Quilted Maple Neck

[Bmth Builder]

Hey just wondering can you make a neck out of quilted maple? Considering you can out of flamed I dont see why not?

I've just never seen it done, as long as you lam it up the figure instability shouldnt be a problem, and if you get a deep figure the pattern wont be too distorted by carving...

Cheers

[Mitch]

Hey just wondering can you make a neck out of quilted maple? Considering you can out of flamed I dont see why not?

I've just never seen it done, as long as you lam it up the figure instability shouldnt be a problem, and if you get a deep figure the pattern wont be too distorted by carving...

Cheers

Remember quilted maple is just flame maple on its side. Flame maple is flatsawn and quilted is quarter sawn.

People don't usually use quartersawn maple for guitar necks.

[Bmth Builder]

Remember quilted maple is just flame maple on its side. Flame maple is flatsawn and quilted is quarter sawn.

People don't usually use quartersawn maple for guitar necks.

People DEFINATLY use quarter sawn maple for necks, it makes the most stable necks.

I wasnt aware of quilting just being flamed maple on its side, is that true?

Edited May 9, 2009 by Neil Beith

[WezV]

I wasnt aware of quilting just being flamed maple on its side, is that true?

no its not, they are very different types of figure and quilt only occurs in certain trees

what you need to consider is how the grain runs through the wood.

imagine a straight grained piece of wood with no run out - the grain runs from one end to the other which is great for necks as its structurally the most stable

on a flamed piece that grain will zig zag along its length instead of travelling in a straight line. this will result in some run out along the length, but as long as most of the grain still makes it to the other end its can still be fine, although not as stable as if it was straight grained. some deep or inconsistent flaming would be unsuitable. when i am doing flamed maple necks i want a nice even flame

now quilt is different. it dousnt zig-zag it undulates. and nice quilt undulates massively. so this time the grain is travelling along the neck black as if it where a roller coaster track (expect you have cut off the highest peaks and troughs when cutting it into a rectangular blank), and you get quite severe run out everytime the roller coaster goes up a steep ramp and finds the peak missing. basically - you get a lot less grain that will be travelling the length of the neck blank so it will not be stable

i am getting carried away now

[erikbojerik]

Quilted is NOT flamed turned on its side.

Quilted maple occurs only in Western Bigleaf Maple (Acer macrophyllum) that comes from the Western US - it is a figure that does not occur in Eastern US maples.

Flame figure occurs in all maples (including western).

Western Bigleaf Maple is not as hard or stable as Eastern Rock Maple (a.k.a. Sugar Maple, Acer sacchurum) - there are other maples offered up in the eastern US that are collectively called "soft maple" which are not as hard or stiff as "hard" or "rock" maple.

Stay with rock maple (A. sacchurum) for your necks.

All the names (scientific and local) are totally different in Europe so YMMV over there.

[Mitch]

Sorry guys. Didn't realise. I'm sure I've been told that was what quilted was but I just can't remember where.

[westhemann]

We all make assumptions based on an inferrence of "logic"...I remember when I first read about quilted and flamed maple,I read that most quilted was flatsawn and that most flamed neck blanks were quartersawn and I jumped to the same conclusion you made...but upon further research I learned that the truth is a bit more complex than that.

By the way...just FYI...most of the necks on my store bought guitars(cheap-ish ones)before I started building and learning about them were flatsawn...and they do hold up just fine...but they don't feel as stiff as a quartersawn neck to me,and they change more with the weather than the quartersawn,although that is very subtle.

Also..I had a "few" end up with twists in them after a few years...small twists,but twists just the same...never had that problem with the higher end quartersawn necks.

[WezV]

i think what you may have been told was something to do with quilt showing up best in 1/4 sawn wheras flame shows up best in flat

[Woodenspoke]

Hey just wondering can you make a neck out of quilted maple? Considering you can out of flamed I dont see why not?

I've just never seen it done, as long as you lam it up the figure instability shouldnt be a problem, and if you get a deep figure the pattern wont be too distorted by carving...

Cheers

I saw a quilted maple fender style neck I belive on ebay the other day. A bit pricey is the only reason you don't see more, my best guess.

[erikbojerik]

Figured woods are less stable over time than their straight-grained counterparts - that, combined with the fact that western maple is softer than rock maple - I would never use quilted for a neck.

Fretboard yes - neck, no.

[Rick500]

Ooh, quilted maple fretboard. Never considered that. Might be fun.

[westhemann]

I have a guitar with a quilted maple fretboard...i have not finished it yet though...been sitting on a hanger for a few years now.

[supplebanana]

I have a guitar with a quilted maple fretboard...i have not finished it yet though...been sitting on a hanger for a few years now.

well get the damn thing finished & let us see the bloody thing....pleeeeeeeeaaaaasssee!!!

sb

[westhemann]

Really not much to look at yet...no plans to finish it for a while.

This was the third guitar I started to build...finished several others since then...this was the last nickel fret job I did and the first "good" fret job...