shawnm26 Posted March 15, 2006 Report Share Posted March 15, 2006 I was going to start building my 1st guitar within a week was picking up the lumber on Saturday. I'm planning to build a chambered guitar with a Mahogany body and a Maple top body i was planning on going with is a 25"scale with a small ES335 body maybe 13" at the bodies fattest point. My question is about the neck, The book I have say's use a quarter sawn neck and suggests using 3 flatsawn pieces glued together as an alternative if you have excess wood but when I was on the Stewart-MacDonald site the instructions for neck building says to go with the 3 flatsawn pieces. I was unsure what method to use was hoping someone could offer up some insite thanks. I plan on having an angled peg head not sure if that makes a difference. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GuitarGuy Posted March 15, 2006 Report Share Posted March 15, 2006 three flatsawn pieces of lumber glued to gether is exacty the same as a quarter sawn piece. all you are doing is turning the grain on its end. Quarter sawn wood refers to the grain running perpendicular to largest sides of the neck blank. If you turn a quartersawn piece of lumber on its side it the becomes flatsawn. The reason to use quarter sawn is that it is more dimensionally stable than a flatsawn piece. Also the flat sawn will have a tendency to warp or cup. There is also another type and that is rift sawn. A riftsawn piece has some grain running purpendicular to the largest face and some running semi parallel. Ive had no trouble building a neck from this type of wood. As long as the riftsawn piece has more quarter than flat. Pictures Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mattia Posted March 15, 2006 Report Share Posted March 15, 2006 Honestly, for stability, go with either flatsawn, or quartersawn (within 15-20 degrees is acceptable, but the closer the better) wood for a neck. It's all about orientation: lay three flatsawn pieces on-edge, and you've got a quartered, laminated neck blank. The reason I don't like riftsawn wood is that it's generally more flexible than either perfectly flat or perfectly quartered wood, and if it decides to warp, it'll do so very unpredictably. it's likely to induce twist and funkyness when it does, because of how wood shrinks when it dries. Some people like slightly skewed wood for small pieces like bridges (less likely to crack along bridge pins) or bridge plates (flexible, crack-resistant), but I'd avoid it in a neck if it was really riftsawn (ie, around 45 degrees off quarter). All this being said: you know those ubiquitous bolt-on neck electric guitars made by Fender and copied by everyone else? 99 out of 100 of those have flatsawn necks. And most do all right. So, y'know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fryovanni Posted March 15, 2006 Report Share Posted March 15, 2006 Quarter sawn will prove slightly stronger, but not enough to rule out flatsawn. Laminating multiple pieces does provide added insurance againt warping and twisting. As mentioned Fender uses flatsawn with fine results. The only thing I would mention is Fender necks don't have angled headstocks. Flat sawn with an angled headstock has more potential for runnout issues. With real flat grain and a steep angle on the headstock you run the risk of creating a weakness at the nut(a weak area to begin with.). Of course this would also depend on how you prepair the headstock(scarfed or one piece- one piece would probably suffer most). I would buy flatsawn wood(most common and less expensive) then turn the three laminates on edge to get yourself a nice quartersawn blank. Best of luck! Rich Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martinedwards Posted March 18, 2006 Report Share Posted March 18, 2006 It won't be the last guitar you make so go for it!!! I made a fretless bass and a Les Paul acoustic using a bench I salvaged from a science classroom. I haven't the 1st clue what way the grain runs, but I lammed it with sycamore and it's OK so far!!!! Once I get good at it I'll start spending REAL money on wood, but for now? slap it together and get some experience!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fryovanni Posted March 19, 2006 Report Share Posted March 19, 2006 It won't be the last guitar you make so go for it!!! I made a fretless bass and a Les Paul acoustic using a bench I salvaged from a science classroom. I haven't the 1st clue what way the grain runs, but I lammed it with sycamore and it's OK so far!!!! Once I get good at it I'll start spending REAL money on wood, but for now? slap it together and get some experience!!!!! It's great that you made use of salvaged wood(wasting good wood is a terrible thing). As far as spending real money on wood though. What has been suggested as the best bet is flatsawn turned on edge. Flatsawn is the most common cut and the most economical. It is a nice way to get the most bang for your $$$. Peace,Rich Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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