Late 60's Veneer Rosewood/maple Neck

[Stratman1966]

Hello I'm making a 60's style Fender Strat neck with the 1/8" thick rosewood veneer top over maple.

I'm referring to the neck on right dated OCT 64

I went at it by radiusing the maple neck first with a radiusing block.

Then attach sandpaper to the top of the radiused maple neck.

Then I radiused the underside of the rosewood fretboard rubbing it back and forth over that.

Then I plan on gluing it up then radius the top.

My question is, is it easier to thin the fretboard first say done to 1/8" and then somehow bend it over a radiused neck

thus creating the radius for the underside and top alot easier.

The hand block radiusing is too much work.

Has anyone done this.

Thanks.

[Hector]

wow, this seems like a lot of work.

I would radius the underside of the rosewood without thinning it. glue that to the neck and then remove excess thickness. I would do this way because it would be easier to cut the fret slots in a flat surface.

but I think that the factory would have done it differently. getting the rosewood at 1/8" already and then bending it over a radiused neck.

[Stratman1966]

wow, this seems like a lot of work.

I would radius the underside of the rosewood without thinning it. glue that to the neck and then remove excess thickness. I would do this way because it would be easier to cut the fret slots in a flat surface.

but I think that the factory would have done it differently. getting the rosewood at 1/8" already and then bending it over a radiused neck.

I will probaly build a router radius cutting jig to cut the radius on both pieces. That will at least make it easier and quicker.

I am curious how the factory did it.

[wood is good]

WOW

can i ask?

why would you do that? what is the point of radiusing it both and then gluing it? why not just do it the regular way and glue it flat and then radius JUST the fretboard?

[WezV]

having played a few curved boards i can say they have a certain charm when compared with a slab board.... and if you are into vintage fenders its the way it should be done!!

fairly sure they bent the veneer to fit the maple rather than waste extra rosewood... remember fender started by making 1 piece maple necks so when Leo decided he wanted rosewood as it would look better on TV it probably made more sense to do it this way than it did to gear up for a slab board style construction

[Stratman1966]

WOW

can i ask?

why would you do that? what is the point of radiusing it both and then gluing it? why not just do it the regular way and glue it flat and then radius JUST the fretboard?

I always like the look of the thin veneer and wanted to make one. Plus I have (3) 3/16'' Brazilian Rosewood fret board blanks. Too thin to make slabboards so the veneer is the way to go.

[soapbarstrat]

I used to think the veneer boards was Fender cutting costs, but now I don't really think that. I don't know what to believe as to why they did it that way. I've heard they actually were doing flat bottom slab boards in the very late 50's, then started doing a "thick veneer" rose board, then the veneer got thinner, and one story says they thought the slab was altering the sound too much and same with the thick veneer, and the thin veneer was the right compromise. As with a lot of old Fender stories, you can just as well throw all that out the window as well as believe it to be true.

[Stratman1966]

I used to think the veneer boards was Fender cutting costs, but now I don't really think that. I don't know what to believe as to why they did it that way. I've heard they actually were doing flat bottom slab boards in the very late 50's, then started doing a "thick veneer" rose board, then the veneer got thinner, and one story says they thought the slab was altering the sound too much and same with the thick veneer, and the thin veneer was the right compromise. As with a lot of old Fender stories, you can just as well throw all that out the window as well as believe it to be true.

Good info, makes sense. Thanks

[WezV]

I used to think the veneer boards was Fender cutting costs, but now I don't really think that. I don't know what to believe as to why they did it that way. I've heard they actually were doing flat bottom slab boards in the very late 50's, then started doing a "thick veneer" rose board, then the veneer got thinner, and one story says they thought the slab was altering the sound too much and same with the thick veneer, and the thin veneer was the right compromise. As with a lot of old Fender stories, you can just as well throw all that out the window as well as believe it to be true.

i'm just not convinced soap... you know, never heard of fender doing anything because it sounded better - certainly not back then it all comes down to easy construction and economics.

There is obviously the commonly held belief that leo wanted rosewood boards because the dirty maple ones looked bad on tv but apparently it also came down to marketing... afterall, fenders biggest competitor had rosewood fretboards and most stringed instruments in existence had dark wood fretboards

i guess we will never know the exact reason for the veneer boards but i think it is safe to say they were a veneer and not a full size fretboard blank sanded to fit.... that would definately not fit with the fender ethos of the 50-60's

whilst we are on the subject, i had a 57 strat neck in a few months ago that wa apparently one of the very early V-shaped necks (maple neck so not connected to the veneer issue)... the story goes that fender had a new employee doing necks and he wasnt doing them very well... but by the time anyone noticed he had already done loads they put them out into the world anyway, some people liked the shape and it became accepted.. The one i played was so sharply v shaped you could believe it was a mistake!! Who knows if its true, but i do think it reflects how fender worked back then . dont get me wrong, i do love them but its the simplicity and replicability of the early fender guitars that makes them great not the great luthiery minds working on making them perfect sounding instruments fit to replace an angels harp

[soapbarstrat]

You know that's not *my* theory, right ?

If there weren't other things that don't add up, I'd think this would be a valid theory :

They had a crap-load of all maple necks, but realized they could convert them to rose boards, by sanding 'em down until the fret slots disappeared, then gluing on a rose veneer.

(and that *would be* my own theory, but the "timeline" wouldn't quite make sense, so forget it, I guess)

[erikbojerik]

I would just radius the neck and then thin the rosewood to a very slightly thicker than 1/8" and glue it on, allowing it to bend over the maple. You will need a good radiused caul to do the clamping, or a vacuum bag arrangement. You will still have to do levelling after that, then cut the slots (with a hand saw if you want slots with curved bottoms).

By the time you finish making a router radiusing jig, you could have done it by hand the way you started (hand-sanding the radii 3 times).