milhouse Posted July 11, 2011 Report Share Posted July 11, 2011 Hello all. Longtime lurker, first-time poster. Big thanks to everyone who takes the time to post - I've absorbed an incredible amount of information (and inspiration). Anyway, I'm in the middle of my 2nd build (1st neck) and have hit a snag. The neck went together fairly well - truss rod installed, fretboard glued on, neck tapered to size, fretboard radiused, etc. I was thinning out the back of the neck when I broke through the bottom of the truss rod channel. It looks like about half the length of the truss rod route was too deep. I was shooting for Ibanez specs (18mm thickness at the first fret, 20mm at the 12th), and used a Stew Mac hot rod. Stew mac says their rod requires a 7/16" deep channel (11.1125mm). So, in theory, there should have been plenty of wood left behind the rod. The route was admittedly a little sloppy (I was between routers, so I used my old dremel), but I thought it was going to work out. Guess not. The neck is currently at about 21 mm thick; there is about 9mm of wood between the bottom of the rod and the back of the neck. So... If I were to plug that channel with a filet, would the remaining 6mm (9mm - the 3mm i have left to sand) of wood behind the rod be sufficient? The truss rod's force is exerted against the fingerboard, not the backside of the neck, right? Any tips for gluing in the filet without the glue binding up the rod? Or is this a lost cause? Should I just consider this a learning experience and toss it in the firewood pile? Thanks guys. I'd appreciate any guidance that anyone can offer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kammo1 Posted July 11, 2011 Report Share Posted July 11, 2011 Bro if I can help at all and that is remember one golden rule and hopefully you won't end up witha f**k up again. When making thinner profiled necks "ALWAYS ALWAYS" use a thinner fingerboard about 4.5 to 5mm MAX as then you can rout your rod so its just below the top of the neck so when you measure to cut the thickness of the neck you should have a good 2 to 2.5mm even with a 18mm thickness at the 1st fret behind the truss rod. Again this depends on what rod you use, I use a 2 way adjustable truss rod that only requires a 9.5mm slot depth so in theory if I profiled this neck to 18mm at the 1st fret I still have 3-3.5mm of wood before I carve the back. If all your thickness is in the fingerboard and you measure from this ie 6.5mm-7mm fretboard and a 10mm depth of the truss rod you will technically have at the back of the rod 1mm-1.5mm before you break through which if you rout the slot sloppy you will end up carving through, hope this helps Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
milhouse Posted July 11, 2011 Author Report Share Posted July 11, 2011 Bro if I can help at all and that is remember one golden rule and hopefully you won't end up witha f**k up again. When making thinner profiled necks "ALWAYS ALWAYS" use a thinner fingerboard about 4.5 to 5mm MAX as then you can rout your rod so its just below the top of the neck so when you measure to cut the thickness of the neck you should have a good 2 to 2.5mm even with a 18mm thickness at the 1st fret behind the truss rod. Again this depends on what rod you use, I use a 2 way adjustable truss rod that only requires a 9.5mm slot depth so in theory if I profiled this neck to 18mm at the 1st fret I still have 3-3.5mm of wood before I carve the back. If all your thickness is in the fingerboard and you measure from this ie 6.5mm-7mm fretboard and a 10mm depth of the truss rod you will technically have at the back of the rod 1mm-1.5mm before you break through which if you rout the slot sloppy you will end up carving through, hope this helps Thanks, dude. I'll keep that in mind for the future. The fretboard I used was just over 6mm, so using a thinner board probably would have bought me enough room. Live and learn, I guess... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WezV Posted July 11, 2011 Report Share Posted July 11, 2011 the stew-mac hot-rods are not really suitable for this kind of thickness, its not just the depth of the rods, generally they need to go a little deeper at the adjustment too. i also use the shallower 2-way rods kammo mentions, its just allows more options Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
milhouse Posted July 11, 2011 Author Report Share Posted July 11, 2011 the stew-mac hot-rods are not really suitable for this kind of thickness, its not just the depth of the rods, generally they need to go a little deeper at the adjustment too. i also use the shallower 2-way rods kammo mentions, its just allows more options Thanks. So something like this - http://www.wdmusic.com/18_in_truss_rod_allen_nut.html? Any other sources that you can refer? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WezV Posted July 11, 2011 Report Share Posted July 11, 2011 yeah, that or allparts or various ebay sellers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Linny Posted July 11, 2011 Report Share Posted July 11, 2011 11.5mm deep slot + 5mm for fingerboard leaves nothing under the rod. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dpm99 Posted July 12, 2011 Report Share Posted July 12, 2011 Just so you know, you're not the first person to have ever made that mistake. And you won't be the last. It's happened to a lot of people. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted July 12, 2011 Report Share Posted July 12, 2011 In the future you really should get away from the stewmac rod,like the other guy said.I used it in many guitars,and it is appealing because of the extra strength,but in practice it is stronger than it needs to be,and it makes thin necks very difficult.I have started using the blue rod from allparts,but the WD one looks fine,too. All of my necks with the hot rod have a 3/16" thick(at the thickest point) fretboard and a volute right behind the headstock end of the rod to help support what is the biggest spot for failure.The string pull puts pressure on the neck right behind the nut... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
milhouse Posted July 12, 2011 Author Report Share Posted July 12, 2011 Thanks again to everyone for the replies; I'll order a few shallower rods from allparts and start fresh. I think I'm going to take a shot at salvaging this neck anyway, because I can definitely use the practice. I have no expectations that it will result in anything but a learning experience though. Guess its not quite time to quit the day job... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dpm99 Posted July 12, 2011 Report Share Posted July 12, 2011 (edited) Thanks again to everyone for the replies; I'll order a few shallower rods from allparts and start fresh. I think I'm going to take a shot at salvaging this neck anyway, because I can definitely use the practice. I have no expectations that it will result in anything but a learning experience though. Guess its not quite time to quit the day job... +1 The practice is what's valuable. Edited July 12, 2011 by dpm99 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WezV Posted July 12, 2011 Report Share Posted July 12, 2011 we did have this thread recently http://projectguitar.ibforums.com/index.php?showtopic=45299 i never bothered repairing when i did it (4th build, just as i was getting confident enough not to measure constantly). it was on a through neck so i chopped it off and made a new neck to glue in Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guitar2005 Posted July 13, 2011 Report Share Posted July 13, 2011 I use the Allied Lutherie rods. Slightly shorter profile. Never went through. 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.