Xanthus Posted December 31, 2008 Report Share Posted December 31, 2008 Hey all, I just started my third build and everything has gone according to plan. Meaning, by this, that nothing has gone according to plan at all. I had an extra neck blank that I cut off my stock from the second build, maple/walnut/maple. I used it to practice techniques before doing it on the "real" build, but it's still in good shape. These techniques meant cutting the neck taper with a bandsaw. Well, I cut it very close to the line. Still usable, but quite close to spec. Fast forward to last week. I had extra mahogany veneer lying around from build 2 that I wanted to cap the headstock of build 3 with. I came up with this cool idea, almost like a mitre joint or neck joint scarf, where I would veneer the headstock and then trim the veneer at the nut to the same plane as the fretboard. Then the nut would sit on the mahogany veneer and it would look all cool and fancy from the side. What I didn't realize that, in shaving the veneer down so the fretboard and nut could sit on it, I have moved the position of the nut back about 1/2" and now the neck is too skinny! How can I save this?! I have come up with two options: either add wood to the sides of the neck or add a veneer on top of the neck as a "fretboard shelf". I don't think either of these will look good. With a splice of wood on the side of the neck, you will see the joint when the neck is carved and tapered to its proper width. With a veneer in between the neck and fretboard, first off it will have to be about 1/8" thick to compensate for the nut moving back to where it "wants" to be. I think 1/8" thickness will be far too thick and not aesthetically pleasing. Also, what color would look good between maple and rosewood, save straight black? I'm all out of ideas... I really want to save this neck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ilikes2shred Posted December 31, 2008 Report Share Posted December 31, 2008 Hmmmm.... A few ideas: 1. Mount the nut where the neck taper is correct and add a small "plaque" with your name behind the nut. I'm planning on doing this on a current build; I'm hoping to get a jeweler to make one. 2. Sand/plane away the veneer, and add a similar veneer to the back of the headstock if it is too thin. 3. Add strips of wood (of a contrasting color, maybe walnut again?) to the sides of the neck once it is tapered, so the stripes are parallel to the edge of the neck. Alternatively, you could taper away an extra 1/4" or something from either side to have a larger strip of wood. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Setch Posted December 31, 2008 Report Share Posted December 31, 2008 Sorry - I really can't visualise what you've done - any chance of a picture? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick500 Posted December 31, 2008 Report Share Posted December 31, 2008 Just came in to say your subject line scared me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xanthus Posted December 31, 2008 Author Report Share Posted December 31, 2008 @Rick: Well, at least it got you here, eh? That might be my tactic from now on, because whenever I have a question on my build threads, it doesn't seem to garner any attention. Anyways, Setch, this is for you: http://images42.fotki.com/v1434/photos/9/9...tscrewup-vi.jpg It's the best I can do until I can pirate a Photoshop edition for the Mac. By filing down the end of the headstock veneer to be level with the neck face, I have effectually moved the nut placement back 1/2", making the taper too wide for the neck... @Ilikes2shred: Strips of Walnut following the taper of the neck might actually look ok. I would just be worried about how to flow them into the headstock area, as well as how they would look with the non-tapered (3/4" thick) walnut strip down the middle. Hell, at this point, I might as well just scarf myself a whole new headstock..... Move the nut completely. I have a neckthrough blank that I'm working from, and turning it into a deepset neck, so I have a good 6" or so of extra space. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guitar_player Posted December 31, 2008 Report Share Posted December 31, 2008 I don't completely understand it but it seems like you could just steam of the veneer and put a new one on butting up against the nut. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToddW Posted December 31, 2008 Report Share Posted December 31, 2008 Ilikes2shred had a good idea. Take a look at the adapter they give you when you change a trev wilkinson nut to an LSR roller nut. It does the same thing. Or, if you still have wood on the fingerboard behind the nut, carve that into the shape of the LSR adapter after you glue in the nut, and inlay your initials there. It'll look slick! Good luck! Todd Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kenny Posted December 31, 2008 Report Share Posted December 31, 2008 have some extra fretboard material behind the nut; you would still get the same effect you wanted but still have the nut in the correct spot just an idea Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xanthus Posted December 31, 2008 Author Report Share Posted December 31, 2008 @g_p: You're definitely right, I could pull off the veneer and do it again the "right" way. I'd need more veneer..... but that's