Neck Jig Question

[cole]

Does anybody have any experience with the stew mac neck jig? I replaced a fingerboard on my 59 strat neck and I've already put it on my neck, it needs to be slotted and a radius put on it. My question is would it be best to put the neck on the body and than strap it to the neck jig and put the radius on the neck in the jig?

[jammy]

It should work, but wether it'll be of any advantage I'm not too sure really.

Why did you change the board?

[soapbarstrat]

Always best to have the object you're working on , clamped down to something, and the 'neck jig' does very well, as a device that you clamp a guitar to. I mean, what else would you do, lay the neck on a bench-top ? Might as well use the tools/fixtures you have.

I don't know if you have the video for the 'neck jig', but it even shows how Mr. Erlewine had a guitar in the jig, with a platform rigged up so he could *rout* the fret-board off the neck and put a new fret-board on the neck, with the whole guitar clamped in the 'neck-jig' the whole time.

I even spray finishes on the fret-board with the guitar left in the 'Neck-jig', and I have the older, big/heavy table top 'neck-jig". I just rotate the top so the neck's fret-board is at a right angle to the floor.

[SwedishLuthier]

The idea behind the neck jig is not primarily to have something to strap the guitar to while working on it, although it does that job quite well. The idea is to emulate the same tension on the neck as the strings apply. Wood is inconsistent and will respond to the tension in different ways. Even in different areas of the same piece of wood. When applying string pull on an ideal neck it would bend into a smooth, even curve. The real world neck won’t. It will bend uneven and in a twist. This unevenness and twisting is hard to notice but it is there. I have had guitars in for a fret level, that have been dead flat when unstrung and turning into a quite bad twist when strung up. The solution was to build a neck jig and I haven’t done fret jobs without it ever after. I also use it when levelling the fretboard before fretting. This eliminates the need for heavy fret dressing. My process is:

- Cut fret slots

- Taper board

- Glue on bindings if “needed”

- Radius

- Glue

- Place in neck jig and apply tension

- Final levelling of the board

- Remove guitar and press in frets

- Back into jig and apply tension once again

- Level and dress frets

Now it would be interesting to se how you are going to slot the board when it is already glued to the neck. I haven’t seen it done that way and I would like to know your plan.

[cole]

As for why I replaced the fretboard, I bought it for 400 dollars along with the neckplate. The guitar had been in a fire and the body was too bad to use. The guy who had it replaced the fingerboard, but he had no idea what he was doing, the fingerboard was more like a veneer when he was done so I took that off and replaced it with a nice thick piece of brazilian rosewood, I would have slotted the fingerboard first but I wanted a perticular part of the grain to go on the neck. I've still searching my options on how I'm going to do the slotting, as of right now I'm planning on marking where the nut is going to go and then measureing down from there and doing the slots by hand. I had the job quoted and it was going to be 800 dollars for a new fretboard so I figured why not try for myself. If you want I'll post some pics let me know.

[Supernova9]

As for why I replaced the fretboard, I bought it for 400 dollars along with the neckplate. The guitar had been in a fire and the body was too bad to use. The guy who had it replaced the fingerboard, but he had no idea what he was doing, the fingerboard was more like a veneer when he was done so I took that off and replaced it with a nice thick piece of brazilian rosewood, I would have slotted the fingerboard first but I wanted a perticular part of the grain to go on the neck. I've still searching my options on how I'm going to do the slotting, as of right now I'm planning on marking where the nut is going to go and then measureing down from there and doing the slots by hand. I had the job quoted and it was going to be 800 dollars for a new fretboard so I figured why not try for myself. If you want I'll post some pics let me know.

Maybe next time, just draw the taper on the board how it's going to be on the next, and adjust that so that the piece of grain is in the right place. Then slot the board, then radius it, then attach it to the neck. You've just made life way more difficult for yourself than it needs to be, and you could probably have avoided it by searching these forums. If I were you, I'd steam off the board (there are tutorials for that on the main site), do the slotting on a flat surface (get the stewmac fret slotting jig), then radius and glue back on.

You've also pretty much destroyed any resale value that 59 strat neck had, unless you get a pro to repair the job. Don't take this too personally, just sounds like you didn't really plan it too well.

Show pics though, I'm sure others will chime in.

[Guitarfrenzy]

Cole you still want my How To Build A Neck Jig tutorial? I can email it to you. Let me know.

[cole]

Yes guitarfrenzy I would, as for the other topic. Don't worry I dont take it personally, I have searched this forum extensively. I do not plan on reselling this neck, not everything is about money. I've never liked the preslotting idea, the way I'm going to slot the neck is going from the nut down the neck and will be based on how the neck fits on the body. To me that sounds more accurate, atleast for what I'm doing. I'm not worried about the slotting, as long as I'm cautious it should go well.

also, when I got the neck I didn't have much of a choice, couldnt leave it like it was and I didnt have 800 to shell out for a pro job.