zandro Posted October 1, 2003 Report Share Posted October 1, 2003 Hey all, I was wondering if anyone here has used one of Stewmac's through-body necks as a starting point. 24 Fret Through-body Guitar Neck It looks like an ideal platform for a beginner like me to start building on, and I'm anxious to actually get something I can work on. Mostly I'm just wondering about the quality of the neck and what else might need to be done to it. [besides the obvious things .. for example, will I have to level and polish the frets?] Any help you all could give me would be great. Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Posted October 1, 2003 Report Share Posted October 1, 2003 While I haven't used one personally I would expect it to come already with the frets leveled and polished at that price, not to mention they already tell you the radius so it should be done in that department to begin with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted October 1, 2003 Report Share Posted October 1, 2003 you can get the same neck from carvin a little cheaper....and it does come with the frets leveled and polished....very good neck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Rosenberger Posted October 1, 2003 Report Share Posted October 1, 2003 Like Wes said, Those are Carvin Necks. Compare prices including shipping and buy from the cheapest one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted October 1, 2003 Report Share Posted October 1, 2003 just to reiterate in case i wasn't clear...that neck is the best neck i have ever played on...i HIGHLY reccomend it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zandro Posted October 1, 2003 Author Report Share Posted October 1, 2003 just to reiterate in case i wasn't clear...that neck is the best neck i have ever played on...i HIGHLY reccomend it. Sweet! Looks like I might finally have something to start a project on. Now if I could only find a 2"x6"x24" piece of walnut. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted October 2, 2003 Report Share Posted October 2, 2003 by the way,when building a neck through,make sure you cut your wings and finish sand them as much as possible BEFORE you glue them onto the neck.reason being it is damn near impossible to cut or sand near the neck and fretboard without damaging it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zandro Posted October 2, 2003 Author Report Share Posted October 2, 2003 by the way,when building a neck through,make sure you cut your wings and finish sand them as much as possible BEFORE you glue them onto the neck.reason being it is damn near impossible to cut or sand near the neck and fretboard without damaging it. Yeah, I had planned on that. Thanks for the advice though, I appreciate it. Okay, now another question. Assuming that I get this through-body neck, I need to make some wings. I was planning on getting walnut ala the Rickenbacker 650D, but anyone have other suggestions? I'm looking for a darker colored wood as I would like to have the natural look. On a neck-through, does the wing material affect sound much? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
krazyderek Posted October 2, 2003 Report Share Posted October 2, 2003 yes, it does just as much as a bolt on, the only difference being you don't have to worry about sustain or resonance being lost at the neck joint. So chosing the right body or in this case wing wood is still fairly essential to get the sound you want. but that's not to say you should be afraid of trying something a little different like walnut Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulNeeds Posted October 2, 2003 Report Share Posted October 2, 2003 Hmm... Interesting. Begs a question. The 'heel' area of that neck looks quite bulky. Is there a good reason for this that I'm too dumb to appreciate right off? Presumbly, under there somewhere is the end of the truss rod? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zandro Posted October 2, 2003 Author Report Share Posted October 2, 2003 Hmm... Interesting. Begs a question. The 'heel' area of that neck looks quite bulky. Is there a good reason for this that I'm too dumb to appreciate right off? Presumbly, under there somewhere is the end of the truss rod? Actually, that's a good point. I noticed the bulky heel, but figured I'd reduce it should I decide to order that neck. But I guess knowing where the truss rod ends would be helpful so I won't end up cutting too far. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted October 2, 2003 Report Share Posted October 2, 2003 yes the wing material does affect the tone.walnut is a fine choice though. the heel appears bulky but it is not.it starts so far down on the neck that upper fret access is perfect without any modification.on my v i did not shape the heel in any way but on a stratocaster design or similar yes,you could shape the heel to match the body contours,that's what it is made for.keep in mind these are the same necks carvin uses on thier own guitars Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulNeeds Posted October 2, 2003 Report Share Posted October 2, 2003 Not evre played a carvin, but they seem very well thought of here. It seems a nice solution for the chap who wanted to build that les paul too... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DividedByJames Posted October 2, 2003 Report Share Posted October 2, 2003 Not that it makes much difference, but Carvin necks are 25" scale, like PRS guitars. I think Stew Mac points that out, but in case it doesn't, keep that in mind. My Carvin catalog I have at work says the NT6 is $179. According to their catalog any parts/accessory order is $7.99 shipping. Not sure what it is overseas. The Stew Mac is $195. Going direct seems much cheaper. Also they have seven string neck thrus too. NT7 for $199. I bought their bolt on neck for one of my projects and they are very nicely made (ebony and maple). If you like Carvin headstocks, I'm pretty sure you can request their headstock (as opposed to a unshaped one) for little to no cost. At least thats what they did for me. You might also be able to ask them about doing some of their neck mods too (abalone, block inlay, walnut stripes, mahogany or koa neck, etc.) but don't quote me on it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jsullysix Posted October 3, 2003 Report Share Posted October 3, 2003 hey, do any of you guys know anywhere you can get neck thru blanks that are 22 fret with a 25.5 scale? i think the stew macarvin blank is cool, but i'd want something a bit different.. 22 fret, 25.5 scale, and a 1 5/8 nut would make me a very happy sully. sully Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samdjr74 Posted October 3, 2003 Report Share Posted October 3, 2003 I'd like to know the same thing as Sully, does anyone make it in a different scale? