Carvin Pre-built Through Neck

[Ledzendrix1128]

Hey everyone,

Ive noticed that alot of people seem to be using the carvin necks now. I plan on building a through neck guitar as soon as I get surgery on my ACL, and im back working again. But i was wondering if these can be used with a tune-o-matic bridge. I know the tune-o-matic is set pretty high, thats why les pauls have the angled neck. I was wondering if you have to use a flat mount, or recessed style bridge with that carvin neck. Or maybe some body design to accomodate the Tune-o-matic vs. a flat mount. Thanks in advance

-Louis

[erikbojerik]

You'll have to either recess the TOM or cut an angle into the body portion of the neck, which will end up wedge-shaped. At that point, you'll either need to:

(1) cut a parallel angle in the back of the body section to end up with uniform thickness and a fairly thin body (not easy to do at all);

or

(2) put a cap on the back of the body to hide the back-side of the neck blank (and thereby have to deal with the slope of the blank between the wings).

I think it's easier to recess the TOM. Or use a different bridge that doesn't require a neck angle.

[Ledzendrix1128]

yeah, thats what i sorta feared.... maybe ill just make my own neck to avoid all the problems with accomodating different premade parts

[erikbojerik]

Well...if you make your own neck-thru blank, you'll have exactly the same issues. It's been done, it is just more work than a bolt-on or a set neck.

[Ledzendrix1128]

yeah maybe set neck is the way to go... i like the way PRS does it with the set neck in the pickup cavity

[j. pierce]

when I made my neck-through, the neck through bit I laminated up was fairly thick so I really didn't have to much of a problem - mark my neck angle when joining the wings to the neck-through, and afterwards, I just planed down the extra thickness on my neck piece where it stood proud because of the angle. Actually, my neck piece was thick enough that I actually ended up having extra thickness on both sides of the neck, despite my 5 degree neck angle. After attaching the neck on the guitar I'm working on, I'd have to say it's probably easier than making an angled neck pocket for a set neck. (Neither job was *difficult* per se, but the neck pocket was more exacting and time consuming work.)

Ideally, if you can cut it accurately, and plan ahead, you ought to be able to use the carvin neck. Calculate the neck angle, using this mark where the neck would stand proud of the body on the top, cut this out carefully and then glue this piece on the bottom of the neck blank.

[erikbojerik]

The Carvin neck blank is only 1.7" thick at the body, so if you go with any neck angle you'll end up with a body thinner than 1.7" if you don't put a cap on the back. That's OK but be sure to choose your hardware first and then plan all the dimensions out and draw it out on paper before cutting any wood.

[SoundAt11]

I went with the Carvin neck-thru blank and like it. I use a Gotoh Nashville style Tune-o-matic and just routed a shallow recess for it in the top. No neck angle at all. It's no big deal, really......

[Chartier]

I know this is off topic but kinda in topic but anyway where can I get premade neck thru with 2in wide at the 24fret? what varies from 25'' to 25 1/2?

[strawtarget]

I know this is off topic but kinda in topic but anyway where can I get premade neck thru with 2in wide at the 24fret?

Doug at soulmateguitars.com can build you a custom neck to your specs.

I ordered a custom neck from Doug for a project I'm currently working on. It is a work of art. Absolutely awesome. And he's a great guy to deal with, too.

Edited April 12, 2007 by strawtarget

[marksound]

Here's a pic of Carvin's solution:

"Many Carvin guitar models are available with the M-series tune-o-matic bridges. This bridges is set into a routed pocket on special heavy studs. The strings feed through the body which creates increased downward pressure on the bridge resulting in exceptional sustain and tone."

[WezV]

I know this is off topic but kinda in topic but anyway where can I get premade neck thru with 2in wide at the 24fret? what varies from 25'' to 25 1/2?

Just to clarify, are you after a fanned-fret neck through blank here. because thats going to make it a lot harder to find

[crafty]

yeah maybe set neck is the way to go... i like the way PRS does it with the set neck in the pickup cavity

You can also use the Carvin neck for that purpose. Just trim off the excess wood on the end and shape the heel for the cavity.

[westhemann]

Here's a pic of Carvin's solution:

just to clarify...i did it before carvin did.it works very well,but you need to make sure to buy the t.o.m. with the screwdriver slot on the top of the studs so you can easily adjust bridge height

[ihocky2]

I borrowed Wes' idea for the recessed TOM and it works great. Very easy to do, and I think it actually looks pretty good too.

