Layering Neck

[boundsteelblues]

I have a 7/8" piece of tiger maple. I was thinking of gluing on a 1/8 piece or something else between it and the fretboard to take it to 1" total. THe idea being it would look like a binding besides giving me the usual 1". Any thoughts on this idea or wood to use?

[Geo]

I have a 7/8" piece of tiger maple. I was thinking of gluing on a 1/8 piece or something else between it and the fretboard to take it to 1" total. THe idea being it would look like a binding besides giving me the usual 1". Any thoughts on this idea or wood to use?

There's a lot to consider with that.

1) The truss rod placement--through the extra 1/8 splitting it down the middle, or under it?

2) It won't look like binding because the fingerboard will still be above it.

3) I would just go with the 7/8" thickness, as you'll be carving the neck blank down to 1/2" or so anyway (not counting fingerboard). If you want a thicker heel, laminate something there...

If you want to do it, I'm sure you can figure out a way to make it work. Just letting you know the problems that popped into my head.

Edited July 24, 2008 by Geo

[fryovanni]

Echo the question, why a full 1" for the blank? If you wanted to use a lam of some sort for a specific reason okey dokey, but you don't need a blank to be a full 1" unless it has something to do with a crazy thick volute or stacked heel.

Rich

[boundsteelblues]

What you say is good news. The instructions I had made me think 1" was necessary. I am doing a straight headstock with a stew-mac hot rod truss rod.

[IWishICouldShred]

Look into some of the info on doing a scarf joint for an angled headstock! It's not too difficult and you won't need a string tree, plus it looks classy.

[Geo]

Look into some of the info on doing a scarf joint for an angled headstock! It's not too difficult and you won't need a string tree, plus it looks classy.

Agreed. For any original design, I much prefer an angled head. For me, the flat headstock only works on Fenders or copies of Fenders.

If you're doing a Strat-style neck, you may need 1", I don't know. In that case, you could just laminate wood to the underside of the heel and head, where it's needed, rather than thickening the whole blank and giving yourself an extra 1/8" to carve off.

[Mattia]

3/4" thick (if it's PERFECTLY straight and flat) is thick enough for almost any style of neck, from Fender (with glued on fingerboard) to scarfed.

[akvguitars]

You would need a 1" thick piece if you plan on doing a one piece neck: no separate fingerboard and skunk stripe in back for the truss rod. If you have a separate fingerboard, you only need 3/4 " for the neck (1/4" for the fingerboard).