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kings_x Posted October 15, 2003 Report Share Posted October 15, 2003 Okay, now another question. Assuming that I get this through-body neck, I need to make some wings. I was planning on getting walnut ala the Rickenbacker 650D, but anyone have other suggestions? I'm looking for a darker colored wood as I would like to have the natural look. I just discovered this board and this is my first post here. WOW! What a coincidence! I just finished my first guitar project and I used the StewMac neck and my design is based on the Rick Dakota. Cool! My original idea was to build my own bolt-on neck out of mahogany but I ran into some beginner problems and bailed on that idea and bought the StewMac neck. I already had the body done which had two pieces of bookmatched mahogany running down the center and birdseye maple wings on the outside. Like this: [birdseye] [mahog] [birdseye] |-----------|\\\\|////|-----------| |-----------|\\\\|////|-----------| |-----------|\\\\|////|-----------| |-----------|\\\\|////|-----------| |-----------|\\\\|////|-----------| |-----------|\\\\|////|-----------| |-----------|\\\\|////|-----------| |-----------|\\\\|////|-----------| |-----------|\\\\|////|-----------| Once I decided on the new neck and since I was going from a bolt-on to neck-through design, I had to cut out most of the mahogany. The end result is birdseye with two strips of mahogany on either side of the maple center. Another problem I ran into was the fact that I was using a tune-o-matic bridge with a non-angled neck. I discovered the problem with that when I first tried to put a string on it and had a 1 1/2 inch gap between the 12th fret and the string. I fixed that by routing out a recess for the bridge. Its a feature not a flaw . It has a Michael Christian piezo bridge and two Schaller Golden 50 pickups. I built my own on-board pre-amp for the piezos and it sounds great. The mags give it a cross between a vintage Les Paul sound and a Rick sound. In my original design, I was going for more of a Les Paul sound but I like the sound I ended up with. Anyway, I'm pleased with the end result and have gotten may complements on the looks, playability and the sound. I would love to post a picture here. How do I do that. Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbkim Posted October 15, 2003 Report Share Posted October 15, 2003 I would love to post a picture here. How do I do that. Mike Sounds cool. I'd love to see some pics. Look for the IMG button when you make a post. You'll need to have some web space to host the pictures from... meaning you don't upload them to this board, only link to the pics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kings_x Posted October 17, 2003 Report Share Posted October 17, 2003 Here it is. In hind sight there are several things I would have done differently such as spaced the tuning pegs a little further appart and reshaped the heel of the neck so I could have put the wings on a lower to allow full access to all the frets. Those will be things to keep in mind on my next guitar. Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
krazyderek Posted October 17, 2003 Report Share Posted October 17, 2003 Here it is. In hind sight there are several things I would have done differently such as spaced the tuning pegs a little further appart and reshaped the heel of the neck so I could have put the wings on a lower to allow full access to all the frets. Those will be things to keep in mind on my next guitar. Mike also keep in mind some people are on dial up so crop your images a bit before you post them, as beautiful as that empty wall space is Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kings_x Posted October 17, 2003 Report Share Posted October 17, 2003 Here it is. In hind sight there are several things I would have done differently such as spaced the tuning pegs a little further appart and reshaped the heel of the neck so I could have put the wings on a lower to allow full access to all the frets. Those will be things to keep in mind on my next guitar. Mike also keep in mind some people are on dial up so crop your images a bit before you post them, as beautiful as that empty wall space is I thought about that as I uploaded the image but was in a hurry. I'll fix it Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
krazyderek Posted October 17, 2003 Report Share Posted October 17, 2003 there ya go! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zandro Posted October 21, 2003 Author Report Share Posted October 21, 2003 kings_x: Nice guitar! That's almost exactly what I'm planning on doing. I have two questions for you, though [or anyone else]: 1. How adjustable is the TOM given that it's sitting in a cavity? I'd like to go with a TOM [by far my favorite bridge] but without the carved top [which I'm too much of a beginner to try], it seems impossible. The cavity sounds like a nice solution but looks like it would be hard to adjust. 2. The radius on the fretboard is 15", but most TOMs I've seen are 12" radius. Did you file down the notches in the TOM to compensate? I'm very excited right now because I just ordered the neck and a set of mahogany wings. I'm going to be pestering you guys to no end in the following months. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kings_x Posted October 23, 2003 Report Share Posted October 23, 2003 kings_x: Nice guitar! Thanks, man. 1. How adjustable is the TOM given that it's sitting in a cavity? I'd like to go with a TOM [by far my favorite bridge] but without the carved top [which I'm too much of a beginner to try], it seems impossible. The cavity sounds like a nice solution but looks like it would be hard to adjust. Its not very adjustable at all. I have to take the strings off or at least loosen them all the way to access the adjustable posts. If I were to do it again, I would have built in the neck reliefe when I glued on the wings and sanded all the wood flush. If I were to route out a cavity for the bridge again, I would try making it quite a bit wider than the bridge and then sanded it to smooth out the ridges on each end (make it sort of like a ramp) to allow acccess to the posts without having to remove the bridge. 2. The radius on the fretboard is 15", but most TOMs I've seen are 12" radius. Did you file down the notches in the TOM to compensate? The bridge is a Michael Christian piezo pickup so I have not touched the saddles. Not sure what it would do to the output of the piezos. I haven't had any trouble setting up the action (other than having to remove the strings to adjust the bridge ). I'm very excited right now because I just ordered the neck and a set of mahogany wings. I'm going to be pestering you guys to no end in the following months. Keep me posted, sounds cool. Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted October 23, 2003 Report Share Posted October 23, 2003 some toms are adjustable at the top with a screwdriver Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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