MrValentine Posted July 22, 2010 Report Share Posted July 22, 2010 my neck is going to be a roughly 1.5" thick solid mahogany thats sat in a garage for 4-5 years in extremely varying temps with no warpage...would this stand up to light (8-48) strings? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darren wilson Posted July 22, 2010 Report Share Posted July 22, 2010 The truss rod isn't there for strength, it's there to allow you to make adjustments to your neck relief as the wood expands and contracts with seasonal temperature and humidity changes. You can build necks without truss rods, but if they're made of wood, you run the risk of them being unplayable for at least part of the year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrValentine Posted July 22, 2010 Author Report Share Posted July 22, 2010 im used to a fairly high action so i should be ok? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim37 Posted July 22, 2010 Report Share Posted July 22, 2010 i wouldnt risk it. is there a reason your trying so hard not to use one? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WezV Posted July 22, 2010 Report Share Posted July 22, 2010 what tim said! why avoid one? why is your neck 1.5" thick? if its some kind of exerimental thing then fine, but for an instrument that plays like a guitar thats far too much mahogany would probably be my last choice for a truss rod free neck. laminates of maple at a minimum, but ideally i would want stiffer wood than that and some CF reinforcement.... a lot of work to avoid using a truss rod Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrValentine Posted July 22, 2010 Author Report Share Posted July 22, 2010 the neck is thick cuz i like them that way and i just think having no truss adds to the tone Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WezV Posted July 22, 2010 Report Share Posted July 22, 2010 i like thick necks too! but 1.5" is a daft size for a guitar. what makes you say having no truss rod adds to the tone? - really curious where ideas like that come from Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrValentine Posted July 22, 2010 Author Report Share Posted July 22, 2010 i think taking a large piece out of the neck and replacing it with metal makes the sound more metallic/tinny. keeping the wood imo keeps the tone and sounds more natural Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sam_c Posted July 22, 2010 Report Share Posted July 22, 2010 I dont understand, if youve tried it before and prefer it that way then why not just do it? does the 1.5" include the fretboard thickness? That does seem far too thick, even for ppl who prefer chunky necks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ihocky2 Posted July 22, 2010 Report Share Posted July 22, 2010 Where have you played a guitar with no truss rod before. For the last 100 years any decent guitar has some type of truss rod, even if not adjustable. The only ones I can see not using one are the cheapest on the market, and that's not really a guitar to make any comparisons to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WezV Posted July 22, 2010 Report Share Posted July 22, 2010 i think taking a large piece out of the neck and replacing it with metal makes the sound more metallic/tinny. keeping the wood imo keeps the tone and sounds more natural fair enough then.... there is certainly some that believe a single rod sounds better than a double (hmm, or is it just more 'vintage accurate' and therefore infinately better) i do believe a 1.5" thick neck could potentially have some tonal benefits - but the compromise to playability will be so bad that you will never hear it in more than a single note like the others i am interested to know where you have played a trussrod less or 1.5" thick neck to think these things would be desirable good luck with that then - let us know how it turns out Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darren wilson Posted July 22, 2010 Report Share Posted July 22, 2010 im used to a fairly high action so i should be ok? But if your neck backbows, you're screwed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DC Ross Posted July 22, 2010 Report Share Posted July 22, 2010 Where have you played a guitar with no truss rod before. For the last 100 years any decent guitar has some type of truss rod, even if not adjustable. The only ones I can see not using one are the cheapest on the market, and that's not really a guitar to make any comparisons to. Classical / nylon strung guitars don't have a truss rod. Is this what you're building? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrValentine Posted July 22, 2010 Author Report Share Posted July 22, 2010 Where have you played a guitar with no truss rod before. For the last 100 years any decent guitar has some type of truss rod, even if not adjustable. The only ones I can see not using one are the cheapest on the market, and that's not really a guitar to make any comparisons to. Classical / nylon strung guitars don't have a truss rod. Is this what you're building? its an electric but i started out on nylons and i wanted this to feel similar Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Untitled_Project Posted July 22, 2010 Report Share Posted July 22, 2010 A side question; I'm making my first mahogany neck this summer, with an ebony fretboard; non-angled. Will there be any strength issues that I should be aware of? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrValentine Posted July 22, 2010 Author Report Share Posted July 22, 2010 A side question; I'm making my first mahogany neck this summer, with an ebony fretboard; non-angled. Will there be any strength issues that I should be aware of? I dont think there would be Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim37 Posted July 22, 2010 Report Share Posted July 22, 2010 well it sounds like you have your heart set on this thing so go ahead hell what do you have to loose a little wood and soem frets and time. that being said i wouldn't sugest it and to my knolege the only electrics that i know of that didnt have a truss rod where cheap imports and the very earliest fenders (i mean the first few broadcasters that where made) Leo quickly figured out that truss rods where needed due to climate changes. you may end up with heavier strings than you want if the neck give any back bow i have a mim fender that i have to run 12's on (a little heavy for my liking) because its a single action truss rod. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WezV Posted July 22, 2010 Report Share Posted July 22, 2010 A side question; I'm making my first mahogany neck this summer, with an ebony fretboard; non-angled. Will there be any strength issues that I should be aware of? with a truss rod it will be fine - preferably quatersawn mahogany though, or my preference would be to laminate it. there may be some natural movement anyway but it can be controlled easily with a tone sucking truss rod Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SwedishLuthier Posted July 22, 2010 Report Share Posted July 22, 2010 Leo quickly figured out that truss rods where needed due to climate changes. Leo actually fought to not have a truss rod in the necks. There is even a story were he had a neck placed between two chairs and had a person stand on the neck to prove they were strong enough without a truss rod. In the end it was the marketing people that said "Gibson have a truss rod in every guitar they male and they rub that fact in our face. We cannot sell a guitar without a truss rod!" That's the way I was told the story anyway... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darren wilson Posted July 22, 2010 Report Share Posted July 22, 2010 As a side note, composite-neck Steinbergers also have no truss rod. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrValentine Posted July 22, 2010 Author Report Share Posted July 22, 2010 the neck will be bolt on so that if i ever decide to i can carve a channel in the back and add some CF reinforcements Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
killemall8 Posted July 22, 2010 Report Share Posted July 22, 2010 well why do you ask if you keep trying to change everybodys mind anyway? its not a good idea, and everybody knows it. but you keep trying to find a way around it.... so why bother asking in the first place? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Untitled_Project Posted July 22, 2010 Report Share Posted July 22, 2010 A side question; I'm making my first mahogany neck this summer, with an ebony fretboard; non-angled. Will there be any strength issues that I should be aware of? with a truss rod it will be fine - preferably quatersawn mahogany though, or my preference would be to laminate it. there may be some natural movement anyway but it can be controlled easily with a tone sucking truss rod I think it's flatsawn. If I cut it into three pieces and flip the middle piece; will this resolver my issue? I don't want to add any different species of wood. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Untitled_Project Posted July 22, 2010 Report Share Posted July 22, 2010 (edited) Woops, double post; sorry Edited July 22, 2010 by Untitled_Project Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soapbarstrat Posted July 23, 2010 Report Share Posted July 23, 2010 Classical / nylon strung guitars don't have a truss rod. Is this what you're building? A trick some classical builders do, is cram an ebony strip into a channel in the neck, but the channel is actually just a little shorter than the strip. This creates a back-bowing tension on the neck when unstrung and helps keep the neck from being string tension's bitch when strung up. Probably not a good enough method for steel strings. Plus that .048" low E is not what I would call light. Plus your high action is going to allow string tension to put more relief into the neck; works more like a bow that way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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