to use it and then when the neck bow foward have it conform to that shape and then have a hard time to pull it back with the truss rod. I know that some guitar truss rods have an U channel from aluminum, but I haven't heard about bars for re enforcement. And there are a lot of suppliers other than Stew Mac you can search on google that the price will be less than 1/2 . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devon Headen Posted August 21, 2005 Report Share Posted August 21, 2005 Two steel strips plus the truss rod is going to add a LOT of weight to the neck. If it's a regular six-string neck, with nothing special about it, just leave it with the truss rod. It's been done that way without problems for a long time. Carbon Fiber isn't THAT expensive, so if your reasoning for adding reinforcements is to make a guitar better than factory guitars, I'd say buy the CF. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scottyd Posted August 21, 2005 Author Report Share Posted August 21, 2005 Two steel strips plus the truss rod is going to add a LOT of weight to the neck. If it's a regular six-string neck, with nothing special about it, just leave it with the truss rod. It's been done that way without problems for a long time. Carbon Fiber isn't THAT expensive, so if your reasoning for adding reinforcements is to make a guitar better than factory guitars, I'd say buy the CF. ← the reasoning really is just peace of mind, its a five string neckthrough bass....,ive seen plenty of them get by with just a single truss and nothing else, but ive seen quite a few with some ugly action too.... im considering two 1/4"x1/8" rods, these are the same size as the top rod on my truss(the square one, the bottom appears to be a 3/8" round) so the weight factors not a problem it would be fairly close (a little lighter) to a 2 truss neck.......which may be a better option............ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GodBlessTexas Posted August 24, 2005 Report Share Posted August 24, 2005 If it's a five string bass, definitely go with carbon over steel. Basses are already neck heavy due to their large scale and long necks. My Jazz bass slides down all the time if I'm not holding it up playing. Remember the Alamo, and God Bless Texas... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skibum5545 Posted August 24, 2005 Report Share Posted August 24, 2005 I built a bass a while back using a Warmoth bass neck, and Warmoth uses steel rods: To remedy these problems, we began with the double-expanding truss rod. This design proved excellent at eliminating virtually all the previous problems with notable exception of the dead spots. We continued to experiment with stiffening the bass necks. First we tried graphite which we found to be expensive and not a cure-all. Then we tried hardened T-6 aluminum which was much less expensive but still did not yield the desired result. Finally we tried steel bars. Well, they worked! Steel provided the even responsiveness with virtually no dead notes. Two steel stiffening bars, plus our double-expanding truss rod, together make for our exclusive "Triple Reinforced" Super Bass system that creates an extremely sturdy and reliable neck. My bass isn't neck heavy. The body is pretty heavy, which helps counteract the slightly heavy neck, but my point is, steel isn't prohibitive. I say go for it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fryovanni Posted August 24, 2005 Report Share Posted August 24, 2005 Second the steel is not prohibitive. Use it in moderation though. It is going to be stronger per volume (not talking about strength/weight). If you would use a 3/8" CF use 3/16" steel. There is not that much weight to a thin steel rod. Warmoth uses and sells these rods if you want to check them out (they are only a couple dollars). Aluminum from what I understand does not work as well. I have used both CF and steel. I noticed no real difference in weight. If you want to drop the weight on the neck. Buy ultra lite tuners (that does make a big difference). Peace, Rich Oh I forgot... Thats just my opinion, for what its worth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scottyd Posted August 25, 2005 Author Report Share Posted August 25, 2005 heck if its good enough for warmoth its good enough for me!! I think itll work out ok.....................thanks for the help Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrianOC Posted August 9, 2006 Report Share Posted August 9, 2006 DONT THINK IM STOOPID! I am new to building guitar necks. Does anybody have any hints or tips for using the Warmoth steel rods? Do you install them in-line with the truss rod or do you install them parallel to the neck edges? I am trying to build a 5-String bass guitare with a 5 strip laminated wood neck. Thanks, Brian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thegarehanman Posted August 9, 2006 Report Share Posted August 9, 2006 Hobby-lobby.com sells carbon fiber rods for very, very reasonable prices. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mickguard Posted August 9, 2006 Report Share Posted August 9, 2006 Myka uses carbon fiber kite rods...that's good enough for me. I imagine they're not as resistant to flex as the Stewmac bars are, but I don't want that much resistance anyway (part of what interests me about carbon fiber is that they also help minimize dead spots, and lighten the weight of the neck too). I paid 5 euros for 1.5 meters, reasonable enough. I also have a round bottom router bit, so the rods fit in nice and snug. Can't say how they perform, since I haven't actually finished the neck yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thegarehanman Posted August 9, 2006 Report Share Posted August 9, 2006 That's what hobby-lobby.com carries, the round kind. They have solid and hollow. I know myka uses hollow ones. I prefer solid. I have no complaints abou their performance. I like the idea of a round bottomed slot more than a square one. It's that much less of a chance I have of hitting the channels when profiling the neck. peace, russ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tiny Tim Posted August 10, 2006 Report Share Posted August 10, 2006 What size carbon tubing/ rod are you guys using? thanks Tim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KeithHowell Posted August 10, 2006 Report Share Posted August 10, 2006 Ovation used to make entire necks out of aluminum. It's environmentally stable, and makes a decent neck material We too made necks out of aluminium for our African-Guitars. However the neck is very temperature dependant, on very cold days it will back bow (it had a wooden fretboard) and need to be warmed up before you can play. Keith Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mickguard Posted August 10, 2006 Report Share Posted August 10, 2006 What size carbon tubing/ rod are you guys using? thanks Tim I'm using 6 mm tubes...there's an 8 mm tube too, but I don't see the need (maybe for a bass though). With 6 mm there's really no risk of carving through. I went with hollow because I liked the idea of having a chamber of air in there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.