Setch Posted December 13, 2003 Report Share Posted December 13, 2003 If you're only planning on building one guitar - then by all means do it up. If not, then save the good stuff for when you really know what to watch out for. Pah! Only one....Nobody can just build one, this guitar building stuff is more addictive than crack! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted December 13, 2003 Report Share Posted December 13, 2003 If you're only planning on building one guitar - then by all means do it up. If not, then save the good stuff for when you really know what to watch out for. Pah! Only one....Nobody can just build one, this guitar building stuff is more addictive than crack! i would disagree...but it's true Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeB Posted December 14, 2003 Report Share Posted December 14, 2003 walnut would be good, i have a couple of bits for laminations on future guitars mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GuitarMaestro Posted December 14, 2003 Author Report Share Posted December 14, 2003 Thanks for your advice and warnings guys. As some of you know I have done ALOT of research before starting to build this guitar. As it is the first complete guitar I build, I practice everything on scrap pieces before using the good wood. The problem is that I've been playing and studying guitar for quite some time now and have alot of factory guitars. Therefore I HAVE to build a great guitar the first time, otherwise it will be useless to me because I have some quit great guitars. I did alot of woodworking for RC Planes and other models of airplanes, therefore I have some ability to craft things. So far I am very happy with the fingerboard and necks I built. So lets hope for the best.... Greets, Marcel Knapp! P.s.: How wide a centerpiece should I use in order to improve the necks stability at all? I though about 8mm.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted December 14, 2003 Report Share Posted December 14, 2003 it is not hard to improve upon that factory stuff...in tone at least...the way they finish some of those guitars chokes the resonance Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GuitarMaestro Posted December 15, 2003 Author Report Share Posted December 15, 2003 @wes: You're right here....I also suspect that even the best companies use the cheapest wood they can get. But the precision of factory made necks is difficult to beat. Can someone please answer my question concerning the recommended thickness of the centerpiece? Thanks in advance, Marcel Knapp! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Rosenberger Posted December 15, 2003 Report Share Posted December 15, 2003 3/4" seems about right Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daveq Posted December 15, 2003 Report Share Posted December 15, 2003 3/4" is what I normally use. I've built about 12 necks so far using this type of construction - only 3 have made it past my QA (nothing to do with the center piece). Pah! Only one....Nobody can just build one, this guitar building stuff is more addictive than crack! I know I will never be able to stop but I have read about others just getting too frustrated. I've also read how some people don't realize how much time is needed and don't end up building after the first guitar due to time constraints. I really should be one of these people but I just can't help myself. Who needs sleep/food/contact with other human beings anyway? Anyway, my point was that I would hate to see someone spend lots of money on exotic woods for their first guitar unless they thought it was unlikely they would be building another one anytime soon. There are so many things that can go wrong even after doing the research Marcel has done. In my limited experience, I have found that repetition/time is the key to building up your skills. Besides, just think of those poor pieces of wood that could have found a nice home on a beautiful guitar but ended up in the scrap pile instead . Just ask the pieces in my scrap pile! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GuitarMaestro Posted December 15, 2003 Author Report Share Posted December 15, 2003 3/4"....Are you CRAZY? This would not leave much of my nicely figured maple neck blank. As I said before, the neck blank is curly hard maple. I just want to laminate a dark stripe in the middle of the neck in order to make it stiffer and increase the stability of the angled peghead/neck joint. If I take a hard wood like ebony or bunbinga, do I really have to use 3/4" piece? Optically I would use something which is 1/2" at max. Would this bring much increase in stability/stifness at all? If not then I'll not do a center piece and hope that the maple is siff enough. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daveq Posted December 15, 2003 Report Share Posted December 15, 2003 I use 3/4 because the inner material is usually my "exotic" wood and not the outer. The main reason I avoid putting the curly maple on the outer sides is due to the tendency for chipping out when routing a nice straight edge along the neck's sides. By putting the curly maple inside, I don't have to worry about it as much. As long as I get good results from the jointer/planer before gluing, I'm all set and no worries from there. If you are using curly on the outer edges, then maybe you should use less for your center piece. I cannot provide any help in terms of how much is needed to provide stability - maybe someone else can. One question: For the top edge (where the fretboard meets the neck blank) - how are you going to get the perfectly flat? Using a jointer? This is another area that made me want to shy away from curly maple on the outer edges. I'm not saying it can't be done - it certainly can - it's just a bit more difficult and time consuming. Good luck Marcel, Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GuitarMaestro Posted December 15, 2003 Author Report Share Posted December 15, 2003 Thanks for your answer dave! Concerning the planing of the neck blank: I have access to a jointer and to a thickness planer. I am going to use them for that job. The only problem is that no matter how sharp the knives are, there will be some degree of runout. But I this will be spots which are lower than the rest of the wood and if there are not to many, they should be no problem for a good lamination. P.s.: I had no trouble making necks from curly maple so far....I think you should not shy away from using it on the outside of a neck as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted December 15, 2003 Report Share Posted December 15, 2003 i also use 3/4" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daveq Posted December 16, 2003 Report Share Posted December 16, 2003 P.s.: I had no trouble making necks from curly maple so far....I think you should not shy away from using it on the outside of a neck as well. How many necks have you made with curly maple? Do you have any pics you can show us? I love lookin at that beatiful wood! Anyway, I still prefer to use non-figured wood for the outer pieces since I like to use the router to form the taper of the neck. It would drive me crazy seeing the smallest amount of tear out. When I was asking about the jointer - the reason I asked is that you can get good results sometimes (in my experience) - but sometimes it will just leave the surface chunky no matter what (using curly maple). Looking at it from the side, it don't know how well that would be able to be hidden (the line between the neck and fretboard). At least when you are laminating, you can just keep running it across the jointer until it looks good - but when you're preparing the neck for the fretboard - there's only so much you can take off. Again, I'm not saying that it can't be done - just thinking it's a lot to have to deal with. I wish you luck and look forward to seeing your creation. It really sounds like it's going to be great. Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GuitarMaestro Posted December 16, 2003 Author Report Share Posted December 16, 2003 Thanks for the kind words dave. Unfortunately I dont have pictures from the curly maple necks, but I will post pictures of my "master" neck if I have it completed. So far I built one Fender neck from regular maple and one from curly maple and I did not realize a big difference between them in terms of shaping them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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