not a huge problem, just a bit of a delay. @Kenny: I do like your idea, which I could definitely do if I ordered a custom board. I'm not entirely sure that the stock Stewmac board has enough extra meat at the end of the board to make this work. Would this interfere with the string pull towards the tuners? Strat-styled board usually go on strat headstocks, which have no neck angle. With my 13 degree angle, I would need to carve the extra piece to make it not fit. hmm.... My options as of now I think are looking like this: -Cut off headstock, glue on new one (maybe walnut? I have plenty... Or a scarf accent line like Kenny or Dan) -Order a board from Erik with extra meat behind the nut to carve down -Do a zero fret? I have a ton of Corian that might fill up the extra space I think I'm actually leaning towards cutting the headstock off and gluing on a piece of 3/4" walnut I have around. With this, I wouldn't have to put a veneer because the headstock would already be a dark color, and I would get a bit of a swoosh on the back of the neck like Kenny or Dan Sorbera. I would also be keeping the whole neck apparatus to 2 different types of wood. I kinda like that simplicity. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akvguitars Posted December 31, 2008 Report Share Posted December 31, 2008 If you did a spacer under the fretboard to lift it up, you could hide it with binding. Just my 2 cents... kyle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geo Posted January 1, 2009 Report Share Posted January 1, 2009 (edited) I don't see how this... By filing down the end of the headstock veneer to be level with the neck face, I have effectually moved the nut placement back 1/2", making the taper too wide for the neck... ...follows from the diagram you posted. How did this affect the neck taper? It sounds like the only surface you modified is the plane of the headstock veneer, which is (sort of) at a right angle to the neck taper. To my mind, this does not change the nut position, because the nut position is based on the end of the fingerboard, which is based on the point at which the scale length joins the body, etc.--not based on the headstock veneer. Based on the diagram, I don't see why you can't just put the nut in the original position. Perhaps a photograph would be helpful. Edited January 1, 2009 by Geo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xanthus Posted January 1, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 1, 2009 It affects the neck taper because I had rough cut the taper to correlate with the point on the neck where I would have placed the nut. So by moving the nut back 1/2", the resulting taper is too thin for the nut and string spacing. I could easily place the nut where I wanted it to the first time, but then I would have about a finger's-width of "dead" neck space before the headstock angle. It would just look... weird to me. I can try and get a pic up sometime today. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
low end fuzz Posted January 1, 2009 Report Share Posted January 1, 2009 if i follow; get rid of that veneer; sand it off and use the oscilating sander to feather a new point of joining with your board and headstock angle; if your trying to "save" a neck you can't have all this disecting of possiblities ,especially without an accurate picture; are your fret slots cut yet? if so you cant 'move' the nut; if theyre arent cut, and you r still trying to save this, how much smaller could the fretboard be following the taper a 1/2" further down the line?; unless your trying to fit a prefit preslotted nut, whats the real problem? definatly real photos would help; maybe a front shot head on; and a side shot, so we can see this veneer issue; grant Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geo Posted January 2, 2009 Report Share Posted January 2, 2009 (edited) I could easily place the nut where I wanted it to the first time, but then I would have about a finger's-width of "dead" neck space before the headstock angle. It would just look... weird to me. I can try and get a pic up sometime today. Aha, that's what I thought but I wasn't sure. So it's a cosmetic, not a structural issue. I would just put a new veneer on it. Not fun, but it seems like the easiest way to salvage the neck. IMO, you're just setting up a big headache if you start moving the nut and bridge around. The time for that is when you're drawing the plan. Edited January 2, 2009 by Geo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mickguard Posted January 2, 2009 Report Share Posted January 2, 2009 I'm still not seeing the problem, even with the picture. Why not just cut a slot for the nut (as Kenny was sort of suggesting), like a fender style nut. It'll still look really nice. But you can also route the slot to be just shy of the edges -- the nut really only needs to be wide enough to hold the strings in the proper places -- it does not need to stretch to both sides of the fretboard. Instead, the nut will slip into the slot, but the added veneer will still hide its sides -- which would probably look really cool. A zero fret's a way to go too, but only if you really like playing a guitar with a zero fret. It changes the sound quite a bit -- you lose a lot of the jangle of the open strings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.