[Xanthus]

I used a prebuilt Carvin necktrhough for my project, and routed the recess into the body as well. It really wasn't that hard to do (save for the fact that I forgot to take into account the thickness of the paint and therefore my height adjustment thumbscrews didn't fit). Ferrules are a must, though. Pics here:

http://public.fotki.com/xanthus/

I was wondering, planning for my second build, if it would be possible to make a "body angle" jig and route out a body angle onto the neckthrough blank, if one wanted a neckthrough with a neck angle. My initial thoughts think this would work, but you'd have to glue a piece of wood onto the back of the guitar body, so that you don't have a tapered guitar Wouldn't be much of a problem if the body is a solid color. Natural or transparent bodies, maybe not so much.

[SoundAt11]

Very nice Explorer, I feel for you on some of the issues with chiseling mahogany and wood tearout....and the dreaded recessing of the bridge and ferrules. My Ferrules came out terrible the first time, very crooked (I used to small of a bit and it wandered), so I had to route out the wood around the ferrules and make a replacement "plate" of wood to cover my mistake:-O

A friend of a friend of mine did an angled neck-thru Bass with the Carvin neck-thru. My assumption is that he drew the angle into the blank and carefully cut it out with a bandsaw.

[westhemann]

I was wondering, planning for my second build, if it would be possible to make a "body angle" jig and route out a body angle onto the neckthrough blank, if one wanted a neckthrough with a neck angle. My initial thoughts think this would work, but you'd have to glue a piece of wood onto the back of the guitar body, so that you don't have a tapered guitar Wouldn't be much of a problem if the body is a solid color. Natural or transparent bodies, maybe not so much.

yes,you can do that...but it works best on a thinner guitar,front to back...

but you could also put a matching top and back on the guitar and "hide" the neck through that way,so that you could keep a clear finish.

[westhemann]

can i just sat one thing about premade factory necks?yes,they are an easy shortcut...but tonally they are much less "alive" than a good handmade neck built from carefully chosen woods...

they are just inferior in so many ways...BUT that is only if you can build a nice neck...it takes much practice to produce a superior neck...but once you do,there is no going back

my guitar with the carvin premade neck through is sitting in a corner,stripped of all of it's hardware...never to be used again.

[drpossehl]

I am tooling up to eventually make my own through necks. What would I need to focus on to improve tonally over a Carvin neck. Is it a demensional thing? Just curious.

[westhemann]

wood selection and build quality...

i make all my neck from 3 1" pieces of straight grained wood laminated side by side in complementary grain orientations,making sure to get good glue spread and tight tolerances on all the laminates and the fretboard,i don't rout out any more than necessary for the truss rod,and i always use a good solid 2 way truss(i use the stewmac hot rod)

i really don't know how much any single thing affects the end product...wood selection and tight joins are most likely the most important,but the last 4 necks or so that i have made are really excellent tonally.

[Chartier]

I have a question my friend order their premade neck through neck and he is wondering isn't 2.25'' wide at 24fret a bit wide? what is the (standard) size

[Rick500]

I just measured one of my Carvin neckthrough guitars (a DC145) and it's 2 7/32" at the 24th fret. It's a very comfortable neck.

[Chartier]

is their much difference between the 2 7/32 (2.21'' inch) and the 1/4? I mean does .04inch really show's up on a guitar? Because it seems kind wide and at nut it is 1.71 wich does make a kind of akward neck doesn't it? Or am I just crazy? My friend is building this custom guitar and got their neck and it is kinda winder at the 24 and smaller at the nut :S

[Rick500]

is their much difference between the 2 7/32 (2.21'' inch) and the 1/4? I mean does .04inch really show's up on a guitar? Because it seems kind wide and at nut it is 1.71 wich does make a kind of akward neck doesn't it? Or am I just crazy? My friend is building this custom guitar and got their neck and it is kinda winder at the 24 and smaller at the nut :S

No, I seriously doubt you'd be able to tell the difference between 2 1/4" and 2 7/32" on a neck.

I just measured the same neck at the nut, and it's 1 11/16" (about 1.69").

Both of those differences are probably within the margin of error of my measurements anyway. (I just held a tape measure up to the neck with the strings on it, so there's some slop in there.)