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Standard Neck & Fb Blank Dimensions


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A standard neck blank is usually about 2 1/2 to 3" wide, about an inch thick (give or take a little) and about 27 or 29 inches long (roughly). Also, the fingerboard blank is the same width, about 3/8 thick (maybe 5/16) and roughly 21 or 22 inches long.

As far as I understand it, there isn't a huge difference between flatsawn or quartersawn. I imagine that quartersawn would be slightly less prone to warpage depending on the species, but most neck blanks I have seen are flatsawn.

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for standard dimensions look to any of that standard suppliers or standard sources of information (books, or many thread on this site)

as far as quartersawn or flatsawn goes, fender traditionally used flatsawn maple and gibson traditonally used quartersawn mahogany... but both flat sawn mahogany and quatersawn maple work well too. think about the type of construction you are doing and the wood you have... once you go for laminated construction the whole ball game changes

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Quartersawn timber will be more stable, i.e. less prone to warp.

I start with a blank 3/4" (19mm) thick because I put a 1/4" roswood fretboard on top of it. It's width depends mostly of the headstock size, and the widest point other than that, is the 55mm width at the heel. Length depends on scale length, number of frets, and also headstock length.

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What are the standard dimensions for a neck blank and a fretboard blank, both for electric guitars?

Also, when looking for woods for a neck blank, is quartersawn or flatsawn better, or is it a matter of opinion?

I think the dimensions given above work well for bolt-on necks. For the type of neck I have made (set, non-scarfed tilted headstock) the thickness of the blank is more like 48-50mm (for a 13 degrees headstock). Even if you scarf the headstock the heel is between 35 and 40mm usually. length will mostly depend on scale, for 25" scale 700mm is more than enough even for a decent tenon.

I personally like quartersawn for a one piece neck, if you laminate it's probably less of a problem.

I use ~6mm (1/4") fingerboards. Width of a 6-string fingerboard at body end is around 57mm, so anything wider than 60mm is good enough.

Sorry for mixing up the units. I mostly use metric but for scale length 25" is clearer to me than 635mm.

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