My New Way Of Making Neck Shape Templates

[USMCHueston0311]

A buddy of mine here in town turned me onto using something simliar to these.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...4=263602_263622

You just bend them around your neck you want to copy the profile of, at lets say 5 fret increments, and label them. They stay perfectly in place and are mora accurate than using post card. Also you wont have to worry about scratching your neck with those harsh metal contour guages.

Just my .2C

-Steve

[verhoevenc]

Or you could buy a plastic contour gauge like the one I have...

Chris

[NotYou]

Or you could buy a plastic contour gauge like the one I have...

Chris

+1

Mine has metal pins, but it works the same way.

I usually just freehand mine. I think I get better results when I go by feel. It might not be perfectly %100 symmetrical, but it ends up more comfortable, IMO.

(theoretically, symmetry is impossible to achieve... but that's a whole discussion by itself that I don't ever want to get into ).

[WezV]

Freehanding is fine but sooner or later people start asking you for quite specofic neck shapes - and thats when it pays to be able to copy them too.

[USMCHueston0311]

i agree, free handing works, but this orks really well.

[Prostheta]

Card templates can be scanned and printed repeatedly, although I myself go by feel also since I only build for myself.

[Billy Bones]

I have been getting my thickness with my overhead router by putting a shim under my 1st fret that is the difference between the desired thickness of my first and twelfth frets. Then I am using the same router with a 3/4" radius bit to ge the basic curve on the back of the neck. After that I have been going at the transitions with rasps and files. Today for the first time I took an air tool with a sanding drum on it and it was amazingly quick. After that I'm just using a flat block to smooth it all out. It usually takes me a few hours to get a neck shaped. With the new tools, it is more like a half hour and it's sanded and ready to paint.

With those hair curlers, can you clearly see the profile? I would think that they'd be tricky because they're thick.

[USMCHueston0311]

I have been getting my thickness with my overhead router by putting a shim under my 1st fret that is the difference between the desired thickness of my first and twelfth frets. Then I am using the same router with a 3/4" radius bit to ge the basic curve on the back of the neck. After that I have been going at the transitions with rasps and files. Today for the first time I took an air tool with a sanding drum on it and it was amazingly quick. After that I'm just using a flat block to smooth it all out. It usually takes me a few hours to get a neck shaped. With the new tools, it is more like a half hour and it's sanded and ready to paint.

With those hair curlers, can you clearly see the profile? I would think that they'd be tricky because they're thick.

they work pretty easy... can u break downa little more in depth about your neck building process?

[Prostheta]

I have been getting my thickness with my overhead router by putting a shim under my 1st fret that is the difference between the desired thickness of my first and twelfth frets. Then I am using the same router with a 3/4" radius bit to ge the basic curve on the back of the neck. After that I have been going at the transitions with rasps and files. Today for the first time I took an air tool with a sanding drum on it and it was amazingly quick. After that I'm just using a flat block to smooth it all out. It usually takes me a few hours to get a neck shaped. With the new tools, it is more like a half hour and it's sanded and ready to paint.

With those hair curlers, can you clearly see the profile? I would think that they'd be tricky because they're thick.

My guitar necks take about half an hour to roughly profile (depending on the woods) and about the same to tune and fine sand. Rasp, spokeshave, scraper and paper.